Voyo mini PC is a tiny, colorful desktop PC

1. Do not buy any VOYO products, they use a counterfeit/illegal version of windows 8.1. I received an email and a call from microsoft’s James Xiang saying that VOYO (aka Shenzhen Yongjia one Technology Development Co., Ltd) have infringed their licence agreement. They are meant to pay 50usd per licence if they sell outside of china and 15usd within china, but they have been installing the 15usd china version on all of them. (You can test this by doing a factory reset if yours reverts back to chinese langauge its a counterfeit version). You may end up having to pay the difference yourselves or find “windows is not activated” on your device.

   I am a reseller myself and had ordered a few hundred units of the VOYO mini PC for resale, BUT they (VOYO themselves not liliputing) kept my money and will not refund me i have lost over 44,000 USD. I assume VOYO will use this money to pay microsoft for the licence infringement fees. I am in the process of suing VOYO (aka Shenzhen Yongjia one Technology Development Co., Ltd), if anyone has any advice then please do get in touch. All help is very much appreciated.

2. I think it would be better if they had other choices besides Win 8.1. The specs do sound cool. It does look really small. I wonder if one could install another operating system on it?

   1. you can install gnu/linux, but offering tablets and mini pcs with windows pleases the monopoly of bill gates.

3. My concern over these ‘cheap’ boxes is, none of them seem to say ‘Windows with Bing’ which would be legal and free. What version of Windows do these ship with, and will it just shut off at some point? That Pipo X7 looks like a nice replacement for a slowly dying plex sever….

4. what’s keeping them from putting chromeos or something non windows on these? without the windows tax these are much cheapers.

   1. I´m pretty sure they are using Bing version: https://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2014/05/23/helping-our-hardware-partners-build-lower-cost-windows-devices/

5. Why not buy the Pipo X7? Comes with Z3736F and an ethernet jack. Windows 8.q with Bing installed. 97$ at Geekbuying including shipping.

6. I am confused why we are paying more for this than a cheap windows tab…so I am paying $30 more to not have an 8 inch touchscreen IPS display? I was thinking something like this would be cheaper…if they are paying for the windows licensing why not add a tiny 3-4 inch touch screen just to skate by and get the free windows.

   1. Well… right off the bat I can see that they offer 64GB of storage… The cheap tablets you refer to come with either 16 or 32 GB… Most also lack a HDMI port… and they offer at least the $160 model in multiple colors, while most tablets are one design option only…

      Second, this comes with three USB ports… tablets specifically are designed with one port of each type only… So you get more ports without needing a hub, and they’re all full size ports… the only mini are the microUSB (for power) and microSD slot… Many of the smaller tablets also only have the microUSB port only and that makes it hard to use and keep charged at the same time, especially if you want to connect peripherals…

      A screen-less device is also more durable than a tablet… though, having a built in battery that can act like a UPS does give a tablet a counter advantage… but just because the hardware is similar doesn’t mean these are directly equivalent products and should be judged by whether they fit your usage needs…

      1. I see what you are saying I think.
         While the hub/USB ports are somewhat trivial, the rest becomes a hardware swap where the screen is replaced by potentially pricier upgrades to storage and RAM.

         1. They might actually be paying for Windows and the Atom SoC. M$ gives it for free for small screen devices and Intel is practically paying folks to use their SoC in tabs. Not sure if either of them might be doing so with this thing too but that’s unlikely. It’s a reminder that Windows tabs will jump in price when the 2 decide to stop the subs.

            1. I´m sure they are using the version of windows which has bing as the default search engine in IE, it is also free for manufacturers.

   2. True indeed! I’ve been saying this for months now. For example, banggood is now selling the Ainol inovo8 tablet, with Z3735D, 2GB, 32GB, 1280×800 IPS, 2&5MP cameras, TF slot, HDMI, USB 3.0! and a DC jack to free-up that USB 3.0 for use in a desktop mode, for a inexplicable $109.99 with free shipping. You’d have to add another $7 for adapters from mini to full size ports, but still you’d come in under the price of any of these boxes.

      1. Where is it available at 109.99 usd? Link please?
         Edit: I found it. Bang good dot com

         1. It has a 3500mah battery as opposed to 4000-5200mah which is what you typically get with other 8″ tablets, but that USB 3.0 and the price make it unbeatable right now.
            https://www.banggood.com/Ainol-inovo8-Intel-Z3735D-Quad-Core-1_8GHz-8-Inch-Win8-Tablet-p-941700.html

      2. stay away from this model (Ainol innov8). The WIFI antenna is terrible and ýou will get no reception without using an external wifi. buyer beware..

   3. because hnu/linux is free but oligopoly wins…

7. In just a few years, a “home PC” will be nothing more than a USB stick that you plug into a TV and then wirelessly pair a keyboard and mouse to. And it will cost $50 or less.

   1. That or just that tv with a proper OS. The processing power of smart TVs is going up fast plus there’s nothing stopping TV makers integrating one of these small processing units into the TV itself.

   2. No need for a few years: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-compute-stick.html

8. All I can figure is that China offers money on top of the Intel and Microsoft subsidies to go into the “making crapy little Windows PCs” game. Here today, gone tomorrow. Look for a more mainstream product.

9. My concern with no ethernet port is what is the wifi speed? One antenna in the box or two? This is a performance area that can differentiate one device from another. Or is the assumption that inexpensive bay trail devices all sport low-end, single antenna N wifi as a rule? What is the wifi chipset? I read that the Lenovo Yoga 2 ($299) has an Intel AC wifi option which is said to feel really fast in use.

   1. This in a nutshell. Wifi standards go out faster than ethernet, plus without that I can’t stuff it in a cupboard somewhere as a cheap server.

      1. Why do you complain when you have USB to Ethernet adapters. Or USB WiFi cards. You would pay more for them to build in something modular you can choose yourself?

         1. If it had gigabit ethernet it would be a good base for a homeserver.

            1. Doesn’t answer the question on why all the complaints when you can just get a decent USB->ethernet adapter for $10~$20.

            2. usb to ethernet gigabit from usb 2.0 ?
               real smart homer lol

            3. Gigabit ethernet adapters are backwards compatible with USB 2.0, they won’t get you as fast as the USB 3.0 but you will still get performances much much better than 10/100.

   2. +1. Every PC that comes out this year better have AC wifi. N wifi is a dinosaur that should be allowed to extinct.

10. Would be nice if it had a M2 slot and USB 3, not that it’s bad as it is.
    official page ( in Chinese) https://www.myvoyo.com/chanpin/taishizhengji/2014/1231/322.html
    price in China seems to be 699CNY (112.66$)

11. Is this a good option for XBMC box?

    1. I would honestly just pay $100 or less for a Fire TV if that’s all you’re looking to do, or the Fire TV Stick for $40 if you don’t mind less memory on it. Has worked pretty well for me so far. The Fire TV actually got me to really use XBMC, didn’t know how great it was before.

       1. do you mean – you would buy fire TV and install xmbc on it?

          1. Yeah, the Fire TV or stick would both work if you dont mind navigating to the app section under fire tv. There’s a way to put XBMC to homepage recent apps that doesn’t require root, but I haven’t took the time to do it yet.

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