JetKVM Mini: a $33 matchbox-sized KVM with open firmware and secure boot

JetKVM is shrinking its remote-management device into a matchbox-sized aluminium box that starts at $33 in three-packs. The wired Mini sells for $39 with an Ethernet port, while the Mini W trades the RJ45 for dual-band 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi at $42, configured over Bluetooth from a phone or laptop. Both capture 1080p video (30fps, or 720p at 60fps), pass keyboard, mouse, and virtual media over USB, and reuse the existing JetKVM web interface, cloud, and update system. They ship October 26, 2026.

The cost reduction comes from a ground-up redesign around an ESP32-P4X microcontroller with a hardware H.264 encoder, which handles capture, encoding, USB, and firmware without the separate DRAM and eMMC a Linux-based board would need. Video streams to the browser over WebRTC. One USB port drives the target machine at USB 2.0 High Speed and draws power from it; a second full-speed port serves extensions (reworked ATX, DC power, and serial modules are coming) and can act as a USB host with external power. Virtual media loads from a user-supplied TF card. An optional OS service on the managed machine adds up-to-4K capture, shared clipboard, guest terminal, and file transfer.

The security and openness story is the pitch to technical buyers. Firmware for the new chip is a rewrite that will be open source at launch and speaks the same protocols, so the cloud and UI carry over unchanged, along with Wake-on-LAN, OIDC login, MQTT/Home Assistant integration, and OTA updates with automatic rollback. The chip ships secure-boot ready: a digest of JetKVM’s signing key is preloaded in eFuse, letting owners permanently lock the device to signed firmware with a single toggle—useful hardening for a device that, by design, sits with full keyboard, mouse, and boot-media control over the machines it manages.