Review Soyo M2 Plus V1 Mini PC
Table of Contents
Quick Review: Soyo M2 Plus V1 – Compact Mini PC with Intel N100 and Windows 11 Pro #
The Soyo M2 Plus V1 is an entry-level mini PC that stands out primarily for its compact form factor, low power consumption, and solid everyday performance. Behind the device is the OEM manufacturer Peladn, which is responsible for various mini PC platforms sold under different brand names. In the tested configuration, the device features an Intel N100, 16 GB RAM, and a 512 GB M.2 SSD in 2280 format.
Depending on the offer, the PC costs between 110 and 150 EUR (e.g. on Aliexpress). There are also newer variants with Intel N150 CPU that are priced slightly higher.
CPU: Intel N100 in Everyday Use #
The Intel N100 is based on the Alder Lake-N architecture and uses four efficient Gracemont cores without hyper-threading. With a turbo clock of up to 3.4 GHz and integrated UHD graphics, the processor offers sufficient performance for typical office tasks, web applications, media playback, and light development or server workloads. Demanding graphics or computational loads are not part of its intended use case, which is to be expected for this device class.
Windows 11 Pro Preinstalled – Clean, but License Unclear #
The mini PC is delivered with a preinstalled Windows 11 Pro. A positive note is that the system is free of bloatware and appears ready to use immediately. However, the license situation is not clear:
- There is no OEM key in the BIOS
- The system was activated using a MAK key
- A genuine Windows sticker is also missing
This leaves it unclear how reliable the license will be in the long term. While the system works perfectly fine in everyday use, those who value a clearly traceable Windows license should consider this point.
Peladn as OEM Manufacturer #
Although the device is sold under the Soyo name, the hardware platform comes from Peladn. Typical for this manufacturer are compact cases, simple but functional mainboard layouts, and stable BIOS implementations. The M2 Plus V1 fits seamlessly into this lineup and appears solidly built overall.
BIOS: Unexpectedly Comprehensive, but Without Update Prospects #
The AMI BIOS offers more configuration options than one would expect in this price range. In addition to classic boot options, power and CPU parameters as well as fan controls are available. However, one should not assume that the manufacturer will provide BIOS updates in the future. For devices of this type, firmware updates are rather the exception.
Ports #
The Soyo M2 Plus V1 offers a decent, if not modern, port selection. On the back, there are two HDMI ports that enable a dual monitor setup without adapters. This is complemented by two USB 2.0 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet port. On the front, there are two additional USB 3.0 ports, a USB-C port, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
NVMe drives are not supported, as the M.2 slot exclusively provides SATA signals. It may be possible to use the WiFi slot to install a short M.2 NVMe 2230 drive.
On the front:
- 1x Reset button (usable with a pin)
- 1x USB Type-C
- 2x USB 3.0
- Power switch
On the back:
- 2x HDMI
- 2x USB 2.0
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet (RTL8111)
- 1x Power Interface
Wireless Connectivity #
The mini PC supports:
- Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) RTL8822CE
- Bluetooth 4.2
Both are functional and sufficient for typical office and multimedia scenarios, but no longer quite state-of-the-art.
Memory and Expandability #
The mini PC has a single DDR4 SO-DIMM slot that supports up to 32 GB. The installed 16 GB DDR4 3200MHz is therefore not the maximum, and an upgrade is possible. The installed 512 GB M.2 SSD in 2280 format can also be replaced, as long as you stick to SATA models.
Noise and Cooling #
At idle and light load, the mini PC operates almost silently. Only under prolonged or higher load does the fan become audible, but it remains in an unobtrusive range. For a device of this size, this is a good result and shows that the cooling has been sensibly tuned.
Power Supply #
The Soyo M2 Plus V1 is delivered with a 36-watt power supply. This is adequately dimensioned for the Intel N100 mini PC and leaves some reserve for peripherals.
Very practical is the fact that you can also use a USB-C power supply - the video output can also be transmitted with it.
Comparison: Intel N100, Intel N6005 and Intel Pentium J5040 #
Architecture Comparison #
| Feature | Intel N100 | Intel N6005 | Intel Pentium J5040 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Alder Lake-N | Jasper Lake | Gemini Lake Refresh |
| Manufacturing | 10 nm | 10 nm | 14 nm |
| Cores / Threads | 4 / 4 | 4 / 4 | 4 / 4 |
| Turbo Clock | up to 3.4 GHz | up to 3.3 GHz | up to 3.2 GHz |
| GPU | UHD (24 EUs) | UHD (32 EUs) | UHD 605 (18 EUs) |
| TDP | 6 W | 10 W | 10 W |
| CPU Mark (approx.) | 5,300–5,400 | 5,100–5,300 | 3,000–3,200 |
Linux #
Linux also runs on the system without problems.
PCI Devices #
lspci is a Linux utility that lists all PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) devices connected to the system. The output below shows the hardware components recognized by the operating system, including controllers, network adapters, and audio devices. This information is useful for verifying driver support and identifying hardware compatibility.
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers [8086:461c]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics] [8086:46d1]
00:04.0 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake Innovation Platform Framework Processor Participant [8086:461d]
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10 Gb/s) xHCI Host Controller [8086:54ed]
00:14.2 RAM memory [0500]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH Shared SRAM [8086:54ef]
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH HECI Controller [8086:54e0]
00:17.0 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N SATA AHCI Controller [8086:54d3]
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCI Express Root Port #4 [8086:54bb]
00:1c.6 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCI Express Root Port #7 [8086:54be]
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH eSPI Controller [8086:5481]
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH High Definition Audio Controller [8086:54c8]
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N SMBus [8086:54a3]
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller [0c80]: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N SPI (flash) Controller [8086:54a4]
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 15)
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter [10ec:c822]
Disk #
Besides the RAM also the SATA disk seems some noname device. Here is the output from smartctl
smartctl -a /dev/sda:
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.17.0-8-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: PELADN 512GB
Serial Number: 2025041xxxxxxx
Firmware Version: Y0312A0
User Capacity: 512,110,190,592 bytes [512 GB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Form Factor: M.2
TRIM Command: Available
Device is: Not in smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is: ACS-4 (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is: SATA 3.2, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is: Sat Jan 17 18:58:48 2026 CET
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 120) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x11) SMART execute Offline immediate.
No Auto Offline data collection support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
No Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
No Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0002) Does not save SMART data before
entering power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 10) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x0001) SCT Status supported.
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 9
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 19
160 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
161 Unknown_Attribute 0x0033 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 100
163 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 6
164 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 401
165 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 1
166 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
167 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
168 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 5050
169 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 100
175 Program_Fail_Count_Chip 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
176 Erase_Fail_Count_Chip 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
177 Wear_Leveling_Count 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
178 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Chip 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 10
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 40
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
232 Available_Reservd_Space 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 100
241 Total_LBAs_Written 0x0030 100 100 050 Old_age Offline - 4405
242 Total_LBAs_Read 0x0030 100 100 050 Old_age Offline - 1810
245 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 050 Old_age Always - 0
Conclusion #
The Soyo M2 Plus V1 is a compact and energy-efficient mini PC that is well suited for office workstations, media playback, small server services, or simple development tasks. The Intel N100 delivers solid everyday performance, the BIOS offers surprisingly many options, and the RAM can be expanded to 32 GB.
However, limitations such as the missing USB-C port, the lack of NVMe support, the older wireless technology, the unclear Windows license, the missing Windows sticker, and the low probability of future BIOS updates should be considered. Overall, the mini PC offers good value for money for users looking for a quiet, energy-efficient, and uncomplicated system.
