Asus introduced the NUC 14 Essential mini-PC on energy-efficient Alder Lake-N Refresh chips, which Intel has not yet presented

Asus has introduced another mini-PC in the NUC 14 series, this time based on low-power, energy-efficient processors from the yet to be presented Intel Alder Lake-N Refresh series. Prior to this, the company released six models of compact NUC 14 systems with Core Ultra 100 (Meteor Lake) and Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) chips.

Image source: ASUS

Intel Alder Lake-N Refresh processors offered in the new Asus NUC 14 Essential are equipped with only energy-efficient cores. The nettop will be offered in four configurations:

• With Intel N97 processor (4 cores, 4 threads, TDP 12 W);
• With Intel N150 processor (4 cores, 4 threads, 6 MB cache, 3.6 GHz, TDP 6 W);
• With Intel N250 processor (4 cores, 4 threads, 6 MB cache, 3.8 GHz, TDP 6 W);
• With Core 3 N355 processor (8 cores, 8 threads, 6 MB cache, 3.9 GHz, TDP 15 W).

Intel’s Alder Lake-N Refresh series will also feature a Core 3 N350 model, but Asus has decided not to use this processor in its NUC 14 Essential.

NUC 14 Essential nettops offer support for up to three 4K displays and are equipped with a USB Type-C connector with support for DisplayPort mode. They also received three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A and one USB 2.0. In addition, there is DisplayPort, HDMI and 2.5-Gbit LAN.

The dimensions of the NUC 14 Essential nettops are 135 × 115 × 36 mm. The internal volume of the new products is 0.56 liters and the weight is 480 grams. Computers are designed for business and commercial tasks, where performance is not so important, but energy-efficient, quiet and stable operation is a priority.

Asus has not announced the cost of the NUC 14 Essential. However, similar solutions based on the N150 processor can be found on sale for about 205 euros, and mini-PCs based on the N250 processor are offered from 244 euros.