ASUS ASUS - NUC Mini Desktop (Ultra 5-135H, 32GB, 2TB Review

The Asus NUC 14 Pro Tall Barebone Kit is a compact mini PC built for productivity, not gaming. You'll need to add your own RAM and storage, but you get a modern Intel Core Ultra processor and a great set of ports in a tiny chassis. It's a solid choice for a space-saving office or home theater PC.

If you're looking for a tiny desktop PC that you can stuff behind a monitor and forget about, the Asus NUC 14 Pro Tall Barebone Kit is worth a look. It's the latest in the long-running NUC line, now built by Asus, and it packs Intel's new Core Ultra 5 135H processor into a chassis that's about the size of a thick paperback book. You'll need to add your own RAM and storage, but for around $730, you get a surprisingly capable foundation for a compact office or home theater PC. People searching for a 'mini PC for work' or a 'compact desktop' will find this fits the bill.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core hybrid chip, and in our database, its CPU performance lands in the 42nd percentile. That means it's solidly mid-tier. It's plenty fast for office work, web browsing, and even light photo editing. The integrated Intel Arc graphics are a step up from older Intel graphics, but they're still integrated graphics. Our percentile ranking puts the GPU at 43rd, so don't expect to game on this thing beyond some very light indie titles or older games at low settings. It's built for productivity, not pixels per second.

At $710 to $749 for the barebone kit, the value proposition hinges on what you need. You're paying a premium for the ultra-small form factor. Once you add 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD, you're likely looking at a total system cost of around $900-$1000. For that money, you could get a more powerful traditional desktop or even some gaming laptops on sale. But if saving space is your top priority, this is a competitive option in the mini PC world.

This isn't really competing with the big gaming desktops like the HP Omen or Alienware Aurora listed in the data. Those are in a different league for performance and size. A more direct competitor would be something like an Intel NUC 13 Pro (the previous generation) or a similar mini PC from brands like Minisforum or Beelink. Compared to those, the Asus NUC 14 Pro offers a newer CPU and that fantastic port selection. However, some of those competitors often come with RAM and storage pre-installed at a similar total price, which is worth considering if you don't want the DIY aspect.

Gamers, video editors, and anyone who needs serious computing power should look elsewhere. This machine's integrated graphics and mid-tier CPU won't cut it. Also, if you hate the idea of buying parts separately and installing them yourself, you'd be better off with a pre-configured mini PC from another brand. For the price of the kit plus components, you could get a more capable laptop or a desktop with a dedicated graphics card.

Should you buy the Asus NUC 14 Pro Tall? If you have a specific need for a very small, clean-looking desktop for general office work, media streaming, or as a secondary machine, yes. The build quality is good, the ports are future-proof, and it's dead simple to set up. But if you're on a tight budget or need any kind of graphical horsepower for gaming or editing, you should skip it. There are more powerful and better-value machines out there, but they won't be this tiny.