Transcript for:
GPD Win Mini: Review Summary

this is the GPD win mini and it's essentially a hybrid Windows handheld gaming PC it's amazing that this thing actually even exists considering what it can do for its size so I've had it for a few months now and used it in multiple situations but most especially for travel and other times when portability is the most important thing to consider now the wind mini comes packed with a ton of tech built right into it that really make it stand out as a multi-purpose device it's been great most of the time I've had it especially when you for gaming media consumption and productivity on the go notice how I said most of the time well to be honest using it hasn't been without some pretty tough limitations as well I'll explain this in more details as we go first off let's check out the hardware and all the tech builts right into it the first thing you'll notice when you first pick up the win mini is how small it is this thing is so small that when placed right next to the iPhone 15 Pro it's only slightly shorter in width the portability of a device is arguably the most important factor to consider when picking up something to use on the go and the win mini definitely qualifies as portable I'd say it's essentially pocketable but that's depending on the size of the pocket in question for some pockets it's going to fit very easily while for others it might struggle or outright just not fit at all something else that really contributes to the portability of the wind mini is its form factor it uses a clam shell design similar to one of the older Game Boy advanced systems and that really brought back some Nostalgia for me whenever in the open state it splits in two halves with the top side housing the 7in display and the bottom side housing the brains the controls and pretty much everything else something else I really like is how the hinge at the middle allows for a wide range of rotation to the point where the screen is almost in line with the base I've often found that this is a very useful thing to have in different scenarios as for the weight it's pretty light for what it can do and also in comparison to other devices with very similar functions the wind mini can only be picked up in a black color with a glossy finish as for buttons and controls the wind mini uses a hybrid design which is both a blessing and a curse with this design you have access to a full-size backlit keyboard and a touchpad both built into the base of the device you also have right and left joysticks abxy menu and custom buttons as well as a d-pad all built into the top area of the base as well on the back of the base you'll find triggers and bumpers that can complete the win Mini's game controller the keyboard and trackpad are both very small but they work great and come in very handy a lot of the time people with large fingers will definitely struggle to use the pair of them I definitely won't use them for any kind of serious work or gaming or even suggest trying that I found out that this design combining a game pad with a keyboard and mouse pad works great but it also comes with issues first off the ergonomics is severely affected because of this and it can become really uncomfortable to use use the win mini for long sessions or even if you just naturally have average to large siiz hands something worth noting is that the joysticks use hall effect so they have no dead zones and they have a higher chance to last long but they're also recessed which I'm sure some people will not like for me I've adapted to it and I found that I can use it without any issues but if I had to pick a device based on its joysticks alone the win mini definitely will not be it I should also mention that GPD cells grips that can be attached to the wind mini if one is looking to add better Gamepad ergonomics to the device keep in mind though that this takes a lot away from its super compact nature it's easy to install and tools are provided for the process so no worries there moving on to the io ports the wind mini comes equipped with a versatile set of ports for different use cases every port on it is located on the rear and starting from the right side there's a bios reset Port two USB type- C's a game pad and a mouse mode toggle audio jack SD card slots and most notably an ocul link Port as for the USBC ports one is usb4 with fast transfer speeds while the second is a slower USB 3.2 one thing I've realized after using multiple handhelds is that having at least two USB type-c ports on a device like that has so many benefits it increases how many USBC devices one can have connected at the same time which is great in so many different situations the usb4 port is is also fast enough to use with external gpus which increases the usability of the wind mini the oculink port is another way to hook the wind mini up to an external GPU except it offers a more reliable and a faster connection between both devices as for speakers there's nothing special about the ones that come stock in the wind mini it's pretty much what you'd expect from a device with two tiny little speakers if you want premium sound you'll want bluetooth earbuds or a pair of headphones the display play on the Wind mini is a 7in 1080p LED touchscreen with a maximum refresh rate of 120 HZ the screen also supports 60 HZ and switching can be done easily from the display settings menu the bezel around the screen isn't very slim but it's also not very thick the screen can get really bright as well and is equivalent to about what you'd expect from the Rog Ali at maximum brightness colors look pretty good as well and they're vibrant and the image quality at 1080p looks great on the small screen if having a display with vrr is important to you then the win mini might not be for you as it does not come with that I still haven't noticed the effect of having it on the win mini so I think it's safe to say it's fine without that feature but it certainly would be nice to have that there's a variety of configurations of the win mini to pick from all at different prices they all come with either a 7840 U or the less powerful 7640 U processor the unit I've got has a 78 40u 32 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage specs like that in such a small device makes the win mini great for gaming multitasking and productivity on a go if you're considering upgrading the storage on it keep in mind that it uses a 2230 style SSD which means you can only install up to a maximum of 2 terabytes but the process is very fast and easy now with all that power comes great responsibility but I'm not sure if Windows OS on the win mini is equipped for the responsibility of handheld gaming using Windows on literally every handheld PC I've tried has always been with issues there's a constant need for updates which usually gets worse when a device hasn't been used in a long time then there's the UI which isn't very user friendly for handheld but thankfully the wind mini is built like a laptop so this isn't much of a problem for it another disadvantage of Windows is all the bloatware that it comes with and the background processes that it runs which end up eating into the battery life of the wind mini to make matters worse the stock software for controlling things like TDP looks very primitive and may be intimidating for most people to use it's also possible to download a third party software to get around this issue or even replace windows with something less bloated and more user friendly but I'm sure most people aren't willing to do this the last thing I've note here is that there's no game mode or handheld software with a nice and userfriendly interface pre-installed on the Wind mini you'll have to use it like a normal PC or install a thirdparty game launcher like play night if you want to console like experience gaming on the win mini works really well and that's thanks to the power that it draws from that 78 40u processor on the 32 GB of RAM inside it as long as you're able to make peace with its ergonomics you'll find that gaming on the win mini is really fun and great for on the go usage as with other 78 40u devices the win mini is able to handle most games that you throw at it including Triple A titles how well it handles it now depends on the amount of power that the system is drawing at the time in other words the TDP amount this is essentially what controls performance and the higher it sets the more performance is expected and vice versa unfortunately the TDP amounts also affects battery life in the opposite direction where the higher it sets the lower the battery life and vice versa this means you'll want to play more demanding games or play at higher refresh rates and resolutions only when connected to power if you try to do that while I'm battery expect really really short play times on battery I found that it's best to play around 15 watts TDP which puts out a good amount of performance that's still enough to play most games at decent frame ratees I tend to only use the win mini when on the move so I find myself playing a lot of older AAA titles in my backlog on it more often than not at 15 watts I've been able to consistently get smooth gameplay sessions out of the win mini playing at 1080p most of the time one game I've really enjoyed playing on the mini is GTA 5 it runs really well at 15 watts and I'm able to get close to a steady 60 frames per second at 1080p with up to 2 hours of Play Time on battery I was also able to get some great 1080p Gameplay at 15 watts playing games like Mad Max and days gone I found it best to just stick to playing at 15 watts just to get the best performance out of it playing at higher tdps will only hasten out fast the system heats up and how H it gets one of the biggest issues that I've experienced using the mini especially at High tdps is that it heats up very quickly becoming too hot to hold on to this really limits how long one can use a device for and I'm sure the heat dissipation system being in close proximity to the GamePad is a major reason for this it gets so hot at high tdps to the point where the abxy and a d-pad buttons begin to burn your fingers and trust me it's not pleasant at all even when playing at 15 watts the system still gets fairly hot and difficult to use for extended periods it just doesn't get as uncomfortably hot and also not as quickly as when playing at higher tdps remember you can also pick up the detachable grips that provide an additional layer between your hands and the hot points on the back this does not completely eliminate the heat problems but it definitely alleviates it another issue I've noticed using the wind mini is that the fans get annoyingly loud at high tdps including when playing at 15 watts this in combination with the heat issues from playing at high tdps makes for a very un comfortable experience if you plan on playing for long sessions on it now the win mini comes with a decent battery for it size there still hasn't been any major Innovations in Battery tech so do not expect long playing times here it's definitely nothing major but when playing at 15 watts I've been able to consistently get close to two hours of play time out of it in different games this amount will of course be reduced at higher tdps but I found 15 watts to be good enough for most of my undergo gaming sessions it also charges very quickly using a provided 65 wat charger or a similar third- party charger so getting back to a full charge in no time is quick in conclusion I tried loving the win mini and believe it's a solid device with a lot of potential unfortunately it's also got some major flaws in its current state now despite all of that I still enjoy occasionally bringing it around with me for on theg go usage or when I want a portable that has a lot of Versatility for gaming I stick to 15 watt TDP or lower for a long longer lasting battery and to reduce heat and fan noise issues associated with high tdps anyway that's all I've got for this one I hope you guys enjoy watching it if you have any questions about the win mini you can leave it down in the comment section below thanks for watching as always I look forward to catching you guys in my next video it's Tomy and I'm out [Music] y'all