Seeed Studio’s Odyssey is a mini-PC for big projects and small wallets

Today we're going to take a look at Seeed Studio's Odyssey X86J4105—a maker/builder-tailored, Celeron-powered mini-PC. The little device seems like what you'd get if a Chromebox and a Raspberry Pi made sweet, sweet love—it's a Celeron-powered all-in-one system-on-chip (SoC) board, sold without a case, with Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO headers and an Arduino coprocessor for more hardware-based maker projects.

I have a confession to make: I've never really loved the Raspberry Pi. Heresy, I know! But despite how seriously cheap the much-loved little boxes are, they never seem quite powerful enough for the projects I'd be interested in tackling. On occasion, I've flirted with other ARM mini-PCs that are a little more expensive and a lot more powerful—like Odroid XU4, or the newer Odroid N2—but they still felt pretty constrained compared to even budget x86 PCs. The Odyssey seems tailor-made to address those performance concerns.

Specifications and capabilities

Specs at a glance: Odyssey X86J4105
OS	Windows 10 Enterprise (activated)
CPU	Quad-core Celeron J4105
RAM	8GiB LPDDR4
GPU	integrated Intel UHD 600
Wi-Fi	Dual-band Intel 9650 Wi-Fi 5 + Bluetooth 5.0
SSD	Sandisk 64GB (59.6GiB) eMMC
Connectors	40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO 28-pin Arduino header 3.5mm audio combo jack 2x Intel I211 1Gbps Ethernet 1x SATA 2x M.2 (1 B-key, 1 M-key) 2x USB2 type-A 1x USB3.1 type-A 1x USB 3.1 type-C 1x MicroSD card slot 1x SIM (LTE) slot 1x 12-19VDC power
Price as tested	Odyssey with activated Win10 Enterprise: $258 Seeed re_computer case: $20

Odyssey's quad-core Celeron SoC might not be a powerhouse by desktop standards—but it's more than powerful enough to run a full Windows 10 desktop experience. Add in 8GiB of RAM, 64GB eMMC storage, one SATA-III port, two 1Gbps Ethernet jacks, dual M.2 slots (one B-key and one M-key), Intel 9560 Wi-Fi, Intel UHD 600 graphics and a full-size HDMI port, and it's hard to figure out what this $260 box can't do.

If you're looking to control other hardware on a very low level, Odyssey also has a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin GPIO header and a 28-pin header for its ATSAMD21 Arduino coprocessor. We're not set up to test those functions, but Odyssey maker Seeed is also the manufacturer of the well-reputed Grove sensor system—so when it tells us that the Odyssey's connectors and coprocessor are Grove-compatible, we're inclined to believe them.

When it comes to form factor, the Odyssey in its re_computer case reminds us most of an unusually geeky Chromebox. Like the Chromebox, Odyssey in the re_computer case is just larger than the VESA mounting plate on the back of a monitor—and also like the Chromebox, it has VESA compatible mounting holes on the back. You'll need to provide your own mounting studs if you want to take advantage of that option, though.

The re_computer case was frankly a bit of a pain to assemble—the provided instructions consist of unlabeled diagrams only, and the diagrams aren't all accurate. In particular, we wish that they would have told us up front that the clear top lid of the re_computer was magnetically attached! The box lists the lid in the inventory as a separate part, but it's already snapped into the case itself, and it's not immediately clear that you can pry it loose easily with a spudger or other fine-edged tool.

Once you actually get the re_computer case assembled, it's extremely attractive and functional. Any of the parts you need to mess with can be accessed by removing the magnetically attached clear lid, and the external ports are all easy to get to and unobscured. We also really like the cheerful royal blue that the sides of the case are anodized with.

What can you do with an Odyssey?

Odyssey's punchy Celeron J4105 processor is backed by plenty of RAM, storage, network, and graphics capabilities. Whether you prefer to run Windows or Linux, it can handle tasks that the CPU- and IO-limited Raspberry Pi series struggles with. If you want to build a high-end DIY router, it has dual gigabit Ethernet—and the J4105 CPU is significantly more powerful than the 1037U in our own Homebrew router.

If you're looking to build a Kodi or similar home theater PC system, the J4105 and its UHD 600 graphics are more than up to the task, at least up to 1080P—4K is passable, but some videos will exhibit a little frame drop. In our testing, 4K videos on Vimeo played flawlessly; 4K on YouTube was watchable but noticeably dropped a frame here and there.

You can even make a miniature fileserver out of the Odyssey. It offers one M.2 PCIe 2.0 x4 slot that can accommodate a high-performance NVMe SSD and one full-size SATA-III connector that can be connected to any standard SATA drive. Add that full-speed, reliable connectivity to the 8GiB onboard RAM, and you've got enough machine to run FreeNAS, XigmaNAS, or the upcoming TrueNAS Core.

Finally, you can just make a very usable desktop computer out of it. The version we tested came pre-installed with a fully activated Windows 10 Enterprise—it can be run by itself or joined to a domain. You can also buy the Odyssey without the Windows 10 license if you prefer a Linux desktop.

If whatever use case you've landed on needs cellular connectivity, Odyssey has you covered there as well—its M.2 B-keyed port can accommodate an LTE module (not included), and there's a SIM card socket as well.

Performance

The 8GiB of RAM and quad-core Celeron J4105 in the Odyssey, along with its Sandisk 64GB eMMC, are enough to make the little box feel like a real computer, even when running Windows. Our review sample came pre-installed and pre-activated with Windows 10 Enterprise, and it typically cold-booted fully to the desktop—including POST time—in 15-30 seconds. Once there, it felt perfectly responsive, either when installing applications or browsing the Web using Microsoft Edge.

The little system shipped with Windows 10 build 1903, so the first thing we did was upgrade it to 2004. The only non-stock software installed on the system is an Arduino software package, so we didn't take before-and-after Wiztree disk usage graphs this time around—it's a standard loadout of Windows, and it fits just fine on the onboard 64GB eMMC, both before and after the upgrade.

We tested the Odyssey against our own original gangster Homebrew Router from 2016, this year's Kano PC, and Walmart's cursed EVOO EV-C-116-5 laptop. The Odyssey, OG Homebrew, and Kano PC are all Celeron-based low-power systems; the AMD A4-9120 powered EVOO should be in the same class but isn't, due to its massive factory underclocking.

When we thoroughly tested routing performance with challenging, small-packet workloads back in 2016, we found that the Celeron 1037U in the Homebrew was more than sufficient to sling packets at a full 1Gbps on a bare Ubuntu installation. When we tested pfSense, the more user-friendly and full-featured router distribution didn't do so well.

Although Kano PC's N4000 is four years newer than the Homebrew's 1037U, with double the cores and threads, it isn't significantly faster. Odyssey's J4105 is a powerhouse by comparison—it's overwhelmingly faster than either in multi-threaded tests, and a little faster single-threaded to boot.

Although we haven't directly tested the Odyssey as a dedicated router, its benchmarks lead us to believe it would do very well. We suspect that even when running pfSense or opnSense, it should hang pretty well with the original Homebrew running vanilla Ubuntu.

Conclusions

We're pretty excited about the Odyssey X86J4105. It scratches all the right itches for just about any maker or IoT project we can think of—and it brings tremendously more firepower to the table than ARM-based devices like the Raspberry Pi series, or even the Pi's more powerful Odroid competitors.

If you're looking for the cheapest possible solution, the Odyssey may not be your cup of tea—but if you don't mind spending a little more, the flexibility offered by its full x86 architecture and staggering array of connectivity is well worth the extra money. That standard x86 architecture also makes it possible to leave the world of custom, hardware-focused system images—instead, you can just install Windows, Linux, or BSD directly onto the hardware from standard ISOs.

The Odyssey could also make a great kid, kiosk, or even light office PC. It's small, it's extremely inexpensive for a fully activated Windows system, and its desktop experience is good—much better than Kano PC's or a typical low-end Chromebook's. If you opt for the 64GB eMMC storage, it's both fast enough and large enough for comfortable use with Windows 10—or if you want higher performance and more storage, you can use a standard M.2 PCIe or SATA SSD instead.

The only complaint we have about the Odyssey is just how frustrating we found it to get the included Wi-Fi antennas connected to its Intel 9560 chipset. The diagrams don't properly label where the chipset actually is on the board, and the connector location made connecting the leads even more frustrating than it is on a standard laptop. We needed a jeweler's loupe and about ten straight minutes of careful, gentle fiddling and retrying before we finally got both leads properly connected.

The good

• Plenty of every kind of port and connector you could want
• DC direct power supply included, can alternatively be powered via USB-C
• Onboard Intel 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) Wi-Fi
• LTE capability with additional module
• The J4105 CPU is much more powerful than its "Celeron" branding implies
• 8GiB of RAM included
• Pi-hat and Arduino headers, Arduino co-processor
• Can be purchased with or without 64GB eMMC
• Can be purchased with or without Windows 10 Enterprise license
• Snazzy blue-anodized case with clear, removable lid
• Install whatever OS you like—no hardware-specific system images needed

The bad

• Although 8GB of RAM should be plenty, you can't add more
• Single SATA connector limits NAS possibilities
• Assembly instructions for the case could be much better

The ugly

• Getting those Wi-Fi antenna leads snapped on properly

Listing image by Jim Salter