Intel Compute Stick: Jack of all trades but master of none

A mark of progress

Your smartphone may be a veritable computer in its own right, but does it allow you to work comfortably with Word documents or Excel spreadsheets? Even a larger 6-inch phablet doesn’t cut it, and what are you going to do about input peripherals?

Cue the Intel Compute Stick, Intel’s computer-on-a-stick that turns any HDMI-equipped display into a bona fide PC. You can even hook up a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to it, or plug in a wireless receiver into its USB 2.0 port for non-Bluetooth peripherals! And by PC, we absolutely mean the real McCoy, complete with the same version of Windows 8.1 (with Bing) that you would run on a regular desktop (which means it also gets a free upgrade to Windows 10). There’s an Ubuntu version too, but more on that later.

To really appreciate what the Compute Stick means for computing, we have to look back on what’s changed over the past half a century. In his 1954 short story The Feeling of Power, science fiction maven Isaac Asimov describes a world that has become so reliant on computers that people have forgotten even the basic fundamentals of mathematics. To even perform simple multiplications, humans in Asimov’s story have to rely on – you guessed it – pocket computers.

At the time of writing, a society where computers are so ubiquitous couldn’t have seemed more far-fetched, not to mention the notion of computers so small that they could fit into your pocket.

Fast-forward to 2015, and The Feeling of Power is looking a little less like science fiction and more a prescient sketch of the world today. Sure, it’s hyperbole. We still remember how to count and many of us are still very good at math. But chipmakers like Intel and device manufacturers are on a quest to design computers in a wide range of form factors that enable them to be present in almost every facet of our daily lives. And now we literally have pocket computers!

With the Compute Stick, Intel’s taken a step forward in redefining the future of computing and making it even easier to fit computers into our everyday routines. It even takes advantage of existing hardware – HDMI displays are a dime a dozen – which means office workers can easily use TV screens in meeting rooms for their presentations without having to cart a laptop around.

In our homes, the Compute Stick has great potential to serve up great entertainment in living rooms. In and of themselves, media-streaming sticks are nothing new. The Amazon Fire TV Stick, Google Chromecast, and Roku Streaming Stick all allow networked content and other streaming media services to be enjoyed on your TV. But that’s exactly the point – they are media-streaming devices, nothing more.

This is just where the Intel Compute Stick stands out. It ships with the full 32-bit desktop version of Windows 8.1 with Bing, which means it can stream media, process documents, play music, surf the web, in addition to a whole lot of other things you could do on your laptop.

Hardware, software and connectivity

Under the hood, this diminutive PC runs a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor, which has a base frequency of 1.33GHz and a burst frequency of 1.83GHz. It is based on a 22nm process node and comes with 2MB of L2 cache. Interestingly enough, this is a 64-bit processor, but we won’t be able to see any benefit of this because of the 32-bit version of Windows and 2GB of RAM, the latter of which is a single-channel DDR3L variant that runs at 1333MHz and 1.35V.

In the graphics processing department, the Compute Stick relies on the onboard Intel HD Graphics, with a graphics base frequency of 311MHz and burst frequency of 646MHz. And as a pocket PC that’s meant to be plugged in on-the-fly as and when the situation calls for it, the Compute Stick doesn’t pack a lot of storage into its small 103.4 x 37.6 x 12.5mm form factor. There is just 32GB of soldered-down eMMC memory, which is just enough to install productivity programs like Microsoft Office and music and entertainment applications like Spotify and Steam.

That doesn’t sound like a lot of space to work with, which is probably why Intel has included a microSD card slot to allow users to access extra storage (up to 128GB) if needed.

There’s also a single USB 2.0 port on the other side to connect to a USB hub for additional devices or slot in a wireless receiver. Beside the USB port is the micro-USB port via which the Compute Stick receives power from the included adapter. The Compute Stick can also be powered via a USB port on your display itself, but as we’ll explain later, your mileage may vary. Finally, there’s a power button closer to the HDMI connector – the Compute Stick automatically powers on when you connect a power source, but this button comes in handy if you need to reset the device.

Furthermore, the Compute Stick comes with wireless networking and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity options to allow you to surf the web and connect Bluetooth input peripherals. Wireless connectivity is handled by the Realtek RTL8723BS wireless/Bluetooth SoC, which combines WLAN, Bluetooth and an FM receiver in a single module.

However, it uses a 1x1 antenna array, which means that you shouldn’t be expecting a particularly high-speed wireless connection with the Compute Stick or expect it to be able to pick up a wireless signal from the other end of the house. It is rated for a throughput of up to 150Mbps. It also works in the 2.4GHz band only and does not support the 802.11ac wireless standard. So even if you have a dual-band router at home, your Compute Stick will only be able to connect to the 2.4GHz network.

All this hardware interfaces with the HDMI port on any display. The Compute Stick supports up to HDMI 1.4a, so you're technically able to playback 4K video, on paper at least. But as we'll see later, this isn't quite the case.

And as mentioned previously, there’s actually a version of the Compute Stick that will run Ubuntu. We won’t delve much into it as our review unit is the Windows version, but it’s good to know that there’s an option for users who prefer not to run Windows. The Ubuntu version will sport the exact same specifications as the Windows variant, save for its 1GB of DDR3L memory and 8GB of eMMC flash storage.

We get that all these specifications might be a bit hard to digest, so here’s a table summarizing the key specifications of the Windows version of the Compute Stick:-

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[caption=Intel Compute Stick Specifications]

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Performance

As a concept, the Intel Compute Stick sure sounds like it has the potential to open up a whole lot of new use cases. But how does it really perform? We’ve decided to dispense with synthetic benchmarks entirely and instead assess the Compute Stick on how easy it is to set up and how it performs over extended periods of real-world usage involving tasks like web surfing, playing YouTube videos and streaming music over Spotify.

 

Plug-and-play? Not really

But before we get things underway, let’s address a key aspect of the user experience - the setup process. We know we’ve made a big deal about the Compute Stick being a PC you can put in your pocket. But when it comes to actually trying to set it up, things aren’t quite so simple. Sure, it fits in your pocket, but you’ll also need a bag to cart around the 5V power adapter.

And while the stick is capable of being powered by a USB port on your display itself, this isn’t the most reliable method. When it comes to connecting input peripherals either wirelessly or via a USB hub, you’ll find that this doesn’t always work as intended because your display’s USB port might not supply enough power for this. Switching to a wall outlet with the included adapter immediately gets the keyboard and mouse working, so it’s really a hit and miss here. You definitely can’t miss out on bringing the power adapter with you.

Intel has also included an HDMI extension cable with the Compute Stick. This is useful because the ports on your monitor or TV are often located quite close together, and the Compute Stick may have some trouble fitting in, especially when it has to jostle for space with other display cables. On the other hand, the cable's width matches that of regular display connectors and will help circumvent the bulk of the Compute Stick. At 37.6mm wide, you'll also find that the Compute Stick could end up blocking empty, adjacent ports.

For wired input peripherals, we went with a Filco Majestouch 2 TKL keyboard and a Logitech G100S optical gaming mouse. We were able to get both working via an external USB hub fairly quickly. However, the Compute Stick only supplies 500mA of power via USB, so you might - and we did - run into some issues when it came to connecting more devices to our USB hub. But more on that later.

We also tested the Compute Stick with a Logitech K400r Wireless Touch Keyboard to see how well the Compute Stick plays with wireless devices.

After plugging in the Logitech Unifying receiver into the lone USB 2.0 port on the Compute Stick and pairing it with the keyboard, we were good to go. In fact, this seems like the most sensible way to go about hooking up your input peripherals. A single unified receiver will allow you to connect both keyboard and mouse, and it also means you won’t have to worry about bringing along an additional USB hub. Furthermore, one of the Compute Stick’s greatest selling points is its portability, and it would seem silly to compromise on this with extra gear.

The Compute Stick powers up the minute you connect it to a power source - no need to push the power button at all. By our measurements, it took 29.81 seconds to boot up (we started the clock the second power was connected and stopped when the log-in screen loaded). This is a fairly respectable result so you won’t have to waste much time waiting for it to start up.

 

Web browsing, YouTube and Twitch

After downloading Chrome – which took a fairly long time to install – we proceeded to load up a few tabs and surf as we would on a regular PC. This included loading news sites like our own online portal and the New York Times, picture-heavy websites like Instagram and Flickr, and sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

When opening up to eight tabs at one go, things were actually fairly bearable. Of course, it didn’t feel as snappy as on a fully-powered desktop PC, but we weren’t left waiting for an interminably long time either. Nevertheless, there was definitely stuttering here and there as we switched between tabs and scrolled through websites. With only 2GB of RAM, it’s probably wise not to get too overzealous in your web surfing.

Unfortunately, the limited capabilities of the 1x1 built-in wireless adapter was evident here as normally speedy websites took quite long to load. The reduced speed also showed in the results we got from speedtest.net. When connected to the 2.4GHz wireless network on Starhub’s 1Gbps fiber broadband plan, we measured a download speed of 9.52MB/s and 4.18MB/s upload speed. In comparison, our Samsung Galaxy S6 posted a download speed of 18.42MB/s and an upload speed of 18.55MB/s.

We also loaded up this 4K video on YouTube to see how it fared. As expected, the Compute Stick couldn’t really handle it and the video and audio stuttered throughout and it was virtually unwatchable.

Things fared better when we switched to 1080p videos, and we were able to load up the trailer of Jurassic World and play it in full screen. We also used the mouse to skip to various parts of the video frequently. The Compute Stick took this in its stride fairly well and the experience overall was decent.

But when it came to streaming live video on Twitch, we had to turn the settings down to low to get a consistently smooth stream, no doubt due to its lackluster speeds.

 

Productivity and Multi-tasking

We also fired up Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint simultaneously to see how the Compute Stick handled productivity software like Microsoft Office. Our Excel document contained numerous bar graphs and tables, and we switched frequently between Excel and working on documents in Word and PowerPoint. With just these programs open, the Compute Stick was fairly capable of handling what we threw at it. Everything still felt less responsive than on a regular PC, but it does get the job done.

The Compute Stick feels like it’s best suited to be used over short durations, such as when you want to load up a presentation in the meeting room but don’t want to use your laptop, or when you need quick access to a computer.

Opening other programs like Spotify’s desktop application and streaming our playlist also introduced more performance slowdowns, and when we opened multiple Chrome tabs, the Stick hung entirely and we had to hit to power button to reset it.

We also attempted to access our Seagate Backup Slim Plus 2TB drive by connecting it to our four-port USB hub while the mouse and keyboard were connected as well. It seems like the 500mA USB output on the Compute Stick reaches its limits with two input peripherals connected as we weren’t able to detect the drive or access it all. This is actually quite a big limitation as we can see users wanting to access media files and documents located on external drives quite frequently.

On top of that, the Intel Atom Z3735F clearly isn’t a multi-tasking beast, but we can’t say we’re surprised. The Compute Stick functions well for short tasks and making the most out of your existing HDMI displays, but we don’t think you’ll want to make this your main work machine or spend extended periods of time on it.

Temperature

Under heavy loads, the Compute Stick can also get quite toasty to touch. We ran CPUID to view the temperature of the individual cores on the quad-core Atom processor, and found individual cores hitting a peak of 63°C.

Fan vents perforate the rear end of the Compute Stick, and if you lean in close when the device is working hard, you can hear the fan whirring.

For such a small device, the Compute Stick actually uses active cooling instead of passive, which may come across as a bit of a surprise seeing as notebooks and 2-in-1 hybrids with Intel Core M processors - like this year’s Macbook and the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro - utilize silent, fanless designs.

If you'd like a further look at the Compute Stick in action, you can check out our hands-on video below:

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Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Compute Stick’s greatest merit lies in what it brings to the table as a concept and a new device form factor, as opposed to how well it performs its professed functions. We’ll possibly see further improvements down the road as Intel iterates on the design, but as of now, the Compute Stick comes across as a device that is capable of doing quite a lot of things, but none of them quite well enough. Nevertheless, bearing in mind that this is still a first-generation device, we feel more inclined to appreciate the Compute Stick for possibly helping open up a new category of devices and desktop replacements rather than for its computing prowess.

Starhub is actually offering the Compute Stick as a free bundle along with select fiber broadband plans, but the Stick would otherwise cost you S$229 at Starhub shops or authorized dealers. That’s quite a lot to shell out for a pocket PC that isn’t particularly powerful. And when it comes to specific functions like media streaming, there are plenty of similar-sized devices dedicated to that one purpose at a far lower price. The Amazon Fire TV Stick (US$39), Roku Streaming Stick (US$49), and Google Chromecast (US$35) are all capable media streamers that do their jobs well and cost far less.

And then there’s the ASUS Chromebit dongle, which works similarly to the Compute Stick, except it runs on Chrome OS and turns your HDMI display into a Chromebook. It’s expected to retail for less than US$100 when it releases in the later half of the year, so the Compute Stick faces quite a bit of competition when it comes to consumers who want to add functionality to their displays, but don’t quite need all the functions of a full-fledged desktop PC.

Of course, the Compute Stick costs more because it is a more versatile device, but ironically, that might just end up being its biggest shortcoming. Don’t get us wrong, the concept of an ultra-portable PC like the Compute Stick is great. Intel is correct in saying that it could see uses in digital signage, thin-client platforms, and home entertainment. It’s just that from what we’ve seen of its performance so far, it doesn’t quite have the computing heft to lay claim to such a comprehensive raft of functions.

It really is a jack of all trades but master of none. Can it stream 1080p YouTube videos? Sure. Can it run Spotify and play songs from your carefully curated playlist? Definitely. It can also run Microsoft Office, handle multi-tab Chrome browsing, and give you convenient access to cloud services like Google Drive. But combine any of these things, and you start to notice a performance hit. It’s also subject to abrupt freezes - running fine one moment, unresponsive at the next.

Despite its obvious productivity applications, the Compute Stick looks like it’s best suited to home use as a living room PC of sorts. Intel has managed to pack a PC into a small and innovative form factor, but that doesn’t change the fact that you still require a keyboard and mouse to actually use it, in addition to the power adapter to ensure that your peripherals function reliably. That adds up to quite a lot of bulk to cart around, which seems like an ultrabook or 2-in-1 hybrid would still be a far more sensible option.

If you’re looking to do more with your living room TV but don’t quite want to build an HTPC, the Compute Stick might be a good bet for you. Otherwise, we might all be better off waiting for the next iterations of the device, which will hopefully pack more competent hardware.

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