While the chassis design of the XPC Nano NC02U is taller versus the NC01U, we have found during testing that it is easier to work with in order to perform maintenance and for accessing the secondary memory slot, the M.2-2280 slot or for clearing up the fan, thanks to the removable top cover. Shuttle has also revised the top cover material in order to make it more durable than before, while the cooling system did remain very silent even at higher loads.

The new series does feature the next Intel generation of CPUs and while we do see bumps in speed, the power consumption has remained the same, thanks to the updated architecture. The 9th generation of Intel iGP is now DirectX 12 compatible, supports Dual Display and seems to respond very well when we do have a dual-channel memory setup installed in our NC02U. 4K 60Hz output is supported via the DisplayPort 1.2 interface, while the HDMI 1.4b can only output 4K at 30Hz.

Storage-wise we do also have improvements versus the previous model, meaning that the new placement of the 2.5’’ drive allows 15mm SATA models to be installed (NC01U was limited to a height of 7mm). We can also opt-in to install a secondary storage device thanks to the supplied M.2-2280 slot, which will increase the total storage space on this small device considerably.

The NC02U Barebone is supplied with a Realtek RTL8188EE 1T1R 802.11n wireless card, which is connected to an internal antenna. We can also opt-in for a replacement when needed, and Shuttle was thoughtful to include pre-drilled holes inside the chassis for external, more powerful wireless antennas.

Since this product can be used for multiple applications like Digital Signage, POS, control, office and multimedia, the manufacturer did include a RS232 COM port, an Always-on-Jumper, but also no less than three mounting modes: horizontally thanks to the supplied rubber feet, vertically via the aluminum stand (with screws) but also in the back of the monitor/TV thanks to the VESA mount (also supplied and not optional).

If the storage we have installed into the unit is not enough we can always make use of the two USB 2.0 ports in the back, or the two USB 3.0 in the front (one of them sporting the Type C design).

In order to check out the maximum temperatures of the system, we have used the AIDA64 Stress Test utility, while monitoring the output values via HWiNFO64; the system has reported a maximum of 56 degrees Celsius on the CPU cores, which is ideal in our book, considering the low noise levels of the cooling system. During testing, the ambient temperature was fixed at 21.3 degrees Celsius.

Regarding the power consumption, you can surely “set it and forget about it” since this mini-PC does draw about 16.32W in IDLE, while at maximum stress we have recorded a total of 35.89W.

The NC02U Barebone featuring the Celeron 3855U processor has a MSRP of 136 Euros (not including components like the M.2 SSD or RAM). We would like to remind again that the retail products are offered in matte black, while the early models as the sample we have taken a look at did feature a gunmetal grey finish.

Shuttle XPC Nano NC02U Barebone is Recommended for:

We would like to thank again to Shuttle Europe for making this review possible!