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Machine review · Oct 22, 2026 · 5 min read
Whatsminer M65S+ review: 17 J/TH in the water loop, and a cheaper coin one step up
MicroBT's M65S+ is a hydro-cooled Whatsminer: 404 TH/s from 6,868 W, 17 J/TH. At today's price it is the cheapest terahash of the four hydro machines we compare and it clears its power in the UAE, but the S21e XP Hyd makes a coin for about a quarter less.
MicroBT Whatsminer M65S+ (404 TH/s)
The bottom line
The M65S+ is MicroBT's hydro-cooled Whatsminer at 17 J/TH: 404 TH/s from 6,868 W in the unit we list. Hydro machines start in the UAE, at 6¢, where it makes a bitcoin for about $58,800 of electricity and returns roughly 32% in its first year at today's price.
Bought once its price settled, in August 2026, it has mined and kept 0.0153 BTC for $828 of power: $439 of cashflow against a $4,046 landed cost, 11% of the box in 78 days. Between now and the 2028 halving it has another 0.098 BTC in it, worth about $12,259 with bitcoin back at its previous high of $124,493: roughly 3.1× its hardware by the halving, still running afterwards.
What you are buying is a hydro machine at $6.72 a terahash, below the $7.56 of the M63S+ at the same 17 J/TH. What you are not buying is the cheapest coin: the S21e XP Hyd at 13 J/TH makes one for about $45,300 and returns about 45% in year one, against this machine's $58,800 and 32%.
Scores
| Criterion | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cashflow | 6/10 | Makes a bitcoin for about $58,800 of electricity at 6¢ and returns roughly 32% in year one at today's price. It has covered 11% of its hardware so far and is on track for about 3.1× by the 2028 halving. The S21e XP Hyd returns about 45%. |
| Longevity | 4.5/10 | At 17 J/TH its line is $24.48 a petahash a day at 6¢, against a hashprice of $37.29 on 21 October. Half of that, the flat-conditions picture after the halving, is $18.64: under the line in the UAE, over it at Nigeria's 3.9¢. |
| Efficiency | 5/10 | Middling among hydro machines we stock: the M63S+ runs the same 17 J/TH and the S21e XP Hyd 13. |
| Quality control | 5/10 | Scored as unknown rather than as good. We found no operator reports of its boards in the field that we could cite, so there is no record to score. |
| Serviceability | 6/10 | Hydro, so it lives in the UAE, where the manufacturer's warranty centre is close to the facility and an in-warranty board goes direct. |
Weighted on what an owner gets back per dollar over the next four years. A low entry price and a margin today carry it; 17 J/TH puts it in the middle of the hydro range, and a reliability record we could not find holds it back.
Buy it if
- You are racking hydro in the UAE at 6¢ and want a low outlay that clears its power today: $2,715 a unit, $6.72 a terahash.
- Your power is at or below 9¢. On 21 October network hashprice was $37.29 a petahash a day and the M65S+ needs $24.48 of it at 6¢, so the machine pays its power bill up to about 9¢.
- Your power is at or below 4.5¢ and you plan past the 2028 halving. At half of today's hashprice, $18.64, the machine still clears its line at 3.9¢ ($15.91), which is where it moves to Nigeria.
- You already run a water loop that takes outlet water at 70°C or more and want to add units one at a time.
Walk away if
- You want the cheapest coin. The S21e XP Hyd makes one for about $45,300 against this machine's $58,800, and returns 45% in year one against 32%.
- Your power sits between 4.5¢ and 9¢ and is not going down. In that band the machine clears today and leans on bitcoin recovering after the halving.
- Your power is above 9¢. At today's hashprice the machine does not clear its power there.
- You want a public failure record before you buy. We found no operator reports of the M65S+ we could cite, and score reliability as unknown.
What MicroBT shipped
MicroBT's M65S+ is part of the M6XS+ line that began with the M63S+, which Bitcoin Magazine reported at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July 2024 as "up to 450 TH/s with a power efficiency of 17 J/T" with outlet water reaching 70°C. Forklog's report on the line lists the M65S+ at 440 TH/s among three models rated at 17 J/TH, with a liquid outlet temperature of up to 80°C.
The unit we list is 404 TH/s from 6,868 W, which is 17 J/TH, and smaller bins at 400 and 402 TH/s run at the same efficiency. Those figures are our store record: we could not open MicroBT's own product page for the M65S+, so we state only what the record and the reports above hold. It sits next to the M63S+ at the same 17 J/TH and above the M65S at 18.5 J/TH.
The best entry price it has had
The first price we hold for the 404 TH/s unit, on 29 May 2026, was $8.93 a terahash. By 21 September it was $6.72, and it is $2,715 today, $6.72 a terahash, for the same 404 TH/s at the same 17 J/TH. A purchase after the price settled, in August 2026, cost $2,806. This is the lowest entry price we have held for the machine, and the hashrate is the same as it was in May.
Against its neighbours in the water loop: the M63S+ at 17 J/TH is $7.56 a terahash, the M63S++ at 15 J/TH is $8.50, and the S21e XP Hyd at 13 J/TH is $8.82. The M65S+ is the cheapest terahash of the four, and the next section prices what that buys. The guide to what a miner costs all-in shows what sits on top of the box.
What a coin costs it
In the UAE, at 6¢, the M65S+ makes a bitcoin for about $58,800 of electricity today, against a bitcoin price of $81,427. The M63S+ makes one for about $58,900, the M63S++ for about $51,800, and the S21e XP Hyd for about $45,300.
In its first year the M65S+ returns about 32% at today's price, ahead of the M63S+ at 30% because it costs less for the same power. The S21e XP Hyd returns 45% on $3,793: a higher outlay, turned into nearly a third more terahash from each watt, which is why its coin costs about a quarter less.
Over its run since August 2026, electricity has averaged about $54,200 a coin. That is a lifetime average over 78 days; the figure to plan on is today's.
Where the halving puts it
A machine's line is the hashprice at which it stops covering its own power. At 17 J/TH a petahash uses 408 kWh a day: $24.48 at 6¢. On our hashprice chart, network hashprice was $37.29 a petahash a day on 21 October, and the lowest reading of the past year was $27.74 on 6 June 2026. The M65S+ line sat $3.26 under last June's trough.
The 2028 halving halves the coins a petahash earns. At today's price and difficulty that puts hashprice near $18.64, under the M65S+ line at 6¢ and over its line at Nigeria's 3.9¢, $15.91. That is today's conditions held flat, not a forecast: it is why every projection we publish assumes the old high returns, and why a hydro machine moves to Nigeria once, when cheaper power starts paying better.
The guide to efficiency and halvings shows where the line sits at every J/TH. At 13 J/TH the S21e XP Hyd's line is $18.72 at 6¢, within ten cents of half of today's hashprice.
What a fault costs you here
We looked for operator threads and repair write-ups on the M65S+ and found nothing specific to it that we could stand behind, so the reliability score is unknown rather than good or bad. A quality score needs a record we can cite, and this one has none.
What a fault costs is the part that matters. Hosted with us in the UAE, the manufacturer's warranty centre is close to the facility, so an in-warranty unit goes direct: a failed hashboard is a line item, not a catastrophe. A hydro machine is built for a water loop and is serviced where the plant already exists, which is why we rack it there.
We found no operator reports of this machine's boards we could cite. We score that as unknown, not as good.
Our two cents
The M65S+ is a sound hydro machine at its best entry price, and a plain one. At 6¢ it clears its power with room today, and a buyer who wants a modest outlay into hydro hashrate has a reason to pick it over the M63S+, which costs more for the same efficiency.
Most buyers chasing the cheapest coin should look one step up. The S21e XP Hyd makes one for about $45,300 against $58,800 here, and the figure below ranks everything that beats this machine on cost per coin and then year-one return, in stock today. A coin that costs less to make is a coin you keep more of.
- Bitmain Antminer S23 Hyd (563 TH/s) — 9.5 J/TH, In stock, $33,151 of electricity per bitcoin, 24% year one
- Bitmain Antminer S21j XP Hyd (495 TH/s) — 12 J/TH, In stock, $41,721 of electricity per bitcoin, 36% year one
- Bitdeer SealMiner A3 Pro Hyd (666 TH/s) — 12.5 J/TH, In stock, $43,054 of electricity per bitcoin, 28% year one
Sources and further reading
- MicroBT Unveils New WhatsMiner M6XS+ Series At Bitcoin 2024 Conference — Bitcoin Magazine, 26 Jul 2024
- MicroBT unveils new line of Bitcoin miners — Forklog, 2024
Which machines this covers
- MicroBT Whatsminer M65S+ (404 TH/s)
- MicroBT Whatsminer M65S+ (402 TH/s)
- MicroBT Whatsminer M65S+ (400 TH/s)
Disclosure
Firsthand Bitcoin sells and hosts mining hardware, including this machine. No manufacturer, distributor or affiliate programme paid for or reviewed this page and we take no commission on the links above. Historical figures are computed from daily bitcoin price and network hashprice, each day valued at its own prices. Nothing here is investment advice.