Soldered RAM as Theft Protection: How Two Companies Answered the Same Memory Shortage Oppositely

By Indie Kings | September 27, 2026

Updated September 27, 2026: The CTONE K2 is a €419 mini-PC with a 2022 processor, gigabit-only Ethernet, and memory soldered to the board, and Igor Wallossek's review opens by joking that in a memory shortage it is important to protect your RAM, and that unless the theft is carried out with a soldering iron you can feel safe with this model. That joke is the actual story. Two companies have now answered the same shortage with opposite solutions: Raspberry Pi firmware-locked its RAM so the part could not be swapped, and CTONE soldered the memory on so it cannot be taken out at all.

Verification note: All figures come from Igor's Lab's review by Igor Wallossek. The review states that the sample was provided by CTONE on a non-binding basis, with no influence on the tests, no expense compensation, and no obligation to publish. The price is the one quoted in the review at the time of writing and is attributed as such; it is not a current price and we have not verified availability. No retailer link is reproduced. Igor's Lab's own review carries an affiliate disclosure, which is noted here for transparency and is not carried into any link below.

CTONE K2 compact mini-PC in an angled front view

Image: CTONE K2. Credit: Igor's Lab.

Soldered memory as theft protection

The reason this machine is worth writing about is not the specification, it is what the specification implies about the market it was built for.

CTONE's K2 ships with Samsung soldered LPDDR5, mounted on the reverse of the motherboard and not accessible without dismantling the unit. The reviewer's framing is blunt: during a memory shortage it is worth protecting your RAM, and unless somebody commits theft with a soldering iron, this machine is safe.

That is a joke, but it is also an accurate description of the current market. Desktop DDR5 has risen far enough that 32GB is a meaningful expense, and we have covered both the price move and the conduct that has accompanied it. Soldered memory is normally criticised as a cost-cutting measure that removes the owner's choice, and on a desktop that criticism is usually right. In a shortage, the same decision reads differently, because a removable memory module is now a theft target and an upgrade that is deliberately discouraged.

The contrast with the Raspberry Pi case we covered this week is exact and worth stating plainly, because the two responses point in opposite directions from the same cause. Raspberry Pi's boards were modified by resellers fitting higher capacity chips and selling them as factory units, and the company's answer was a firmware check that refuses to boot anything but the memory it shipped with. That locks the part in place and locks the owner out of replacing it. CTONE sold the memory already attached. Same shortage, same concern about the component, and one solution prevents substitution while the other prevents removal.

Eight modules of three gigabytes, and why that might be the reason

There is a detail in the teardown that is easy to skim and hard to stop reading.

The reviewer notes that the machine appears to use a total of eight 3GB LPDDR5 modules, and calls that a rather unusual capacity. He then draws the obvious inference, writing that this may be precisely why the manufacturer was still able to obtain RAM at all.

If that is right, it is a small piece of hardware strategy rather than an accident of a bill of materials. An unusual module size is harder to buy in volume than a standard one, and a supplier who can still get memory when others cannot has a reason to fit something that does not match what everyone else orders. It would mean the soldered decision and the sourcing decision are the same decision.

That is an inference by the reviewer, not a statement from the manufacturer, and it should be read as one. What is not in question is the configuration itself, since it was observed on the board.

What you can still change, and how awkward it is

CTONE did not make the machine sealed, which is the more interesting design decision.

Storage remains upgradeable. There is one M.2 2280 slot at PCIe 4.0 x4, and the installed drive is a Netac KPART512GBC2DVT PCIe Gen 3 part. So the processor is four years old, the memory is permanent, and the drive is replaceable with a faster one than the one supplied.

Access is the compromise. The M.2 slot is on the far side of the board, so the other side of the case has to come off to reach it. There is no other route in.

The teardown notes some unusual construction worth recording, because it tells you the case was designed around the board rather than the other way round. Four screws hidden beneath the rubber feet give a direct view of the cooler, which the reviewer flags as unusual since most manufacturers install boards the other way around, and the power connector is not mounted on the board but leads to a cable that disappears around the rear.

Memory clearance is the one thing that is entirely closed off, and it is the part a buyer is most likely to resent in three years rather than this week.

The drive runs warm on a passive design

The storage results are specific and slightly awkward for a fanless machine.

Sustained write: the drive was filled to 90 percent at an average of 491 MB/s.
Peak temperature: 61 degrees C.
Mounting: the SSD sits against a small aluminum plate with a thermal pad, on a passively cooled chassis with no fan.

So the drive is actively cooled by conduction into a plate, on a machine with no airflow of its own, and it still reached 61 degrees under sustained load. The reviewer's own summary puts it plainly: despite the passive cooling, the SSD also becomes quite warm.

Networking is the other place the specification is behind the curve. Ethernet is a 1G RTL8168/8111 controller, and the review notes that 2.5GbE could reasonably be expected at this price. Wireless is an RTL8852BE card with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.

One point in the machine's favour from the teardown: a full scan with Windows Defender found nothing.

The honest verdict is negative on value

Igor's Lab is not recommending this, and the reason is arithmetic rather than principle.

€419 for 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD was the price at the time of the review, for a machine built around an i5-12450H from 2022 combining four performance and four efficiency cores. The reviewer's assessment is that even under current market conditions this is not a particularly attractive offer for a four-year-old mid-range processor, while adding that it is not entirely unreasonable.

On capability, the review places the machine in the lower mid-range. It is described as entirely sufficient as a desktop for office work and browsing, with gaming being more demanding. That is a fair summary of a 2022 mobile processor in 2026.

There is one further observation that raises a question the review leaves open. The reviewer notes that the board layout is very similar to that of a recently tested NiPoGi Hyper H1, even though that machine has an AMD processor. Same board, different silicon, is a reasonable reading of that, and it is the kind of detail worth knowing before treating a chassis and its layout as a manufacturer's own design work.

FAQ

Can the memory in the CTONE K2 be upgraded?

No. It is Samsung LPDDR5 soldered to the motherboard, on the reverse side, and cannot be replaced. The reviewer's framing is that during a memory shortage it is worth protecting RAM against theft, and that unless the theft is carried out with a soldering iron this machine is safe. The storage is upgradeable, the memory is not.

What can actually be changed?

One M.2 2280 slot at PCIe 4.0 x4, which is faster than the Netac PCIe Gen 3 drive supplied. Reaching it requires removing the other side of the case, since the slot sits on the far side of the board. So the processor is fixed, the memory is fixed, and the drive is replaceable with some disassembly.

Why is the memory configured as eight 3GB modules?

The review observes this as a rather unusual capacity and infers that it may be why the manufacturer was still able to obtain RAM at all. An unusual module size is harder to buy in volume than a standard one. That is the reviewer's inference rather than a statement from the manufacturer, and it is not confirmed.

How does the K2 perform?

The i5-12450H is a 2022 processor with four performance and four efficiency cores, which places the machine in the lower mid-range. The review describes it as entirely sufficient for office work and browsing as a desktop, with gaming more demanding. At €419 for 24GB and a 512GB drive at the time of review, the reviewer did not consider it a particularly attractive offer for a four-year-old mid-range CPU.

Are there specification problems?

Two that the review raises. Ethernet is a 1G RTL8168/8111 controller where 2.5GbE could be expected at the price. And the SSD reached 61 degrees under sustained write on a passively cooled chassis, despite being mounted against an aluminum plate with a thermal pad. A full Windows Defender scan found nothing, and wireless is WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 on an RTL8852BE card.

Was the review paid for or influenced?

The review states that the sample was provided by CTONE on a non-binding basis, that there was and is no influence on the tests or results, that no compensation for expenses was provided, and that there was no obligation to publish the review. The review also carries an affiliate disclosure, which is standard practice and is noted here rather than repeated as a link.

Bottom Line

This machine matters for one reason that has nothing to do with its specification, and the specification is in any case unremarkable. A 2022 mobile processor, gigabit-only networking, a warm drive and a price the reviewer did not think was good value. None of that is the point. The point is that CTONE sold a computer with its memory soldered on, and framed it as theft protection rather than cost cutting, and a reviewer responded with a joke that happens to be the most accurate description of the product. During a memory shortage a removable module is a theft target and an upgrade the manufacturer would rather discourage, and soldering the part on solves both problems at once for the company and neither for the owner. It is the same shortage that produced the other half of this story. Raspberry Pi discovered that resellers were fitting higher capacity chips into its boards and selling them as factory units, and answered with a firmware check that refuses to boot any memory but the original. That locks the component in and locks the owner out of touching it. CTONE sold the memory already attached. Same cause, same anxiety about a single part, and the two solutions point in opposite directions, one preventing substitution and the other preventing removal. That symmetry is the story, and it is a more useful thing to have on the site than another processor roundup. Two details sharpen it. The machine appears to use eight 3GB LPDDR5 modules, which the reviewer calls a rather unusual capacity and offers as the possible reason the manufacturer could still obtain memory at all, which would make the soldering decision and the sourcing decision the same decision, though that is his inference and not a claim from the company. And the board layout is reportedly very similar to a different machine in the same range that carries an AMD processor, which is worth knowing before treating a layout as a manufacturer's own work. On the specification itself the honest summary is that the storage remains upgradeable, which is the more surprising half of a soldered-memory machine, but reaching the M.2 slot means removing the other side of the case. The drive reached 61 degrees under sustained write on a passively cooled chassis despite an aluminum plate and a thermal pad, and gigabit Ethernet is a step behind what the price implies. On the sourcing, the review discloses that CTONE supplied the sample with no influence on results, no expense compensation and no obligation to publish, and it carries an affiliate disclosure which is noted here and not carried into any link above. The price quoted is the one in the review at the time of writing, attributed and undated by us as current, and it is not something we have verified as available now.

Source: Igor's Lab, CTONE K2 Mini-PC Review: An i5-12450H and Soldered RAM by Igor Wallossek, testing an i5-12450H with soldered Samsung LPDDR5, sample supplied by the manufacturer on a non-binding basis