Intel’s new Atom and Core M Compute Sticks get faster and look better

Intel’s original Compute Stick was a neat idea that ultimately wasn’t executed very well. Any system based on one of Intel’s Atom processors is going to be a little slow, but flaky wireless, inconsistent performance, and a clunky setup process all made it less appealing than it could have been. It had all of the hallmarks and rough edges of a first-generation product.

Today Intel showed us its next-generation Compute Sticks, and it’s clear that the company is taking seriously the criticism of the first model. There are three new versions to talk about: the lowest-end stick uses a Cherry Trail Atom CPU and is the closest relative to the first-generation Compute Stick. The other two use more powerful Skylake Core M processors—one has a Core m3-6Y30 processor, and another has a Core m5-6Y57 CPU with Intel’s vPro management features enabled.

All three sticks share the same basic design. The first-generation stick used a bulky, glossy plastic housing that made it look and feel more like a reference design than an actual shipping product, but all three new models switch to a softer, curvier case that looks more refined.

The Atom version includes a quad-core x5-Z8300 CPU, 2GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage. The big upgrade is the wireless, which dumps the Realtek solution from the first Compute Stick in favor of Intel’s own 7265 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 solution. This Wi-Fi adapter is a mainstay in many Ultrabooks and in my experience it’s been pretty reliable—some of that will depend on the Compute Stick’s antennas, but with a little luck it won’t suffer from the connectivity issues I ran into with the first model.

For those of you put off by the original Compute Stick’s single USB 2.0 port, Intel has added a second USB 3.0 port to the new stick. It’s still got a micro SD card slot for expansion, a power button, and a lock slot, and the only display connector is the male HDMI connector sticking out of the end. Power is still provided via a micro USB port on one side—Intel says that power through HDMI is a possibility for the future but that it’s not feasible with current standards.

The Core M models are a bit more interesting. For starters, the CPUs and Intel HD 515 GPUs are more powerful, and Intel says they can output 4K at 30Hz if you connect them to a compatible TV. Second, Intel is using a USB Type-C port to good effect here. The included power adapter simultaneously provides power and data, and the included power adapter provides two USB 3.0 ports in addition to the single USB 3.0 port and micro SD card reader on the stick itself. It’s not the first power adapter that has also served as a USB hub, but given the small size of the Compute Sticks it seems especially smart to include one here.

Both sticks include 4GB of 1866MHz DDR3 RAM, which isn’t a huge amount but should allow for better general computing performance than the 2GB in the base model Compute Stick. Storage is also bumped to 64GB of eMMC. Wireless is provided by an Intel 8260 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 combo adapter, the latest version of Intel’s wireless chipset.

Pricing depends on the stick you buy and whether it includes an OS, and we don’t have an MSRP for everything yet. The old Compute Stick had a Windows version and a separate Ubuntu version with less storage and RAM. The new ones either come with Windows 10 or no operating system at all, and the specs are the same either way—users can install their preferred Linux distribution on their own. The Atom version has an MSRP of $159 with an OS, but we don’t know how much the OS-free version will cost. The Core m3 version will cost about $400 with Windows and “closer to $300” with no OS. The m5 version costs $499 and is only being offered with no operating system, the assumption being that it will be of the most interest to enterprises who will be loading their own OSes anyway.

We’ve got the Atom version of the Compute Stick in our hands now and will be giving it a full review in the coming days—Intel says it should be available for purchase shortly, though it may take some time to show up at retail. We’ll be able to look at the Core M versions after they launch, which is supposedly happening in February.