AOOSTAR has officially teased its latest flagship mini PC, the NEX495S, positioning it as a compact AI workstation built around AMD’s top-tier Gorgon Halo APU. The announcement, made on September 11, 2026, places AOOSTAR among a growing wave of Chinese manufacturers racing to ship systems powered by AMD’s new Ryzen AI Max+ 495 series.
The NEX495S is powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 “Gorgon Halo” processor, featuring 16 Zen 5 cores and 32 threads with a maximum boost clock of 5.2 GHz. This APU integrates the Radeon 8065S, a 40-core iGPU that represents a modest upgrade over the previous-generation 8060S. According to Notebookcheck’s analysis, the 8060S delivers performance roughly on par with an NVIDIA RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, suggesting the 8065S should offer comparable or slightly superior graphics capabilities.
Unified Memory: A New Benchmark for Local AI
The most striking specification is the NEX495S’s support for up to 192GB of LPDDR5X unified memory—a substantial 64GB increase over Strix Halo-based mini PCs, which typically maxed out at 128GB. Of this total, up to 160GB can be allocated as VRAM for the integrated Radeon 8065S, enabling the system to run large language models entirely on-device.
With up to 131 AI TOPS of combined compute from the CPU, GPU, and NPU, AOOSTAR claims the NEX495S is capable of running a 300-billion-parameter LLM locally—a compelling proposition for developers, researchers, and AI enthusiasts seeking a compact, power-efficient workstation.
Refined Design, Competitive Positioning
The NEX495S marks a notable departure from its predecessor, the Nex395. While the Nex395 featured a relatively flat chassis with pronounced side indentations, the NEX495S adopts a visibly redesigned, flatter enclosure. This new form factor may allow for improved port configuration, though AOOSTAR has not yet disclosed the full connectivity lineup. Based on recent Gorgon Halo mini PC releases, observers expect USB4, Wi-Fi 7, and potentially dual Ethernet ports.
A key trade-off in the NEX495S’s compact design is the absence of PCIe x16 expansion support, which competitor Minisforum’s MS-S1 Max-P495 offers. This makes the AOOSTAR system less suited to users requiring discrete GPU upgrades or high-bandwidth expansion cards, but likely contributes to its smaller footprint.
Price and Availability: Still Unconfirmed
AOOSTAR has not yet announced pricing or a release date for the NEX495S. Given the high-end configuration and rising component costs, industry analysts expect the system to command a price in the thousands of dollars. For reference, the Minisforum N5 MAX, equipped with a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and 64/128GB of memory, currently retails for $2,399 on Amazon.
There is also uncertainty regarding global availability. AOOSTAR never brought the Nex395 to markets outside China, and Notebookcheck notes that the chances of the NEX495S receiving a worldwide release are “slim”. Interested buyers outside China may need to monitor import channels or wait for a formal international announcement.
Summary
The AOOSTAR NEX495S represents a meaningful step forward in the mini PC space, particularly for AI workloads. Its combination of 16 Zen 5 cores, a capable Radeon 8065S iGPU, and 192GB of unified memory positions it as a credible compact alternative to larger workstations for local LLM inference and content creation. However, the lack of PCIe expansion, unconfirmed pricing, and uncertain global availability temper its appeal for some buyers. AOOSTAR is expected to reveal more details—including port configuration, cooling design, and launch specifics—in the coming weeks.
