The ECS Liva X2 is a tiny computer with a fanless design and a case that measures about 6.1″ x 3.3″ x 2″. Under the hood, the little PC features an Intel Celeron N3050 Braswell processor.

ECS offers a few different configurations, with prices starting at $170 for a model with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of flash storage.

liva x2_001

The company introduced the Liva X2 a few months ago, and now it’s available from Newegg.

There’s also a $240 version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Think you might want the extra memory and storage? You should probably opt for the pricier model, because the RAM and eMMC storage are both soldered to the motherboard. That means there’s no easy way to upgrade them (although you can always connect a USB drive for external storage).

The ECS Liva X2 features three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and VGA ports, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and a headset jack.

ECS says the system supports Windows 7 and later, and some models are sold with Windows 8.1 with Bing pre-installed, while others are sold as barebones computers (which, in this case, simply means the PCs don’t have a operating system).

Wondering what kind of performance to expect? AnandTech has an in-depth review, and reports the ECS Liva X2 provides a lot of value for a $170 PC… as long as you have realistic expectations for this tiny computer with a 6 watt Intel Braswell processor.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,545 other subscribers

11 replies on “ECS Liva X2 Braswell mini PC now available for $170 and up”

  1. Just a request….When reviewing these devices; could you mention whether they include the option to turn off “secure boot”. If installing Linux or other non-Windows OS is not an option, I’m not interested.

  2. This is quite a bit more power than a Raspberry Pi 2. If you can use those for things like media player, media servers, seedboxes, and the like, why not this?

    For one thing, I can run Couch Potato, Sick Beard, SABnbd and The Renamer script. This would be very efficient for that.

    I can also take my Windows Media Center experience with me, as long as I can connect to my WHS 2011, I can watch recently recorded shows. It archives the shows I want automatically.

  3. I am glad it supports Win 7. If one wants to use it for business, Win 7 – IMO – is better for it. I would prefer the bare bones version so I can install the operating system of my choice.

    1. I built a micro-atx machine just for that, and though it’s working fine, these machines are tempting, they’re just so tiny… and the Liva does have a cheerful industrial design statement, too.

      1. I want to build a ITX micro server (WHS 2011), but I can’t do it for less than about $250 and that’s reusing all my current hardware. Seems to me I could use one of these and since external drives are plentiful it would be easier to deal with despite all the wall warts.

  4. is there even a market for these mini pc? Everyone is making one but are people even buying?

    1. Yes, but only the ones that come pre-installed with Windows 8.1.. people who buy these mini PCs want convenience. And if I have to go and buy a Windows license, plug in an external optical drive, go into bios to boot from the optical drive.. well the average user isn’t going to bother.

    2. I suspect they are selling far better than the silly “stick” form-factor did. Fewer compromises, a cleaner cabling story, etc. But product turnover is very high and if you found one you liked and wanted a second one it’d be out of stock before you could place the new order. Imagine if cars came out in new models every month too – no way to weed out the lemons.

    3. Is there a market for Raspberry Pi? After all what are most people using them for? Media Players, Media Servers, Print Servers, FTP, Web Page Hosting and Console Emulation. Occasionally people are building robots and other interesting projects.

      I too am glad it supports WIndows 7 because I have a couple of versions here.

Comments are closed.