Introduction

ECS has been building small form factor systems under the LIVA name for years, and the Z11 Plus is one of the more performance-focused models in the lineup. The last time we looked at an ECS LIVA system was the Z7 Plus, just over a year ago. That machine was meant more for efficient and office-friendly tasks, offering decent Core Ultra performance, good build quality, and very low noise, but it never really tried to compete on raw power or graphics. The LIVA Z11 Plus feels like ECS revisiting the same formula with a different set of priorities. It keeps the same compact design, but pushes much harder on CPU performance, platform features, and connectivity, even if that comes at the cost of higher fan noise during heavier workloads.



The Z11 Plus is available with several CPU options, ranging from the Core Ultra 5 125H and 225H to the higher-end Core Ultra 7 155H and 255H. These chips deliver strong single-core performance, much better integrated graphics than older Intel platforms with the Arc 140T, and built-in AI acceleration via Intel's NPU.

ECS also includes two DDR5 SODIMM slots with support for up to 96 GB, which leaves room for heavier multitasking, virtual machines, or development work. Priced around $1K, our review unit shipped with a 256 GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, and that capacity filled up quickly during testing, especially once games and benchmark data were installed. Anyone planning to do creative work, install multiple games, or keep large project files locally will almost certainly want to upgrade the SSD. Our configuration pairs the Core Ultra 7 255H with 32 GB of DDR5 memory and the standard OEM SSD.

Now, let's take a closer look at the design, internal layout, and how the Z11 Plus behaves once the benchmarks start running.