Is Protectli just rebranded Aliexpress stuff?

There are many posts on various internet discussions (Reddit, HN etc) about how Protectli devices are just rebranded aliexpress devices (often the brand Yanling is mentioned, which I can't find on aliexpress anymore).

To test this theory, I recently bought a Protectli V1410 as well as a Wooyi branded fanless Aliexpress firewall device with basically same specs: 4x2.5Gbe ports and similar CPU (N5105 and J6412 are basically the same in terms of performance and released around the same time). 

I measured power draw at the wall using the same method for both devices. I booted Linux from USB and looked at the power draw while idle, with HDMI unplugged and no USB connected except for the USB stick, and only one ethernet cable plugged in, so that the only things connected are these 3 things: 1). Power 2) Ethernet 3) USB stick. So the hardware setup was completely the same, peripherals completely the same, software stack completely identical.

The Aliexpress machine draws 10.5 Watts on idle with stock BIOS. The Protectli device draws 5.5W on idle with stock Protectli BIOS. After extensive fiddling with the BIOS and running powertop auto-tune I was able to get the Aliexpress machine down to 9.9W. I was not able to get it any lower than that. 

Checking ServeTheHome, I found this article: https://www.servethehome.com/fanless-intel-n100-firewall-and-virtualization-appliance-review/4/

Quote:

We purchased units from CWWK and Topton. Both use the CWWK motherboard. In terms of power consumption, both the N100 and N200 consumed around 10.5-12W at idle. That feels high, especially since the 35W TDP-fanned 1L PCs like the HP Elite Mini 600 G9 is under 8W.

Checking their HP 600 G9 article: https://www.servethehome.com/hp-elite-mini-600-g9-review-an-updated-hp-returns-to-project-tinyminimicro-intel/3/

Quote:

In terms of power consumption, idle was generally in the 4-5.5W range. Under load, we could get the system to 60-65W. That is very reasonable and is actually less than the Intel NUC 12 Pro that we reviewed.

This is in line with my own observations. I have multiple HP mini PCs, and in my experience 5.5W is normal when it's running a full desktop environment. When running a minimal server Linux OS with no desktop environment, 4W average power is quite normal. And all this out of the box with no BIOS or powertop tuning.

Interestingly, powertop shows that my HP mini PC is hovering around package state C8 whereas my Protectli is spending about 75% in C3. Which makes it all the more puzzling why the Protectli uses so much less power (around 50% less power) than the equivalent Aliexpress machine.

Overall my impression is that these Aliexpress firewall mini PC devices are cheap, but many if not most of them use significantly more power than a comparable Protectli or HP device. Of course the Protectli is more expensive, so if you are looking to save money, electricity costs would have to be pretty high for it to be worth buying a Protectli device just for the savings on electricity bill. Another positive is that Protectli devices are guaranteed to support Coreboot, whereas with an Aliexpress device - who knows?

My advice when buying an Aliexpress device is to make sure someone has tested the idle power draw of THAT SPECIFIC DEVICE otherwise you should just assume it will consume at least 10W on idle. I have also heard rumors that Aliexpress sellers will sometimes just randomly change components in their device which may significantly affect idle power consumption. Anyway, my point is, don't just assume it will idle around 5W just because it has a low power CPU.