Raptor Lake-P in a Modular Portable Workstation

Khadas is a well-known vendor in the ARM-based single-board computer (SBC) circles with boards based on Rockchip and Amlogic SoCs. Recently, the company made its first foray into the small form-factor x86 PC space with a rather unique product family - the Khadas Mind. Unlike regular mini-PCs, the Mind is actually an ecosystem of products created with the aim of bringing a portable modular workstation to the market. Instead of relying on Thunderbolt to achieve this vision, the company has created a proprietary Mind Link connector and interface with an intent to produce a more close-knit set of products.

The main processing unit in the ecosystem is the Khadas Mind, which comes with either an Intel Core i7-1360P (Mind Premium) or an Intel Core i5-1340P (Mind Standard). Equipped with the Mind Link Connector, it can interface to a variety of peripherals such as the Mind Dock and Mind Graphics. While the former provides additional I/Os, the latter is a full-featured eGPU enclosure with a variety of ports. The main unit also includes a small battery that allows the unit to be seamlessly 'hot-plugged' into different peripherals, similar to a notebook.

Khadas sent across the Mind Premium along with the Mind Dock to provide us with an introduction to the Mind ecosystem. This review explores the performance and product experience delivered by Raptor Lake-P in an unusual package.

Introduction and Product Impressions

Advancements in processor architecture and semiconductor manufacturing have resulted in successful replacement of bulky tower desktops with miniaturized computing systems over the last decade. In parallel, notebooks have also become thinner, lighter, and very powerful. On the former front, many vendors are enjoying success with ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) machines pioneered by Intel with the NUC product line. A few years back, Intel also started to introduce Compute Elements and even notebook platforms under the NUC tag in order to diversify beyond the original UCFF vision.

These compact machines have their limitations in terms of platform power dissipation. Addition of discrete GPUs is usually not possible with the UCFF form-factor, resulting in many use-cases still requiring bulky desktops. eGPU enclosures connected via Thunderbolt / USB4 have started to address this aspect. Notebook platforms have traditionally been limited in terms of supported screen sizes. For many business use-cases in particular, the keyboard and built-in screen lie unused, as the notebook is either docked to a bigger monitor or kept in storage. Some users adopt a thin-client model for their notebook, but multiple devices and the compulsory need for network connectivity may result in pain points associated with file syncing. Khadas has created the Mind product family as a solution to these problems.

The ecosystem consists of the main computing unit and a host of peripherals that interface using a proprietary Mind Link connector. The core computing unit is similar to that of an ultrabook's main board - compact, and limited in terms of I/O. However, the leeway over the unit's thickness (compared to a regular ultrabook) has enabled Khadas to equip the board with a vapor chamber-based cooling system. While the LPDDR5 RAM is soldered, the system comes with two M.2 2230 Gen4 x4 NVMe slots. Khadas doesn't sell barebones versions, but markets two different SKUs that come pre-installed with Windows 11 Home:

• Mind Premium: Core i7-1360P / 32GB of LPDDR5-5200 RAM / 1TB Gen4 x4 NVMe SSD
• Mind Standard: Core i5-1340P / 16GB of LPDDR5-5200 RAM / 512GB Gen4 x4 NVMe SSD

Khadas has plans for a large number of peripherals:

• Mind Dock: I/O expansion with additional network ports, video outputs, audio subsystem, and USB ports.
• Mind Graphics: eGPU enclosure with the NVIDIA RTX 4060Ti and additional I/O ports.for the gaming market.
• Mind Studio: Large touchscreen monitor with additional GPU for creative professionals.
• Mind xPlay: 2-in-1 tablet / notebook conversion kit (portable monitor with keyboard)
• Mind Talk: Conference room conversion kit

Currently, the company already has the Mind Dock ready to ship (it came in as part of our review package along with the Mind Premium), and the Mind Graphics is expected to ship in June 2024. The other peripherals are still in the planning stages.

The Mind Premium package comes with the main unit and USB-PD compliant Type-C adapter (up to 65W) and a braided Type-C cable along with it. A warranty card and a quick start guide are also included.

The gallery below presents the external industrial design of the main unit as well as the Mind Dock.

The main unit is a compact rectangular slab measuring 146mm x 105mm x 20mm, with a weight of 450g. The rounded edges and metal enclosure lend it a solid look and feel. Unfortunately, the core unit is rather anemic in terms of I/O. There are three display outputs - a HDMI port, and two Type-C ports. Either of the Type-C ports can be used to connect the power adapter, but they also support data transfer as detailed below. There are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports. The absence of USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 is a major letdown, though.

The Mind Dock provides wired networking support, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a SDXC UHS-II card slot and multiple USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. Two HDMI 2.0 ports are also included. The Mind Dock also has a fingerprint reader and a volume control knob. Speakers are also built into the dock.

Khadas provided a full-blown teardown picture of the Mind Standard along with their press package.

The main unit is equipped with a Western Digital SN740 NVMe SSD, while the Samsung LPDDR5-5200 RAM chips are soldered. A 5.55Wh battery is also included - similar to a notebook platform. However, the battery is not meant to be used for regular operation in the absence of power input. Rather, it is meant to aid in hot-plugging and allowing the system to go to sleep without having to shut down in the absence of external power. Khadas promises up to 25 hours of standby in such scenarios.

The full specifications of the review sample (as tested) are summarized in the table below. We evaluate two configurations - one with just the Mind Premium, and another with the Mind Dock.

In the next section, we take a look at the system setup and follow it up with a detailed platform analysis.

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