The Rikomagic MK36 is Rikomagic’s first entry into the Windows Mini PC space. Powered by the Intel Z3736F SoC, the MK36 runs both Windows 8.1 with Bing and Android 4.4. It also features 2GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage.
Thanks to Rikomagic for providing me a sample to review. Click here to view the latest price.
What Is It?
The Rikomagic MK36 is a small form factor Windows PC powered by a quadcore Intel processor. Its low power requirements, fanless design and small form factor make it an ideal HTPC or desktop. Thanks to its Dual OS capabilities, you have a wide ecosystem of games and applications at your disposal.
Rikomagic MK36 Technical Specifications
- Chipset: Intel Baytrail quad core processor with Intel HD graphics (Z3736F)
- RAM: 2 GB DDR3
- Storage: 32GB + microSD slot up to 64GB
- Video & Audio Output: HDMI, 3.5mm Audio
- Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, 10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0
- USB: 4x USB 2.0 port
- OS: Windows 8.1 with Bing (32-bit) & Android 4.4
What’s in the box?
Rikomagic have provided everything you need to connect up the MK36:
- 1x Rikomagic MK36
- 1x HDMI Cable
- 1x Power Adapter
- 1x English Instruction Manual
Rikomagic MK36 Unboxing and Demo
Rikomagic MK36 Impressions
Unboxing the Rikomagic MK36, the first thing you notice is the case. With its faceted design, it looks almost military in nature. I love the look of it.
The top case is predominately made of plastic, with a stylish “brushed metal”-textured top plate featuring Rikomagic branding. The bottom plate is entirely metal and is clearly used to help dissipate heat. The device feels well made but does feel relatively light thanks to its mixed material build.
The ports are located along one side and the rear of the device. Along the side, we have the power button, 2 USB 2.0 ports and 3.5mm audio output.
The rear of the device has a Kensington lock port, micro SD card slot, 2 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI Out, Ethernet and DC In.
Booting the device is done by pressing the Power button for a couple of seconds. On booting the device, you’re shown the OS selection screen with a 10 second countdown. Using a check-box in the top left, you can choose to always see this screen or automatically boot into the last used Operating System.
Boot times are reasonably fast, taking around 25 seconds to boot into Windows from a cold start. Android takes a little longer at around 40 seconds for a cold boot. A full OS switch is around 50 seconds. Resuming from standby in both OS’s is effectively instant.
To switch from Windows to Android, use the WinToAnd shortcut on the desktop. On Android, select the OSSwitch icon in the Notifications shade.
As expected, Windows performance was great. Everything animated smoothly and I didn’t see any issues. Windows does come activated, so no need to worry there.
Android was even smoother, with everything animating beautifully. The Intel Z3736F has plenty of power here.
Gaming performance was tested using Asphalt 8 and Jetpack Joyride under both OSs. Jetpack Joyride was excellent on both Windows and Android. Asphalt 8 was playable on Windows but the framerate was sub-30 FPS. Switching to Android saw the framerate improve dramatically – no doubt thanks to the reduced overhead of the mobile OS. Keep in mind that Gameloft’s recent update did appear to hurt Asphalt 8 performance on a number of my devices so keep that in mind.
Thermal performance is another important factor that many worry about with regards to these devices. Due to their small form factor and fanless designs, some models do overheat under load. To test briefly, I ran Prime95‘s Small FFTs test for 20 minutes which should generate lots of heat. Temperatures seemed to stabilize at 61°c without any thermal throttling according to HWiNFO. Ambient temperature was 19.7°c.
Rikomagic MK36 Power Consumption
Windows
| Powered Off | Standby | Idle | Load |
| 0.5 W | 4 W | 4 W | 7.9 W |
Android
| Powered Off | Standby | Idle | Load |
| 0.5 W | 3.7 W | 3.7 W | 10.2 W |
Verdict So Far
I’m liking the Rikomagic MK36 so far. With the slightly faster CPU, Dual OS, plenty of USB ports and promising thermal performance, it is looking like a solid mini PC.
Getting One
The Rikomagic MK36 is available from GearBest. Click here to view the latest price.
hi..
can i link my android phone with mk36 and
use it like a mouse or something? does it support dlna?
Hi,
You could use something like Unified Remote (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Relmtech.Remote) to control it from your phone.
With regards to DLNA, I’d install Kodi to handle the media playback.
Hi!
Thanks for the quick review. Did you test the video performance under both OSs? How is the video play? Does it support 4K video output like some of the newer Android TV boxes?
Thanks
Hi Gregor,
I tested a 4K 30fps version on Big Buck Bunny under Windows in the video and it worked well.
I’ll be featuring my usual in-depth video playback analysis in my full review in a couple of days..