Beelink ME Pro mini PC + NAS review

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Beelink ME Pro: 30-second review

The Beelink ME Pro is a hybrid Mini PC and NAS in one, powered by the lightweight Intel 95 CPU with integrated Intel UHD graphics. Like any mini PC, it features a full version of Windows 11, in this case, the Home edition, so if you want to access it directly and you’re familiar with Windows, it’s extremely easy to use. If you just want it as a NAS, you can install TrueNAS or similar.

You can also utilise it as your media server, and while it comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home, the machine is also fully compatible with a range of NAS OS options, such as FNOS, UNRAID, and TrueNAS. You can also run Linux or a virtual machine such as Proxmox (PVE) or ESXi.

During this review, I utilised the pre-installed Windows 11 Home OS and configured network access for my Apple computers, enabling me to use my wired network as a central resource for storing files.

From the outset, it struck me just how versatile the small machine is. With those 3.5-inch bays, you can install large-capacity HDDs, for example, two 4 TB Western Digital Red drives. Then there’s space for three M.2 SSDs, with the machine pre-installed with a 120GB option that includes Windows 11 Home.

During the test, I also installed a couple of blank SSDs, which allowed me to install TrueNAS and test how the machine performed when used as a true streaming server throughout the Home.

One aspect that struck me from the outset was the build quality, just how well thought out this small machine is. Out of the box, it’s quick to get started, but over time, you can expand the storage to a massive 72 TB, which is really impressive for a device of this size.

Used to serve my storage needs in the office, mainly images and video, I was impressed by the speed over the wired network, and after setting up the two WD Reds as shared access for all machines on the network, I was also able to utilise the Plex media server.

However, while the ME Pro works well as a storage device, when used as a day-to-day PC, the power of the N95 CPU is rather limited, as reflected in the benchmarking scores. Even Microsoft Office applications, if pushed, struggled with anything too complex. Then there’s the integrated UHD graphics, which is perfect for video playback but not much more.

best mini PCs in our guide. Then pair it with the ME Pro as part of the ecosystem on your network rather than a day-to-day mini PC and NAS in one.

Beelink ME Pro: Price and availability

How much does it cost? $369
When is it out? Now
Where can you get it? Widely available

Depending on the configuration and the storage you intend to place inside, the price of the ME Pro can vary greatly. Our review sample is the N95 option with 12 GB of RAM and a 120 GB SSD, which will cost around $369 or £320.

For the more expensive option featuring the Intel N150, 16 GB of LP DDR4 RAM, and a 1 TB SSD, you would likely spend US$529.

Beelink website, as well as Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Beelink ME Pro

(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

Beelink ME Pro: Design

The Beelink ME Pro hybrid NAS mini PC is an innovative design for what is essentially a two-in-one machine. Alongside access to a very capable NAS with both 2.5 and 5 GbE connections, two 3.5-inch bays and three PCIe 3.0 SSD slots, it’s also a Windows Mini PC.

Considering it’s a NAS and Mini PC, it’s extremely small at 166 x 121 x 112 mm and weighs 2.1kg, though that is without the power adapter, any HDDs, or the SSDs installed. This still makes it one of the smallest NAS devices on the market, even for a two-bay model, and the fact that it’s also a fully functional Windows machine makes it even more impressive.

But there’s something more about the Beelink ME Pro that I really like, and that’s the fact that they have made it modular, so whilst at present the only options available are the Intel N95 or the Intel N150 motherboard, the motherboard can actually be withdrawn from the system and replaced with an AMD or ARM option, although at present these aren’t available, but are highlighted as future options on the website.

Installing the drives is simple, with the two bays pulling out, your 3.5-inch HDD sitting inside, and then screwing tightly into the bay, holding it steady. Beelink is keen to highlight that this holder design helps reduce vibration, avoiding any damage that might occur compared with NAS drive bays that hold drives loosely in by small plastic grommets.

The three SSDs are bolted and slotted into the underside, and the machine actually ships with one small 128GB drive pre-installed. I used the other two slots to hold additional storage and an alternate operating system.

Another feature of the device is the amount of cooling that has been incorporated, so through the front and base of the machine, air is drawn in, helping to ensure that the drives , motherboard, CPU and RAM stay as cool as possible, optimising performance.

Another nice design feature is that on the back, there’s a magnetic dust cover that is easily removed so that you can remove dust and ensure the airflow remains consistent. Again, it’s just an extra level of thought in the design.

Beelink ME Pro — (Image credit: Alastair Jennings)

When it comes to ports, these are well laid out, with two LAN ports on the back, one of which is 2.5GbE, the other 5GbE, and HDMI so you can plug it directly into a monitor, two USB-A ports, and then around the front, there is another USB Type-A.

Through the test, I found this extremely useful, as I had a keyboard and mouse plugged into the two Type-A ports on the back when I was installing the TrueNAS operating system onto a secondary SSD, and I was able to do that using the USB key through the front USB Type-A port without having to reconfigure the rear ports. Obviously, after this, the port, along with the USB-C on the back, can be used to directly transfer files to the ME Pro.

Once everything was installed into the system and plugged in, there was just the usual process of finishing the installation for Windows 11 Home, then configuring the two HDDs into a RAID configuration or Windows equivalent and the SSDs. Since the machine is so small, I was able to position it happily on the shelf behind my monitor and plugged it directly into the router so it could be accessed by other machines on the network as well.

Beelink ME Pro: Features

The ME Pro is an interesting hybrid device, being both a NAS and a mini PC in one, and it balances that job pretty well with two HDD bays for mass storage and three SSDs for faster storage options. In the case of my review unit, I have two HDDs configured in Windows Simple (RAID 0) equivalent and the three SSDs, one installed with Windows 11 Home that ships with the machine, one with TrueNAS, and the other just as a mass storage device, all of which could be accessed easily from other machines on the network.

The machine is also available in other configurations, with the option that I’ve looked at in this review coming with the Intel N95, 12GB of LPDDR5 4800MHz and a 128GB SSD; this chipset is also available in a 512GB SSD option, then you can take the upgrade to the Intel N150 which has 16GB of LPDDR5 4800MHz and a 512GB SSD, and that again is available in a 1TB option.

Whichever option you choose, the HDD bays are up to you in terms of capacity, and each bay can hold up to 30TB. Alongside the SATA 3.5-inch HDDs there are also three M.2 NVMe drive slots, and these take M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0, and each is capable of taking 4TB, so you can get up to 60TB through HDD and a further 12TB through the SSDs, bringing you to a grand total of 72TB, which is one of the highest capacities that I have seen in this size of machine.

Beelink’s small NAS and mini PC in one is impressive, and the engineers have obviously looked very carefully at the cooling. Through the literature, the company is keen to point out just how much innovation has gone into the cooling system. Air is drawn through the front and base of the machine, pushed through the system and out of the back above the motherboard.

One of the things I didn’t realise during the test was just how cool the system ran. It wasn’t too hard to push the system hard because of that N95 processor, copying terabytes of data to the two HDDs and utilising Plex to watch back video. The machine was more than capable of keeping up with the demands, as long as you didn’t expect too much from it on the processing side.

Due to the design of the machine and its hybrid use, you have the option to install many common OSs; as I’ve previously mentioned, it comes with Windows 11 Home installed, but you can also install Linux if you so wish. Alongside either of those operating systems, you could also use it to run a dedicated NAS OS such as FNOS or TrueNAS, and in this review, I ran TrueNAS because it is an open-source option and free. You can also run a virtual machine, such as Proxmox (PVE) or ESXi, so potentially you could have your OS installed on one of the SSDs and another virtual machine on the final SSD, tailoring it to whichever use case you want.

Whilst the N95 is a relatively low-powered CPU, the integrated UHD graphics are great for running Windows. What that does mean is that it runs on extremely low power, so having this NAS sit in the background working will cost you a lot less than many of the larger, more powerful options on the market.

Beelink ME Pro: Performance

Benchmarks

CrystalDiskMark Read: 212.58
CrystalDiskMark Write: 204.26
Geekbench CPU Multi: 2034
Geekbench CPU Single: 1056
Geekbench GPU: 3190
PCMark Overall: 2786
Cinebench CPU Multi (Threads): 2601
Cinebench CPU Single (Threads): 900
Fire Strike Overall: 1064
Fire Strike Graphics: 1136
Fire Strike Physics: 5822
Fire Strike Combined: 394
Time Spy Overall: 362
Time Spy Graphics: 316
Time Spy CPU: 2261
Wild Life Overall: 2258
Steel Nomad Overall: 0
Windows Experience Overall: 8

Starting out with the Beelink ME Pro is straightforward. Just think of it in the same way that you would any standard mini PC; essentially, you run through the Windows 11 Home set-up process, finish off the last few steps connecting to your network, and essentially you’re set and ready to go. It’s a mini PC, albeit not an especially powerful one, as was proven with the performance tests.

However, if you do want to use it for basic word processing, office work, browsing the internet, and watching videos on YouTube, then it’s more than adequate for that. You can always connect a webcam and use it as an office meeting machine. Whilst the N95 isn’t especially powerful compared to the latest mini PCs on the market, it’s still a well-balanced option, especially for work-focused machines where high-end graphics and processing power aren’t usually required.

However, this is also a NAS, offering network-connected storage, and it comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed. It just makes the whole process easier, so if you work in a small home office and don’t have much IT experience, this could be an ideal solution for you.

To get started, I simply plugged the Beelink ME Pro into the back of my network hub, then attached the monitor, keyboard, and mouse so I could complete the Windows set-up and install two 4TB HDDs. I used Western Digital Red drives and configured these as the Windows equivalent of RAID 0, essentially a simple storage space. And, of course, you have the option to go for mirror or parity, the RAID 1 or RAID 5 equivalents.

The process is relatively easy: install the drives, then go to System > Storage in the Advanced Storage Settings. Select your storage space, create a new pool, select both HDDs, choose Simple, and you’re essentially done. You then have those 4TB drives as one usable 8TB drive. There’s no redundancy with the Simple configuration, but it does give you the speed. If you do want backup, set the drives as a mirror, which is the RAID 1 equivalent; again, it’s the same process, you just select Mirror rather than Simple.

Used in this way, those 8TB were fast to access, so I used them to back up my image and video files directly to the shared space I created on those drives.

When it came to the rest of the storage options using the SSDs, one of them was obviously taken by Windows 11 Home, and the other two slots I installed two Lexar 512GB SSDs; I installed TrueNAS on one and left the other as straight storage for TrueNas, and again, it was all very easy to do.

The SSD storage was prepared through TrueNas and once formatted it could be accessed directly or through the network. It’s worth pointing out that TrueNAS, needed to be installed from a separate USB key, and here I was really pleased to see that there was a USB Type-A slot on the front of the machine; the two on the rear were already taken up with the keyboard and mouse, and I didn’t want to unplug these or use an adapter.

The TrueNAS set-up was relatively straightforward, taking slightly longer than anticipated to run through the settings and connect the machine to the wired network, but once it was up and running, I was able to stream from Plex and use it again as a mass storage device. One of the issues here is that Simple (RAID 0) storage capacity that I had setup in the Windows install wasn’t accessible from the TrueNAS install. What really stood out here was just how well suited the N95 CPU was, and whilst it’s limited for general day-to-day use as an office machine, it makes perfect sense when used within a NAS.

The other point is that whilst the integrated UHD graphics might not be that impressive for the latest games, when it comes to streaming 4K footage it does surprisingly well and means that here we have an inexpensive solution that’s easy to understand compared with many standard NAS options.

Another point is that it can be left on 24/7; after the test, once it was installed, I literally just left it running in the background. After giving the TrueNAS installation a test, I switched back to Windows 11 Home and left it running as a large-capacity storage solution in the office. Whilst there were limited additional options compared with TrueNAS, it was just easy to connect to and use.

One of the main reasons I installed the Plex Media Server for Windows was to point it to the 8TB internal storage set-up and have Plex running as a background service all the time, directly accessible from all the machines in the house and then office.

By the end of the test, the ME Pro proved to be one of the easiest NAS solutions I’ve come across, offering easy integration, especially for Windows-based set-ups, and it will suit many home offices without IT backup or support.

Beelink ME Pro: Final verdict

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The concept of the Beelink ME Pro is a great one. It offers a straightforward, easy-to-understand network-attached storage solution, and the fact that it comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home means that almost anyone can set it up and use it just like another PC in your house or office, it just has more storage potential and the ability to be used as an effective shared network drive.

What I like about it is that you can easily install two large-capacity HDDs, and again, they’re set up using the Windows 11 storage solution which is familiar. The Windows 11 storage solution is just straightforward, and whether you choose to create a single large drive or mirror the drive, the process in the Windows interface is straightforward.

Then, once it has been created, right-click and select the share options so that anyone else on your network can access it. It really couldn’t be simpler.

The fact is, that for most home office workers this system is simple, essentially it’s another small machine with fast network connectivity with the ability to share its contents. Whilst it is a Mini PC, it should really be seen as a NAS or Media Server, the fact that it runs Windows 11 Home just makes it familiar and easy to use.

If you do want to take things a little bit further and turn it into a home media server, then with the installation of Plex you can instantly stream video from that master storage to any machine or smart device that you want, and whilst this does take a little bit more know-how and set-up, it is still relatively straightforward and there are plenty of user guides out there on how to do it.

But what really makes this interesting is the fact that you have those three SSDs on the base, so if you do want to install another operating system or NAS OS, such as I did with TrueNAS, then this again is possible, and you can use it in the home or office as a small home lab for experimentation, or if you turn it completely over to TrueNAS you have a very compact, large-capacity NAS that will offer you all of the usual features.

Whilst my review sample waseasy to use, straightforward, and worked exceptionally well for everything I wanted, many will feel that Windows 11 Home offers fewer features than some of the more involved NAS set-ups, but you can still install those over the Windows 11 installation. And what I really like is the part modular design.

The fact that you can insert so much storage, but also in future updates install an AMD or ARM motherboard all further add to its flexibility. If you are running a home lab and need to experiment with different CPUs and set-ups; this one small machine and the ability to slide the motherboard in and out again makes it extremely interesting.

At the end of this test I will definitely say the Beelink ME Pro is a perfect partner to Beelink’s other mini PCs, but more so to anyone with a mini PC looking for an easy way to boost its network storage without delving into something as complex as standard NAS box, and if you do run a home lab, again this is a great option with plenty of flexibility.

If, however, you’re just looking for a straight NAS with all the features and apps, then maybe something a little more advanced with a bit more processing power would be a better option.

Should I buy a Beelink ME Pro?

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Value	Affordable hybrid mass-storage mini PC option that you can expand as your budget allows	4
Design	Extremely premium, compact all-metal build that will fit almost any space	4.5
Features	A great set of features and flexibility, meaning it can be as simple or complex as you need 4/5	4
Performance	Low-power CPU makes it okay for standard office work and being used as a NAS, but nothing too advanced	4
Overalls	Easy-to-use and extremely versatile home office NAS system	4