Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini Series IdeaCentre Mini x Review

The IdeaCentre Mini x is fast for office tasks but terrible for gaming. Its Snapdragon X Elite CPU is a standout, but the weak GPU and ARM Windows hold it back. At $1110, it's only worth it if you need a tiny ARM dev box.

The IdeaCentre Mini x is Lenovo's take on the new wave of AI PCs. It's a tiny desktop powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chip, and it's built for developers and office work, not gaming.

This thing is basically a laptop without a screen, crammed into a one-liter box. It's got Windows 11 on ARM, which is still a bit of a wild west for software compatibility, but the promise is all-day battery life and cool AI features. We're here to see if it delivers.

The Snapdragon X Elite chip is fast. In our database, its CPU performance lands in the 89th percentile, which means it's one of the best on the market for general tasks and coding. The 32GB of RAM is also a standout. But the integrated GPU is a real letdown, sitting in the 16th percentile. That's why its gaming score is abysmal. The 512GB SSD is about average, and reliability scores are surprisingly low for a Lenovo product.

At $1110, it's a tough sell. You're paying a premium for the compact form factor and the new Snapdragon architecture. For that price, you could get a much more powerful traditional mini PC or even a decent gaming laptop. The value is really only there if you absolutely need a super small footprint and are willing to bet on the ARM ecosystem.

Compared to an Intel NUC or a more traditional mini PC like the Asus ROG NUC, this loses hard on raw graphics power and software compatibility. It beats them on portability and maybe battery life if you use it with a UPS. Against the listed gaming desktops like the HP Omen or Alienware Aurora, it's not even a contest—those are in a different league for performance. This Mini x carves out a niche for developers who want to test ARM builds or need a super portable dev station.

Skip this if you play games, use GPU-intensive creative apps, or just want a reliable, do-it-all desktop. Its weak graphics and so-so reliability scores make it a poor choice for general use. If you need power, look at a traditional mini PC or a gaming desktop.

Buy this if you're a developer specifically needing an ARM-based Windows machine for testing, or if you want the absolute smallest possible desktop for basic office work and don't care about gaming. For everyone else, there are better, more versatile options for the money.