The verdict

CPU
Beelink EQR5 has 3.4x the CPU throughput (17,851 vs 5,307 PassMark).
Plex
Aoostar R1 transcodes more 4K HDR streams (~5 vs ~3).
Idle power
Beelink EQR5 idles lower (9W vs 10W) - cheaper to run 24/7.
RAM ceiling
Beelink EQR5 takes more RAM (64GB vs 32GB).

Which wins for each job

Job Aoostar R1 Beelink EQR5
Plex / Jellyfin ~5 streams win ~3 streams
Frigate NVR ~4 cameras win add a detector
Proxmox / VMs 5,307 PassMark 17,851 PassMark win
Firewall / router 2 NICs 2 NICs
Local AI / LLM no slot no slot

Approximate - capacity estimates from curated specs, the same logic as the recommender. Verify against your exact setup. Prices move; check the retailer.

Full specs

Spec Aoostar R1 Beelink EQR5
Price (list) $259 $249
CPU Intel Processor N100 AMD Ryzen 7 5825U
Cores / threads 4 8
PassMark 5,307 17,851
iGPU Intel UHD (24 EU) Radeon Vega 8
NICs 2 2
NIC model 2.5GbE dual (RTL8125-class) Realtek 1GbE
RAM max (GB) 32 64
M.2 free 1 0
PCIe slot none none
Idle (W) 10 9
TDP (W) 6 28