ChromeCasts, Chrome Boxes, and Roku boxes do quite a bit to help those of us with smart
TVs stream media easily.
But sometimes you can’t escape the fact that many users just feel way more comfortable
on Windows.
Or they want to do things with the computers that the limited OSes can’t do.
That’s where the mini PC market comes in.
I’m EposVox, here to make tech easier and more fun today taking a look at the Access
Plus stick PC and the Lynk multi-function remote from Azulle.
We looked at their BytePlus before - which was more of a full-fledged PC compared to
what we have today - but they’re similar concepts.
When they found out we had moved into a new apartment, Azulle wanted to sponsor our new
bedroom media streaming setup.
We didn’t have any plans for it yet, so I was excited to see what new product they
had to offer.
The Access Plus is a stick PC - literally, the whole PC is crammed into the form factor
of a giant flash drive.
This makes it super portable and easy to hook up, while being low on power usage and having
more ports than the new Macbook Pro.
But it comes at a performance cost, too.
The stick itself contains a 64-bit, quad-core Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, and either
2GB or 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
This is enough to do basic 1080p web streaming, but don’t expect to do any epic gaming on
this, or anything.
In the box you get: The Access Plus itself, a power brick, and a short HDMI extension
cable.
That cable is important, because most likely you won’t have the clearance to fit this
giant stick into the port on your display, or you simply won’t want the weight of the
stick pulling on the port in your TV.
I sure didn’t, so I used the extension cable.
Connectivity on the stick includes the HDMI output, a dual-band wifi and Bluetooth 4.0
antenna, a power button, an ethernet jack, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 port, microUSB port for
power, headphone combo jack, kensington lock and a microSD slot to expand storage up to
128GB, since it has so little built in.
The wifi is impressive for the device’s size, but it maintains a worse connection
to my Synology RT2600ac router downstairs than any laptop we have.
Hulu and Netflix streams that buffer and stutter on the Access Plus load no problem on the
laptops.
However, if your wifi network is well-optimized you shouldn’t have an issue.
I placed an extender upstairs for a different reason and the Access Plus has connected fine
from it.
The USB ports allow you to connect external hard drives, keyboard and mouse setups, or
even a webcam for Skype calls.
Azulle also sent out their Lynk smart remote to go with it – it’s a pretty sweet little
remote.
This has a built-in microphone, air mouse capabilities, and a backlit keyboard.
It’s a pretty neat concept, but the keyboard symbols resemble an Android keyboard remote
than a Windows one and can be a little confusing to use.
But it’s quite handy and takes up a lot less space than my Logitech K400.
Plus, the Lynk can act as the microphone for Skype calls and learn IR codes to replace
your other remotes too!
Just make sure you change out the batteries once it starts disconnecting.
I apparently had a set of very-used batteries, and I went through like 3 pairs of batteries
thinking my remote was defective due to terrible range to my screen.
Finally got a new pair in and it works perfectly again.
That was an embarrassing email conversation to my Azulle contact.
This is a pretty slick little media TV combo.
It takes up virtually no space, makes no noise (since it’s fanless), and allows us to easily
stream our media to the TV.
We’ve had some issues with performance from time-to-time, but they seem to be mainly related
to Microsoft Edge giving us problems (the DRM for highest-quality streaming from certain
sites isn’t supported in Chrome) or Windows being Windows.
If you’re looking for a more powerful streaming device than something like a Chromecast, without
throwing out a ton of cash, definitely consider the Access Plus.
However, I would have to recommend you for sure go with the 4GB model.
Also, if you’re interested, Azulle is running discounts on their boxes on both Amazon and
their site - I’ll have the links below.