Copyright XDA Developers
After so many years of watching Mac owners use Arm-based processors, Windows mini PC fans have been waiting for their turn. That wait is now over, after seeing laptops with Qualcomm Snapdragon X systems-on-a-chip running Windows on Arm released over the last year. The $604 Lenovo ThinkCenter Neo 50q uses the entry-level Snapdragon X SoC, and brings all the benefits of Arm to the desktop for Windows users. This is the first mini PC using Arm that didn't come from Apple, and that makes it all the more special. I've been using the ThinkCenter Neo 50q QC for weeks and I can't say I've missed my desktop tower stuffed with flagship parts all that much. The Snapdragon X is plenty powerful for productivity tasks, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage are ample for most uses, and it chews through typical office tasks with aplomb. Oh, and it's silent and cool, and has VESA mounting if I want to hide it behind my monitor. In short, it's the perfect office machine, as long as you don't need to do heavy video editing. But if you did, you'd already be looking at a very different segment of the market. About this review: Lenovo loaned XDA the ThinkCenter Neo 50q QC for this review. The company did not see the contents before publication. Price, specs, and availability The ThinkCenter neo 50q QC was announced in January 2025. It's taken a while to get to stores, but it comes with a couple of nice surprises. The first is that the price is lower than expected. At launch, it was expected to be $800+, so it's roughly $200 less than those estimates, and that's very good news because it would have been a hard sell at the higher price. The other thing is that you get a wired keyboard and mouse in the box, something that doesn't often happen with mini PCs. These are serviceable and honestly fine to use, unless you're a die-hard mechanical keyboard fan, in which case you probably already have your favorite sitting on your desk. Design and ports It's so cute and small and VESA mountable I'm a big fan of mini PCs and have been absolutely dying to get hands-on with a Windows on Arm-based one. The Lenovo ThinkCenter neo 50q QC might seem larger than you'd expect, but the company has used that extra space for an ample heatsink and plenty of ports for productivity use. You get a 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port on the front, and a 10 Gbps USB-A next to a 3.5mm audio jack and the power button. Unfortunately, the USB-C port only supports data and charging, not DisplayPort, so you can't use it for video, evenwith a dock. The rear has two 5 Gbps USB-A, two 10 Gbps USB-A, one HDMI 2.1, a DisplayPort 1.4a port, and a "punch-out port" that's DisplayPort but limited to 1920x1200 at 60Hz. That last port is neat, as it can be swapped with other modules, like HDMI or VGA, if you want. the company has used that extra space for an ample heatsink and plenty of ports for productivity use You also get a Gigabit Ethernet port, and the Wi-Fi antenna on the back, and the top of the case comes off with one screw, so you can add another M.2 NVMe SSD, change the punch-out port, or marvel at just how much of the interior is empty space because the PCB for the Snapdragon SoC is tiny. The mini PC comes in a huge box, which confused me until I realized there was a slim keyboard and a wired mouse inside. The mouse is typical ThinkCenter color with a bright red scroll wheel, and neither is worth writing home about, except to say they're perfectly serviceable for daily use. Performance Plenty of power for productivity tasks The Lenovo ThinkCenter neo 50q QC is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X, that is the base model without the extra cores or boost clocks of the Plus or Elite variants. It runs Windows on Arm, which could mean you run into issues with some programs, as not everything runs natively (or at all). But it's a big improvement from the early days of Windows on Arm, and most of the apps I use regularly work with no issues. The notable exception is the Adobe suite, which is fairly sluggish. That's been an issue on every Snapdragon device we've tested, so if you can't live without Adobe, this probably isn't the device for you. I can't say I noticed if anything else had a non-native app, as things just worked, and I never once heard the cooling fan spin up, even during sustained benchmarks. The Snapdragon X paired with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage surprised me, in the best ways. It's not that far behind the much more powerful (and expensive) Snapdragon X Elite SoC, at least for productivity-focused workflows. The GPU in the base model is sluggish compared to the Elite SKUs, but for the tasks this mini PC will be used for, it is more than enough. The Snapdragon X paired with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage surprised me, in the best ways. The Snapdragon X platform is geared for efficiency, and the 65W external power brick is more like a brickette, because it's tiny. That makes cable management a little easier, but I wonder if it could have been integrated into the chassis, as there is plenty of empty space inside. Should I buy the Lenovo ThinkCenter Neo 50q (Snapdragon) Tiny? You should buy the Lenovo ThinkCenter Neo 50q (Snapdragon) Tiny if: You want a mini PC for general productivity work You value a quiet PC You want to hide your PC behind a monitor You should NOT buy the Lenovo ThinkCenter Neo 50q (Snapdragon) Tiny if: You want to play intensive games You need more RAM or storage You have apps that won't run on Arm I've longed for the day when the Windows on Arm experience would match up to macOS on Arm, and that's (nearly) here. The Lenovo ThinkCenter neo 50q QC is everything a mini PC should be, no more, no less. It's silent, stylish, and powerful enough for daily office tasks, and can be VESA mounted to reclaim even more desk space. The Lenovo ThinkCenter neo 50q QC is everything a mini PC should be, no more, no less. There's a lot to like here, and for small to medium business owners, a lot of value. But also for home users, as this is a perfect mini PC for anyone with less demanding needs who wants something capable and small for browsing the internet and document creation.
