Lenovo ThinkCentre M910x Tiny review: Compact but unremarkable

Part of the ThinkCentre Tiny range of ultra-small systems, Lenovo’s ThinkCentre M910x Tiny comes with a bundled keyboard and mouse – and while these are nothing to write home about, they’re serviceable and will likely be welcomed by the target market of buyers looking to outfit a full office or six with compact computers.

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The most impressive thing isn’t the machine itself, but the ecosystem: Lenovo has gone to some trouble to turn its collection of mini PCs into something that can be as many things to as many people as possible.

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Lenovo ThinkCentre M910x Tiny review: Design and features

As well as more optional mounting systems and accessories than any other system on test – including an under-desk mount and a dust shield – there’s a pair of displays, one touch-sensitive and the other plain, into which a ThinkCentre Tiny slots to provide something functionally equivalent to an all-in-one system but with a future upgrade path.

This isn’t to be confused with a VESA mount for attaching it to the rear of any compatible monitor, a bracket for which is included in the box. Ecosystem aside, the ThinkCentre Tiny is relatively unremarkable save for two unique aspects.

The first is a 2.5in SATA drive bay that can be replaced with an optional discrete AMD Radeon RX460 4GB graphics board.

The second is an “Option Board” area at the rear, fitted for this review with a VGA output and RS232 port but also available with HDMI or USB-C 3.1 with DisplayPort connectivity to augment the dual DisplayPort outputs.

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Lenovo ThinkCentre M910x Tiny review: Performance

Performance of the non-user-replaceable quad-core Intel Core i5-7500 is perfectly acceptable for Lenovo’s target as a desktop replacement for the office.

Less acceptable is Lenovo’s bundling of its own software, which is injected into the Windows setup process: click carefully or you’ll find yourself signing up to an unnecessary Lenovo account alongside your Microsoft one.

Lenovo deserves plaudits for its warranty, though: three years on-site should mean a trouble-free lifespan for any of its ThinkCentre family.

Lenovo ThinkCentre M910x Tiny review: Verdict

It’s clear that Lenovo hopes to carve out a slice of the enterprise desktop market with the ThinkCentre M910x Tiny. But a smattering of unremarkable specifications and some frankly loopy software choices leave us feeling a little short-changed. The intuitive installation options capable of turning this tiny PC into an all-in-one system are commendable, but there’s little else here to recommend.