Avalon Nano 3S Review: Best Home Bitcoin Miner for Beginners?

If you’ve ever thought about getting into Bitcoin mining at home, you’ve probably asked:

“What’s the best beginner-friendly Bitcoin miner I can buy?”

For my close friends and family, my answer is always the same: the Avalon Nano 3S.

This compact Bitcoin ASIC miner from Canaan isn’t designed to make you rich overnight. Instead, it’s about learning, experimenting, and enjoying the mining process without industrial-scale noise or power bills.

In this review, I’ll cover the history behind Canaan, unboxing and setup, performance benchmarks, profitability, and whether the Avalon Nano 3S is worth buying in 2025.

Who Makes the Avalon Nano 3S? (A Quick History of Canaan)

The Avalon Nano 3S is made by Canaan, a company with a long history in Bitcoin mining hardware.

2013 – Canaan built the first-ever Bitcoin ASIC miner.
Before that, Bitcoin was mined with CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs.
ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) changed the game forever.

Over a decade later, Canaan continues to innovate. With products like the Avalon Nano 3S, they’ve shifted toward consumer-friendly Bitcoin miners designed for home users.

Unboxing & First Impressions

The Avalon Nano 3S feels more like a piece of consumer electronics than industrial hardware.

Inside the box, you’ll find:

The Avalon Nano 3S unit
An external power supply (plugs into any wall outlet)
A USB Wi-Fi dongle for easy connectivity
Removable dust filter and protective guard

The circular front display immediately stands out. It’s sleek, minimal, and packed with useful info once powered on.

Easy Setup & Connectivity

Getting the Avalon Nano 3S up and running is simple:

Plug it in and power it on.
Download the Avalon Family App (iOS/Android).
The app automatically detects the miner on your Wi-Fi.
Select your mining pool (I use ViaBTC).

From there, you can customize settings, monitor hash rate, and even control the LED lighting effects.

This miner was clearly designed to make setup painless—even for complete beginners.

Features & Display

The Avalon Nano 3S includes a circular LED display that shows:

Hash rate (TH/s)
Power usage (watts)
Mining mode (high, medium, low)
Date, time, and day of the week

The app also lets you change LED lighting modes, making it a fun desktop statement piece rather than just a noisy black box.

Mining Performance: High, Medium, Low Modes

The Avalon Nano 3S has three operating modes:

High Mode: ~6.38 TH/s at ~143W
Medium Mode: ~4.93 TH/s at ~101W
Low Mode: ~3.4 TH/s at ~67W

This flexibility lets you balance power efficiency, heat, and performance.

For maximum Bitcoin output, run High Mode. For quiet, low-energy operation, Low Mode works great.

Profitability: Can You Make Money with the Avalon Nano 3S?

Let’s be honest: the Avalon Nano 3S won’t make you rich.

At ~6 TH/s and $0.10/kWh electricity:

Daily Profit: ~$0.03
Monthly Profit: ~$0.75
Yearly Revenue: ~$130 (in BTC, before power costs)

This miner is about participation, not profit. With such low wattage (140W), you can run it cheaply—or even for free if you have solar power.

Pool Mining vs Solo Mining

When using the Avalon Nano 3S, you can choose between:

Pool Mining: Join other miners for consistent daily payouts.
Solo Mining: Go solo for a slim chance at solving a block (like a lottery).

Most people (myself included) stick with pool mining for predictable earnings.

Final Verdict: Is the Avalon Nano 3S Worth It?

The Avalon Nano 3S is the perfect entry-level Bitcoin miner for beginners, hobbyists, or anyone curious about Bitcoin mining in 2025.

✅ Easy to set up
✅ Runs quietly on standard power
✅ Low energy consumption (140W max)
✅ Fun features like LED lighting and a clean display
✅ Affordable compared to larger ASIC miners

❌ Not designed for serious profit
❌ Hash rate is low compared to industrial miners

If you’re looking for a fun, low-cost way to start Bitcoin mining at home, the Avalon Nano 3S is one of the best options available.