BeeLink Mini S12 PRO VS Raspberry PI 5 VS other

Hardware
1

Hello,

I made a post earlier today regarding possibly switching from HomeKit to Home Assistant and after testing it out in a VM throughout the day I’ve made the decision to do that due to the amount of possibilities.

I’m currently looking at what Mini PC to get for running it and am currently looking at the BeeLink Mini S12 PRO and the Raspberry Pi 5. The BeeLink looks like the better option for a similar price but would like your guys input. Is that the right choice or should I look into something different?

Also, do I need anything else on top of whatever Mini PC I should get? I currently only have IKEA Trådfri lights with the Dirigera hub but will most likely add additional items over time. I’ve read about a ZigBee USB for example. Have I understood it correctly if that isn’t needed due to the Dirigera hub but that it is would allow me to replace the hub while connecting my bulbs as well as other ZigBee items?

Is there anything else I should look into or take into consideration?

Thanks in advance!

2

Hi, welcome to the HA club!

Depending on your level of knowledge, I would advice you to go slow and get the hang of HA before throwing all kinds of devices and integrations on it.

Regarding zigbee, have a look at this extensive guide: Zigbee network optimization: a how-to guide for avoiding radio frequency interference + adding Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable Zigbee network mesh with best possible range and coverage by fully utilizing Zigbee mesh networking

RPi5 or BeeLink Mini S12 PRO: have a look at this comparison https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-raspberry_pi_5_b_broadcom_bcm2712-vs-intel_processor_n100
It all depends on what you are willing to pay and what you intend to do with it.
Have you checked both prices of fully equipped systems?
The Mini pc can hold more RAM, I haven’t checked what kind of SSD interface both have.

Haffun!

3

Thanks for the links, I’ll read through them before making a decision :slight_smile:

Based on what I’ve found where I live there’s a price different of about €30 or so fully equipped which is making me think of getting the better option rather than the cheaper etc

4

Welcome!

I upgraded my HA environment from a Pi to an old laptop to a BeeLink Mini S12 PRO and each step was an improvement. The BeeLink has been rock solid for me.

I run HAOS under a Proxmox virtual environment on the BeeLink and am very happy with that setup.

5

That’s good to hear as I’m thinking about doing the same on whatever hardware I get. I currently only plan on running HA but am a developer by trade and sometimes something pops up where I need to run a VM for a while so I’m thinking about running it through Proxmox just so I’ll be able to run other things as well without reinstalling everything at that time

6

Absolutely! And you can’t go wrong following this excellent guide:

7

As you can see from my signature, I’m also using Proxmox and it’s one of the best discoveries at that time.
My first setup was a mini desktop with an i3 and max of 16Gb RAM, which became to limited.
Now I run it also on a mini desktop with an i5 and 32Gb RAM, currently with 11 containers (mix of Debian & Alpine) and 1 Win10 VM.

I got both systems as 2nd hand.

As for installing: also check @tteck his helper scripts at Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts

1 Like
8

Thanks for all the helpful links and info! That’s greatly appreciated!

I’m currently leaning towards buying the BeeLink unless someone comes up with a better alternative for a similar price within a day or two