The developers of the Kubuntu operating system have been selling a line of Linux laptops under the Kubuntu Focus brand for the past few years.
Now the team is branching out into desktops. The Kubuntu Focus NX is a compact computer with a 28-watt, 11th-gen Intel Core processor and support for up to 64GB of RAM. It ships with Kubuntu 22.04 LTS pre-installed.
That’s a GNU/Linux distribution that combines an Ubuntu base operating system with the KDE Plasma user interface and suite of apps.
The Kubuntu Focus team didn’t build a desktop from scratch. Instead, the Kubuntu Focus NX is basically an Intel Panther Canyon NUC that comes with custom software.
The little PC measures 4.6″ x 4.4″ x 2″ and features support for up to two sticks of 260-pin DDR4-3200 memory, an M.2 2280 slot with support for a PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD and a 2.5 inch bay for a SATA hard drive or SSD.
Prices start at $695 for a model with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 250GB SSD. But you can configure the computer with up to a Core i7-1165G7 chip, 64GB of RAM, 6TB of storage (2TB PCIe NVMe SSD + a 4TB SATA SSD).
Ports include:
- 2 x Thunderbolt 3
- 1 x HDMI 2.0b
- 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1.4
- 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1 x 2.5 Gbps Ethernet
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
- 1 x SDXC card reader
There’s also an array of four built-in microphones with support for far-field voice detection, allowing you to use voice assistant or dictation software or make audio calls or voice recordings without plugging in a webcam.
The computer also comes with an Intel AX201 wireless card with support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Kubuntu Focus NX announcement
