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<p align="center"></p><p><p>ECS has announced a number of ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) PCs in the LIVA family at CES 2017. These build upon the success enjoyed by the LIVA brand over the last couple of years. The LIVA Z family being demonstrated at the show has three members - the Z and ZE are based on the Apollo Lake SoC platform, while the Z Plus is based on Kaby Lake-U. Details of the LIVA Z became public in November, and, today, we got the chance to see that, as well as the ZE and Z Plus in action.</p>

<p>The specifications of the three PCs are summarized in the table below. The main differences to note between the Z and ZE models are the availability of four COM ports (RS232) and a 2.5" drive slot in the latter. The Z Plus is a completely different platform.</p>

<table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#dddddd" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr class="tgrey">
<td align="center" colspan="5">LIVA Z Family Specifications</td>
</tr>
<tr class="tlblue">
<td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" colspan="2" width="100">&nbsp;</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="220">LIVA Z</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="220">LIVA ZE</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite" width="220">LIVA Z PLUS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>CPU</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">Intel Apollo Lake SoC

(Intel Celeron Processor N3350 / N3450 / N4200)

(6W TDP)</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Intel Kaby Lake-U

(Intel Core i3-7100U / i5-7200U / i7-7500U)

(15W TDP)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>PCH</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">Integrated</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Intel Sunrise Point-LP for Kaby Lake-U</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>Graphics</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">Intel HD Graphics 500 / 505</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Intel HD Graphics 620</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>Memory</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">2x DDR3L SO-DIMM Slots</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">2x DDR4 SO-DIMM Slots</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="1"><strong>Storage</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">1x eMMC 32G/64G

1x M.2 2242 SATA III</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">1x eMMC 32G/64G

1x M.2 2242 SATA III

1x 2.5" SATA III</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1">1x eMMC 32G/64G

1x M.2 2242 SATA III / PCIe</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>Wi-Fi</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">Intel AC3165 1x1 802.11ac + BT 4.0</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Intel AC3165 1x1 802.11ac + BT 4.0 / Intel AC8260 2x2 802.11ac + BT 4.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>Ethernet</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">2x Gigabit LAN with RJ-45

(Realtek RTL8111H)</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">2x Gigabit LAN with RJ-45

(1x Intel I-219 + 1x Realtek RTL8111H)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>Display Outputs</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="3" rowspan="1">1 &times; HDMI (TBD on 1.4b vs. 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 support)

1 &times; mDP 1.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2" rowspan="1"><strong>Audio</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="1" rowspan="1">1x Combo Jack (Realtek ALC283)</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">1x Combo Jack (Realtek ALC283)

1x Digital Microphone Input</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>USB</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="3" rowspan="1">3 &times; USB 3.0 Type-A (5 Gbps)

1&nbsp;&times; USB 3.0 Type-C (5 Gbps)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>Dimensions</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">117 mm &times; 128 mm &times; 33 mm</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">117 mm &times; 128 mm &times; 51 mm</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">117 mm x 128 mm x 33 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>PSU</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">External - 19V @ 2.1A

(40 W)</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="2" rowspan="1">External - 19V @ 3.42A

(65 W)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>VESA Mounts</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" colspan="3" rowspan="1">75 mm / 100 mm, one bracket included</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey" colspan="2"><strong>OS</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Microsoft Windows 10</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Linux-based OS (UEFI mode)

Microsoft Windows 10</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" rowspan="1">Microsoft Windows 10</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<p>Traditionally, the LIVA series PCs have had one of the smallest footprints of all the mini-PCs belonging to the UCFF category. With the new Z-series LIVAs, ECS seems to have gone in for slightly larger PCBs (115 x 111mm, as compared to 101.6 x 101.6mm for the NUCs). Fortunately, the larger footprint has enabled ECS to put in dual LAN ports in all the models.</p>

<p>The Z Plus needs a 65W adapter due to the 15W Kaby Lake-U processor. The ZE, despite sharing the same platform as the Z for the most part, needs more power for the 2.5" drive.</p>

<p>ECS folks at the suite were not able to confirm whether the Z-Plus has a LSPCon for HDMI 2.0 / 4Kp60 output and HDCP 2.2 support. This is essential for using the Z Plus as a 4K OTT streaming box with 4K Netflix support. We should be getting confirmation sometime next week, and we eventually plan to post a hands-on review when the unit releases towards the end of this quarter.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the four COM ports in the LIVA ZE as well as its fanless nature should lend itself to industrial use-cases.</p>

<p><div>Gallery: ECS LIVA Z - Chassis Design & I/O<div></div></div></p>

<p><div>Gallery: ECS LIVA Z Plus Chassis Design & I/O<div></div></div></p>

<p>The industrial design and I/O organization for the LIVA Z and LIVA Z Plus are quite similar, as can be seen in the above galleries. The ZE model is thicker, as it has to accommodate four extra COM ports as well as a 2.5" drive slot inside the chassis.</p>

<p><div>Gallery: ECS LIVA ZE - Chassis Design & I/O<div></div></div></p>

<p>In addition, ECS also announced the LIVA XE, an upgrade over the existing LIVA x2 (which uses an Intel Celeron N3050 SoC). The LIVA XE uses a Celeron J3060, which has a higher burst clock. The form-factor and I/Os are similar, except that the XE dispenses with the digital microphone input.</p>

<p><div>Gallery: ECS at CES 2017<div></div></div></p>

<p>ECS also showed off some of their latest motherboards in the suite. These included the B350AM4-M uATX board with the AMD B350 chipset, and a couple of Z270 boards ith Intel Optane support.</p>
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Source: AnandTech
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