I heard the Vega 2.1 last week and thought it was very good, it includes a pre-amp stage. Left me wondering that Naim are being left behind with the streamer/pre market. I haven’t heard the earlier models, the Aries looks interesting if you have a separate DAC. They are lovely builds too.
I went from 272/XPSDR to Auralic G2. I got fed up waiting for 272.2 and decided to jump. No regrets: it suits my tastes in music and it’s reproduction and I’m a very happy bunny.
To the OP, I would expect the G1 to outperform the Mini, by a significant margin. But the SQ of a streaming bridge/DAC combination is largely determined by the DAC, so whether it is worth the expenditure only an individual can really say. Can you audition?