Aerofara Aero 2 Pro Mini PC Review: Great if You Need VGA Video Out
Aerofara Aero 2 Pro Mini PC
There’s a lot to like about the Aero 2 Pro Mini PC. It’s affordable yet still delivers power efficiency and 4K playback for streaming content. It’s an excellent all-rounder mini-PC for light gaming, productivity tasks, and general use. However, it does have a few severe issues.
Its port and video-out selection is good but not great, and it lacks USB-C. Overall, the majority of those looking for a versatile, yet affordable, mini PC will appreciate the Aero 2 Pro. But most consumers will prefer one of its competitors, particularly theECS Liva Z3, aMeLE Quieter3Q, or aGMK Nucbox 5.
In truth, the only reason to choose an Aero 2 Pro over an ECS, MeLE, or GMK is if you need a VGA video output. Otherwise, you’re best served by any of the other systems that offer reliable customer service and similar hardware.
If you’re looking for low-cost computer for streaming 4K HDR content, then theAerofara Aero 2 Proticks all the right boxes. While not performant for games, its low-power consumption and quiet cooling system make it a solid choice for students or office workers who might also need to write papers or crunch spreadsheets.
Yet despite their absent customer support, its $200 price tag makes the Aero 2 Pro a tantalizing mini-PC for the streaming, home office, and education markets.
Who Are Aerofara and Can You Trust Them?
Aerofarais a relatively unknown manufacturer of mini-PCs that has been in the business since around the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. While small and lacking an established reputation, it’s managed to score high on product reviews from most major tech sites.
Its products—especially the Aero 2 Pro Mini PC—show good construction quality. Furthermore, the Aero 2 Pro received 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon withno taint of review tampering, as indicated by ReviewMeta.
However, I did have some trouble with customer support from Aerofara. By “trouble”, I mean Aerofara’s customer support didn’t respond to a single message. As with any manufacturer that doesn’t return requests for support, that means their warranty, exchange, and return policy is non-existent. So if you buy one, it’s likely you’ll get the standard Amazon return period, which is typically a month. During the holidays, that’s around three months.
Here’s What You Get
Aerofara includes three things: a DC power adapter, an HDMI cable, and the Aero 2 Pro Mini PC. Unlike most full-plastic budget computers, the mini-PC is made from two halves of aluminum metal on its upper and lower decks. It’s flatter than its competition, measuring 120 x 120 x 23mm. For comparison, most mini PCs are around 40mm thick. However, compared to a GMK Nucbox (ourNucBox review), the Aero 2 Pro looks enormous.
The Aerofara Aero 2 Pro comes with Windows 10 Pro, although it’s upgradeable to Windows 11. It has an NVMe 256 GB Netac SSD (no DRAM) and a full-sized SD card slot for storage. It also features a Jasper Lake processor, Wi-Fi 5, and is housed in an aluminum frame. A black plastic spacer separates the two metal halves of the computer with the purpose of provide clearance for the 2x2 Wi-Fi antennas. The antennas connect to a 3165 Wi-Fi 5 card tucked underneath the SSD.
The framing and style remind me of an Apple Mac Mini. Although, unlike a Mac Mini, the Aero 2 Pro’s cooling system is uncomplicated, being the same as you’d see in a laptop. The 10-watt processor is cooled through a copper heat sink-fan combination.
Its active cooling and copper heat sink make it slightly faster than its competitors, as passively cooled systems often have to throttle back performance to avoid overheating. A full-copper heat-sink fan combo can handle higher heat stress with lower noise production. That’s perfect for HTPC purposes.
Noticeably absent is the lack of a USB-C power-in port (for broader charger compatibility), and no VESA-mounting adapter.
Hardware and Specifications
Like other budget mini-PCs, the Aero 2 Pro uses a low-wattage Intel processor. However, rather than relying on older 14-nanometer Gemini Lake Refresh internals, the Aero 2 Pro sports the latestJasper Lake-based N5105system-on-a-chip, based on 10-nanometer lithography. The key difference between the two generations is improved performance-per-watt and Jasper Lake’s ability to play 4K HDR video seamlessly.
For ports, you get a single VGA for connecting to older monitors, an HDMI 2.0 port, and three “USB 3.0” ports (more on that, later). Interestingly, there’s also a full-sized SD card slot and an RJ45 LAN port. While the full-sized SD card slot doesn’t buff performance, it’s nice to have the option of using a full-size card, in case that’s all you have on hand.
The Aero 2 Pro’s wireless connectivity is handled by an Intel 3135 Wi-Fi 5 (Wireless-AC) card, with Bluetooth 5.0. It’s located under the same slot as the Netac drive. While not the latest or greatest of wireless cards, it’s broadly compatible with most routers and offers adequate speed.
Overall, it’s a fairly modular system, although the RAM isn’t replaceable.
Comparisons to Similar Mini-PCs
Compared to other Jasper Lake mini-PCs, the Aerofara Aero 2 Pro mini-PC has some standout features: first, it has a VGA video-out port (for older computers). Second, it has a full-sized SD card slot. Third, it’s quieter than some of its competition.
Unfortunately, the $200 price point is loaded with similar systems. For example, theGMK NucBox 5includes newer Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6. GMK’s system also costs less while offering a similar number of ports, except VGA. Considering the NucBox’s much smaller dimensions, it seems that the Aero 2 Pro’s main two advantages are that it offers VGA support and a quieter cooling system.
However,MeLE’s Quieter3Qis a fully fanless (and therefore silent) mini-PC with similar hardware, but it throws in a VESA mount and improved wireless connectivity.
Perhaps the strongest competitor is theECS Liva Z3, which comes with a higher-tiered processor (the N6000 Pentium Silver), and all-around stronger specs with the same form factor, although without VGA support.
What We Liked
While we liked the Aero 2 Pro Mini PC for its power-efficient 4K playback and streaming content, we didn’t like its poor USB selection with only two USB 3.0 ports. We also didn’t like how their warranty policy was stated; Aerofara didn’t respond to messages regarding their exchange and returns policy. The Aero 2 Pro Mini PC was also slightly more expensive than its competition. Last, its 2242 M.2 SSD slot can’t fit a larger, more common 2280 storage drive. You can find a full-sized M.2 slot on many of Minisforum’s computers (ourU850 review) andIntel NUC systems, although it’s not usually seen on less expensive systems.
Power-Efficient 4K Playback
Like all Jasper Lake systems, the Aero 2 Pro streams HDR 4K video at 60 FPS. While streaming video, it consumed no more than 14 watts, with an average consumption closer to 10 watts. This makes it one of the most energy-efficient mini-PCs I’ve tested for 4K playback. However, its power consumption wasn’t appreciably lower than the GMK NucBox. That said, the NucBox couldn’t credibly do 4K HDR, so these numbers aren’t quite comparable. Given the same workload, the Aero 2 Pro’s Jasper Lake system should be around 20% more efficient than the Gemini Lake Refresh model inside the NucBox.
Smooth 4K HDR Streaming
Unlike older mini-PCs based on Gemini Lake Refresh with UHD 605 graphics, Jasper Lake systems can stream 4K HDR content smoothly with a minimum of dropped frames. In comparison, the older Gemini Lake Refresh processors could play HDR content but at the expense of massive losses in video smoothness. Furthermore, Gemini Lake Refresh computers would completely max out their power consumption, and their fans would struggle to keep the processor from throttling.
Good File-Transfer Speeds
The Netac 2242-form factor SSD isn’t the fastest SSD, but it is good relative to its competition in the $200 price range. Unfortunately, the Netac SSD is limited to SATA speed, which means a maximum of around 550MB/s for transferring and reading files. In comparison, some mini-PCs use soldered-on eMMC modules, which are quite slow. A few other mini-PCs have NVMe-class SSDs, which are lightning fast, although they’re typically available for around $200 as bare-bones systems, meaning they come without RAM and storage.
According to CrystalDiskMark, the transfer speeds max out the SATA interface. The Netac SSD scored 547 MB/s for sustained write and 463 MB/s for reads. For shallow queue-depth random reads and writes, it scored 10.75 and 53.22 MB/s, respectively. For a Host-Memory Buffer (HMB) SSD, that’s not terrible, but it’s also not much better than Gemini Lake Refresh systems.
Excellent Build Quality
A teardown of the Aero 2 Pro reveals good layout and design. There’s no sign of poor manufacturing standards. For the most part, Aerofara appears to be a solid manufacturer. On the downside, the RAM is permanently soldered onto the main board. The faster ECS Liva series is the only mini-PC in this budget segment that offers upgradeable RAM.
Quiet Maximum Performance
The Aerofara Aero 2 Pro’s active cooling produced no more than 30 dBm when hit with an artificial workload using Prime95. While streaming 4K HDR content at 60 FPS, the Aero 2 Pro offered fairly silent playback, topping out at around 25 dBm. In comparison, ultra-small mini-PCs like the GMK NucBox have significantly louder volumes of around 53 dBm while streaming 4K content. Because decibels are not linear, 25 dBm is nearly silent, whereas 53 dBm is distractingly loud. Aside from fanless computers, the Aero 2 Pro produces less noise than any computer I’ve ever tested.
Good Browsing Performance
Like most low-power computers, you’ll likely use the Aero 2 Pro for web browsing. In the education and office markets, that usually means Google Docs or Office 365, both of which offer document editing and spreadsheets in a web browser.
As a power-efficient machine made for navigating the internet, the Aero 2 Pro’s Jasper Lake processor is more than adequate for rendering websites. It outperforms the older Gemini Lake Refresh processor by around 20-40%. You’ll generally get snappier, faster performance when visiting your favorite websites. Although, like most processors in this market segment, the speed won’t feel fast compared to a processor that consumes more power. Additionally, the Wi-Fi 5 card isn’t the latest and most of its competitors have moved to the much faster Wi-Fi 6 standard.
Compared to the last two generations of processor, Gemini Lake and Gemini Lake Refresh, Jasper Lake processors are significantly faster. They’re more comparable to desktop processors than any older generation of low-power processor. Here’s a comparison between the last two generations of low-power processors usingBrowserBench.
For reference, I’m including3DMarkresults, which show adequate performance. However, even so, the results aren’t quite comparable to a mainstream desktop processor.
What We Didn’t Like
There’s a lot to like about Aerofara’s Aero 2 Pro. But not everything is perfect. In particular, the problems we had contacting customer support are highly problematic.
Dual Display Requires an Adapter
Unfortunately, if you want to use dual displays, you’ve got to use an adapter to convert from VGA to HDMI, which causes a loss in fidelity. This isn’t a huge problem though, because Jasper Lake is capable of running two 1080p displays at 60Hz, without struggling or dropping frames.
USB 3.0 Ports
Unfortunately, USB 3.0 ports suffer from a wireless interference bug. Fortunately, according to areviewer at CNX Software, two of the Aero 2 Pro’s ports are USB 3.1, which addresses the wireless interference bug. Although I did experience some degree of lag when using a wireless mouse, likely because of the single USB 3.0 port.
Weak Customizable UEFI Options
The UEFI lacks the diverse customization options that competitors like GMK. While to some degree, this omission is forgivable, if you need to configure your device for EuP/ErP or for use as a network switch, the Aerofara isn’t for you.
Absent Customer Support
Unfortunately,Aerofara’s absent customer support pagedoesn’t do them any favors. I’ve managed to speak with customer service reps at companies such as MeLE, GMK, and ECS, all of whom responded to emails within a single business day. Aerofara’s absent service doesn’t speak well for them, given that their competition is so responsive.
Ubuntu Support
The Aerofara Aero 2 Pro wasn’t able to run a clean boot of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. However, other users reportedissues getting sound working in Kubuntu, which means they successfully installed Ubuntu. I wasn’t able to get Ubuntu working, unfortunately.
Conclusion
There’s a lot to like about theAero 2 Pro Mini PC. It’s affordable yet still delivers on power efficiency and 4K playback for streaming content. It’s an excellent all-rounder mini-PC for light gaming, productivity tasks, and general use. However, it does have a few severe issues.
Its port and video-out selection is good but not great, and it lacks USB-C. Overall, the majority of those looking for a versatile, yet affordable, mini-PC will appreciate the Aero 2 Pro. But most consumers will prefer one of its competitors, particularly theECS Liva Z3, aMeLE Quieter3Q, or aGMK Nucbox 5.
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