The steam deck has a fan which can be quite noticeable, same for these AMD mini pcs, cold and quiet is a stretch. I have one running as a proxmox server though, 64gb ram and expandable storage, the Mac mini can't compete with that.
and i also added my own extra 4tb ssd for about $130. it took 5 minutes to do it.
i'm sure the m4 is more powerful on paper, within the apple ecosystem, and running apple software.
but i prefer to be free and run what i want. also as someone who was really jaded on tech, i found these amd gpu's to be really amazing.
i still appreciate what the mac mini stands for, low energy and efficient. but not inside that walled garden.
My friend talked about getting one for his young children, though, but will likely get an iMac so they can facetime with family.