NerdNOS review: the €30 mini Bitcoin miner
It is probably the smallest Bitcoin object you can put on a desk: a screen showing the live block height, the price and your hashrate. For years this kind of machine, the NerdMiner, was purely decorative. Then someone had the idea of grafting a real mining chip onto it: the NerdNOS.
Published 17 October 2026 · by Pixel
The figures in this review are the machine’s rated figures and those on its screen, not a wall meter.
4:13
Spec sheet
a NerdMiner (ESP32) with a real ASIC chip120 to 200 GH/s depending on versionabout 1 MH/s, symbolicunder 10 WUSB-C, at least 2 A (a power bank will do)about €1.50 a monthhashrate, block height, price, best difficultyopen source, you can build it yourselfabout €30 to €40- The ideal way in: a real machine that mines, with no power supply to manage and no noise.
- Silent, under 10 W: about €1.50 of electricity a month.
- A nice object: a case and a screen showing Bitcoin live.
- Open source: you can build it yourself.
- Symbolic block odds: about 1 in 119,700 per year.
- For about €60, a Bitaxe Gamma goes far beyond.
A NerdMiner with a real chip
The original NerdMiner runs on an ESP32, a microcontroller not made for mining: it does about 1 MH/s, in other words no chance of ever finding anything (the ESP32 lottery miner trap). The NerdNOS is literally a NerdMiner with an ASIC chip added, from the same family as the first Bitaxes.
The result: 120 to 200 GH/s depending on the version, about 200,000 times more. It goes from gadget to a machine that really hashes, for under 10 W, powered by a plain USB-C cable.
A plain USB-C port
No exotic power supply, no proprietary plug: a USB-C port delivering at least 2 A is enough. Even a small power bank runs it without trouble.
Setup
Plug in the USB-C and it boots. The first time, it creates a Wi-Fi access point: connect to it with your phone, enter your own Wi-Fi and above all your Bitcoin address, then pick your solo pool: CKPool, Public Pool or FindMyBlock, mine. Confirm, and it starts mining.
The screen then cycles through your real hashrate, the block height, the bitcoin price and your best difficulty. And you are the one mining, to your own address.
Why I like it
- It is the perfect way in to understand solo mining with a real machine that hashes, without spending hundreds of euros or dealing with a power supply and noise.
- It is silent and uses almost nothing: under 10 W, about €1.50 of electricity a month. Leave it running day and night on the desk and forget it.
- It is a nice object: a case and a screen showing the block height in real time, a living piece of Bitcoin on your desk.
- It is a gesture. Every hash it sends is a contribution to the network: not much on its own, but one more miner nobody controls.
The NerdMiner and the NerdNOS are open-source projects: you can also build one yourself, from your own parts.
The real odds
Let us be honest: around 0.16 TH/s, it is about 1 chance in 119,700 per year of finding a block (network as of 17 October 2026). The NerdNOS does not play on the same field as the others: if you are seriously hunting a block, go straight to a Bitaxe Gamma or a NerdQX.
The price
Expect about €30 to €40. Do not pay more for this kind of machine: for about €60 you can now get a Bitaxe Gamma 601, far above in hashrate.
My verdict
The NerdNOS is not the most powerful machine: it is the one that makes you want to get started. To begin, to give an original Bitcoin gift that means something, or just to have a nice sovereign object running in the background, it is perfect.
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Other reviews
- Thor X1 review: the first BM1373 chip at home The best efficiency I have measured on a desk miner, with closed software.
- NerdOctaxe review: 8 BM1370 chips on a desk Two NerdQAxes in one case, close to 10 TH/s, for enthusiasts.
- NerdQAxe++ Hydro review: the water-cooled mini miner Four chips, pre-assembled liquid cooling, and office-level noise.
- Bitaxe Gamma GT Turbo review: two chips, and a fan to replace Twice the hashrate of a Gamma, but a loud stock fan: a €20 Noctua fixes it.
- NerdQX 8T review: the desk miner that runs silent 7.8 TH/s for 165 W under 45 dB, a serious power supply and room to overclock.
- Bitaxe Gamma review: the open-source miner to start with About 1.2 TH/s for fifteen-odd watts, open software and a huge community.
- Avalon Nano 3S review: the Bitcoin miner that heats the room 6 TH/s rated for 140 W, quiet, and its heat works as a space heater.
- Thor P2 review: 10 TH/s on the desk, measured at the wall 10 TH/s for 153 W at the wall, an Ethernet port and the cheapest TH/s of my reviews.