Lenovo’s designs for its mini PCs tend to be a bit larger than some others. The IdeaCentre Mini x measures 1.7 by 7.7 by 7.5 inches (HWD). Meanwhile, the Asus NUC 15 Pro+ comes in at 1.6 by 5.7 by 4.4 inches, and the Apple Mac mini measures 5 inches in width and depth, and is tall at 2 inches. Lenovo’s business-oriented ThinkCentre Neo 50q is a bit smaller, at 7.1 inches by 7.2 inches, and 1.4 inches tall.
All that said, the IdeaCentre Mini x is still small enough to fit comfortably on most desktops—but keep the larger size in mind. (You can also position the Mini x vertically with the included stand.) Part of the reason it’s a bit larger than the pack is that the system’s 150-watt power supply is built inside, rather than as a brick on the power cable.
The chassis uses a mix of materials—including aluminum for the sides, plastic on the bottom, and a soft-touch material on the top—with a dark gray color that’s attractive enough and doesn’t call attention to itself. The design feels solid, and the materials make it comfortable to move around. The vents—located in the rear and on the bottom—create a cohesive look, but they don’t sound quite so lovely. Even though the IdeaCenter Mini x is built around the efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor, the fans sometimes spin up and can get quite loud. That’s a departure from the also-Snapdragon-based ThinkCentre Neo 50q, which I’m testing alongside this model; that one remained whisper-quiet during testing, thanks partly to its more aggressive venting.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The IdeaCentre Mini x provides access to the internal components, but it takes some detective work to get inside. The specifications list support for up to two SSDs, but at first, I couldn’t find a way to access the slots or the interior. A web search, though, unveiled the secret. A well-hidden button above the IO panel is the key: Press it, and that releases the plastic top of the chassis, which pops off. That reveals a metal plate that doesn’t seem to promise much, but if you hunt around there, you’ll see another button that you press to release the case bottom…
(Credit: PCMag)
Once, that’s off, you’ll see the blower-style cooling system for the CPU, and the power supply. Lift the black lever at the bottom of the power supply, and that allows the supply’s body to move. Sliding the power supply down and lifting it out (carefully; it’ll be tethered on a cable) enables you to access the Type-2280 M.2 slots for SSDs (two of them) and a shorter M.2 slot for the Wi-Fi card.
(Credit: PCMag)
As with all Qualcomm Snapdragon X systems, the Mini x’s Snapdragon SoC includes a speedy neural processor (NPU) that supports the entire Microsoft Copilot+ PC AI initiative. Remember, though, that this is somewhat less relevant for a desktop than a laptop, since an NPU is intended to provide efficiency and performance to offload AI tasks onto the more efficient NPU and conserve battery. A desktop with a discrete GPU can still provide faster AI results in many cases, and saving battery life isn’t a concern.
