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Kamrui Essenx E1 Specs and Features

• Processor: Intel N97, 4-core, up to 3.6 GHz.
• Memory: 16 GB DDR4 RAM.
• Storage: 256 GB SSD (with options for 512 GB and 1 TB).
• Display Support: Dual monitors via HDMI and DisplayPort.
• Ports: 4 USB (2 x 2.0, 2 x 3.0), Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.
• OS: Windows 11 Pro.
• Size: Compact (3.96″×3.96″×1.57″), mountable behind a monitor.

Leaving the Tower

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I lost my old tower PC a couple of weeks ago to age and possibly lightning. Fortunately, I had a laptop I could switch to and I seriously thought about just sticking with that one machine. Even after seven years with the incredible workload I’d put on the PC, I’d still hoped to get a couple more years out of it and I didn’t feel like spending the money for a new system.

Just having the laptop without a backup machine was making me nervous, though, and I wanted something inexpensive to take the everyday load off the laptop and extend its life. I thought about another Chromebook but then I remembered the mini PCs I’d seen on Amazon and started looking into those. The brand names were generally unfamiliar to me but I saw a lot of good Amazon reviews for the Kamrui Essenx E1 Mini PC.

The Specs

For the price, it was definitely worth taking a chance on. I was able to get the Essenx E1 for $139.98 under Amazon’s Prime Day promotion with an extra 5% off through a promo code on their site. With Prime shipping, they even got it to me the next day. This is a much different computer shopping experience than I remember from even a decade ago.

The E1 has an Intel N97 4-core processor with a base speed of 2.0 gigahertz and max speed of 3.6 gigahertz, depending on the workload. (The N97 is not a Celeron processor despite the Amazon site listing that as the CPU family for the computer. Windows reports this as an N97.)

16 GB of RAM was a must for any new machine and the E1 has 16 GB of DDR4 memory. With OneDrive and inexpensive external drives available, I prefer not to keep a lot of data on the machine itself these days so I opted for the 256 GB solid state drive. 512 GB and 1 TB options are available.

Another selling point for me was the E1’s support for dual displays – it has HDMI and DisplayPort, same as my old computer. Trying to get by with a single display now would be difficult (even for someone who started out with a single 15″ monochrome back in the day). The 4 USB ports, 2 x 2.0 and 2 x 3.0, provide plenty of expansion. My laptop skimps on those a little so it’s nice to have a machine with some ports again.

There’s also Windows 11 Pro which I’ll have to spend some time comparing with the Home edition on my laptop. I will miss Windows 10; it served me well for several years.

… and all of this along with Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth in a little 3.96″×3.96″×1.57″ box that can be mounted on the back of a monitor.

The Setup (and troubleshooting)

You can view the complete unboxing and demo on YouTube.

Like most machines these days, the setup on these is ridiculously simple but the small size makes it even more obvious – just plug in the HDMI monitor, a USB keyboard and mouse and the power adapter, hit the power button and follow the prompts.

But there were some quirks along the way.

That initial setup takes some time and there were a couple of long pauses in the progress bar as it was downloading and installing updates. I’d estimate about an hour and a half in all. The update process also quit at 81%, saying it could not complete the updates and would finish them later. Fortunately, it then booted to Windows and continued with the prompts.

At first, the Essenx had some trouble remembering and reconnecting to my wi-fi each time it rebooted, even though it was set to connect automatically. My network name is hidden but my other devices never had an issue with this. I’m thinking this was either a Windows issue or something to do with my previous wi-fi information being downloaded through my Microsoft account.

I fixed this under Windows Settings by going to Network and Internet > Wi-Fi > Manage Known Networks and clearing out some recognized networks that no longer existed, then verifying the settings for my current wi-fi as shown above. After this, the wi-fi worked fine.

My OneDrive also refused to actually download files at first. It connected to my account fine and showed me all the folders and files but, when I tried to open one, it would give me an error code. I fixed this by unlinking the PC from my OneDrive and resetting the app. After that, everything was fine.

The biggest problem I had was when I could only get 1024 x 768 resolution on the monitor connected to the DisplayPort. I went around with this for a long time, even changing out the monitor, trying each one on the laptop and updating the Intel graphics drivers. Finally, it came down to the cable; I was using a VGA cable with a VGA to DisplayPort adapter which worked just fine on my old PC but, for some reason, either the Essenx or Windows 11 didn’t like it. Fortunately, I had an HDMI to DisplayPort cable lying around. After connecting that, I was able to get 1920 x 1080.

Finally, make sure you complete those Windows Updates, remember they will take some time and they might slow down the computer at first.

The Verdict

I’m not completely objective here – I wanted the Essenx E1 to work; not just because I was plunking down some cash but because I really like the idea of a mini PC. Losing my old PC, even after seven years of it performing so well, really stung. It couldn’t run Windows 11 so I might have made it a Linux box at some point but I was still hoping to get a couple more years out of it. Yes, I was actually fond of it.

I don’t like planned obsolesence and I don’t like all the e-waste that’s being created by the mandate to buy a new PC for every other version of Windows. It’s wasteful and it’s expensive for the consumer. So, if we’re going that way anyway, I at least like to recommend a more economical, more environmentally-friendly alternative. After over 30 years of big beige or grey boxes for computers, it’s a bit of an adjustment to expect performance from such a small device but it’s the kind of change I can work with.

The Essenx did deliver. I’ve been using it almost exclusively for two days now and can’t see much difference between its performance and that of a full-size PC. It starts in seconds and the only possible slowdown I’ve seen was in the rendering of the unboxing video in Camtasia and I haven’t been able to compare that to another machine to be sure. Otherwise, the Essenx would be a great deal even at twice the price. For a machine under $150 that frees up so much space and uses less power than a regular PC, I’m very impressed.