After checking out the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake mini PC , we reviewed the Intel Core 3 304 computer with Windows 11 in detail. We’ve now had time to test the Beelink EQi mini PC running Ubuntu 26.04 with Linux 7.0/7.1 kernels.
We’ll report our experience with feature testing, benchmark results, 2.5GbE, 10GbE, and WiFi 6 networking evaluation, storage and USB/Thunderbolt tests, and more, including power consumption measurements.
Ubuntu 26.04 installation and system information
I’d usually resize the Windows partition to install Ubuntu alongside it in dual boot configuration. However, since the Beelink EQi mini PC also comes with two PCIe Gen4 x1/x2 sockets, I installed Ubuntu 26.04 on a 256GB NVMe (PCIe Gen3 x4) SSD fitted into the PCIe x2 socket and left the Windows 11 partition on the UFS storage alone. Despite the Intel Core 3 304 chip being a brand-new CPU, I had no issues during installation.
Going to the Settings -> About window shows we have an AZW EQi computer powered by an Intel Core 3 304 penta-core processor with Intel Graphics (WCL), 16 GB of memory, and a 895.9 GB total disk capacity (built-in UFS + 2x NVMe SSDs) with Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 64-bit and Linux 7.0.0-27 kernel. For reference, Beelink is a brand owned by Shenzhen AZW Technology Co., Ltd.
We can get more information with the inxi utility:
The utility detects a penta-core Intel Core 3 304 CPU clocked from 400 MHz to 4500 MHz (P Cores) and 3300 MHz (E cores), 16 GB of RAM, the three storage devices, including the YMUSAB4TF3D1C1 UFS flash, Realtek RTL8127 10GbE controller, MediaTek MT7922 802.11ax WiFi 6 (and Bluetooth) network, and an Intel I226-V Ethernet controller. The 4500 MHz is a little odd, since the maximum Turbo frequency for the Intel Core 3 304 is 4300 MHz on Intel Ark, but more on that a little later.
Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake benchmarks on Ubuntu 26.04