Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham

Specs at a glance: Intel Compute Stick STK1AW32SC OS Windows 10 Home 32-bit CPU 1.44GHz quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8300 (Turbo Boost up to 1.84GHz) RAM 2GB 1600MHz DDR3L (non upgradeable) GPU Intel HD Graphics (integrated) HDD 32GB eMMC SSD Networking 867Mbps 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 Ports 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, microSD, micro USB (for power) Size 4.45” x 1.50” x 0.47” (113 x 38 x 12mm) Other perks Lock slot Warranty 1 year Price $159 with Windows, less with no OS installed

Conceptually, Intel’s Compute Stick is an interesting alternative to a Roku, Fire, or Apple TV box. It’s as small and unassuming as a Roku Stick, but it’s a full Windows (or Linux) PC capable of a much larger and more versatile list of skills.

In practice, though, the first-generation Compute Stick was mostly notable for its rough edges. You don’t expect much from an Atom-powered computer with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, but its flaky Bluetooth and weak Wi-Fi helped dilute whatever potential it had.

Enter the next-gen model, which updates the processor and the design but is most notable for big wireless upgrades. When done well, second-generation models can be even more exciting than brand new ideas. Time gives companies new technology to work with, and feedback from the public gives them ideas they may not have had themselves and a list of things to prioritize. Is the new Compute Stick a dongle that fulfills the promises of the original, or should you… stick with a larger computer?

Revisiting the old Compute Stick

Most of the stuff I wrote in our review of the original Compute Stick back in April still stands, but a lot has happened between then and now. Intel has released several BIOS updates and a few driver updates for the graphics, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. And while it shouldn’t change performance all that much, anyone who bought the stick with Windows 8.1 installed can upgrade it to Windows 10 provided you don’t run into disk space limitations. The following impressions are based on a clean 32-bit Windows 10 installation with the latest BIOS and drivers.

We’ve run new benchmarks that I’ll discuss later on, but it should be said that Intel has done an admirable job addressing at least some of the wireless issues I ran into in our original review. With both a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse connected, I no longer had problems with laggy or inconsistent connectivity. Range is still a problem, especially for mice—a Bluetooth mouse will still work if you get more than three or four feet away from the stick, but movement becomes less precise and harder to control.

Wi-Fi is still scattershot, too. The stick only supports the 2.4GHz wireless band and the signal drops off fairly quickly because of how small the antennas need to be to fit in this stick. Even right next to my wireless router, download speeds were slow, and heavy disk activity still seems to hurt general wireless and system performance.

So that’s where the old stick is a few months after being introduced; it's better, but it's still flawed in ways that software and firmware updates aren’t going to fix.

What the new stick does and doesn’t fix

You can tell that the second-generation Compute Stick was designed specifically to respond to complaints about the first model. The second USB port (USB 3.0, a nice bonus) is a dead giveaway, and while not functionally important, the sleeker design does make the Compute Stick look more like a serious piece of hardware and less like a tech demo.

The internal upgrades are a big deal, and the new wireless adapter is probably the most important. Intel has tossed out the barebones Realtek Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapter in favor of its own homegrown Intel 7265 802.11ac adapter, which takes the Wi-Fi from “technically capable of connecting to a network” to “the best you can get in something this size.”

The new Compute Stick maxes out at 867Mbps when connected to a compatible router, and support for the less-crowded 5GHz band may help your real-world connection speed in a lot of cases. As with the last stick, performance drops off a bit more quickly than it would for a standard laptop because of the small antennas used in something as tiny as the Compute Stick, but download and file transfer speeds are drastically improved in my two-bedroom apartment.

Here are real-world examples to show just how much better the wireless in the new Compute Stick is: In a Speedtest.net connectivity test, the old Compute Stick sitting within two feet of my Wi-Fi router downloads at about 3.04Mbps and uploads at about 3.83Mbps, while the new stick connected over 802.11ac downloads at about 58.94Mbps and uploads at about 64Mbps (I pay for a 50Mbps connection, so that's really the limiting factor). I tried to do a file transfer test where I moved a 2.6GB file from a file server to the stick and compared results, but the first-gen Compute Stick's wireless is so flaky that it would've taken hours to complete the transfer. The new one did it in a little under two minutes. It's a big change.

Bluetooth (also provided by the Intel adapter) doesn’t improve as drastically, at least not compared to a first-gen Compute Stick with a fully updated BIOS and drivers. Connectivity and responsiveness is problem-free if the Compute Stick is hooked to a monitor on your desk and the mouse and keyboard are within a couple feet of it, but if you’re five or six feet away (if it’s connected to the back of your TV and your mouse is on the coffee table, for example) it becomes less responsive and harder to control.

For this Atom-powered version of the stick, 32GB of internal storage is still a limitation that will keep even the lightest users from using it as a primary system. The microSD card slot can help a little with that, but this is still best thought of as a basic, low-power computer for specialized tasks—kiosks, lightweight HTPC and streaming duty, that sort of thing. Improvements to the GPU might make it slightly more suitable for lighter or older games than it used to be, but more on that later.

And the small fan that cools the Stick is still annoying, at least if you’re sitting within a couple feet of the device. It kicks on with little provocation with a quiet-but-insistent whine. It’s not a huge deal for HTPC use, since you’re sitting farther away from it and you’ll probably be watching something that drowns out the noise it makes anyway, but for desktop use it’s noticeable enough to be annoying.

Power is still provided via micro-USB, not USB Type-C like the more powerful Core M Compute Sticks that Intel will be launching in the next couple of months. The company says that current specifications for power delivery over HDMI still don’t provide enough juice to run the Compute Stick but that the SuperMHL spec may change that when it becomes more widespread.

The Stick’s power adapter is a wall wart with a cable that’s long enough for most desks and entertainment centers. The cable is longer than the one that came with the first Stick, but you also can’t easily unplug and replace it if it doesn’t work for you. Some standard micro-USB phone and tablet chargers may also work, but If you use an adapter that can’t quite provide enough power, you might run into instability or unexpected shutdowns (the adapter is a 5V 3A model, so take that into account).

Listing image by Andrew Cunningham