A smartphone screen that’s seen better days doesnt mean the phone itself is about to kick the bucket, as proven by ETA Prime who took that battered Samsung Galaxy S20 FE and turned it into a mini PC for less than $100, and still had some cash left in his pocket.
With its powerful Snapdragon 865 chipset and 6GB of RAM, the phone has more than enough power even in this day and age. The result is a system that doesn’t throttle at all and largely remains stable, even under heavy use, after he tore out the insides and plastered them into a tiny tower casing that is typically used for Raspberry Pi boards. He then added a tiny tower cooler to the back to prevent it from overheating.
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You can connect the phone to a TV or monitor using a simple USB-C to HDMI converter. If you need additional ports, you can always get a Samsung DeX dock. All you have to do is plug in the adapter to get a full-on desktop experience with the taskbar, pop-ups, and everything else thanks to the Samsung DeX software. The MultiStar module and the Good Lock app allow you to increase the standard DeX resolution, which is limited to 1080p, to 1440p.
Gaming is where the fun really starts. While native Android apps function well and Minecraft runs flawlessly on medium settings with a controller, emulation is where things really start to pick up steam. Games from the PSP, Dreamcast, and Sega Saturn can all be played at full speed without any issues. Even games for the GameCube and Wii may run at 720p or 60 frames per second, while PS2 titles can be a little more difficult to run smoothly and more demanding games may require some adjusting. You can stream or run your Steam games natively on Android with the Game Native app, while God of War 2 runs on NetherSX2 at 2x resolution, but it occasionally drops to 1.75x and stays there.
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