Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 59 Comments on List of Rockchip RK3368 Android mini PCs

List of Rockchip RK3368 Android mini PCs

Last year, Rockchip RK3288 was always going to be popular, since it offered a massive performance upgrade compared to its predecessor (Rockchip RK3188) with Cortex A17 cores replacing Cortex A9 cores, and a Mali-T764 GPU replacing an aging Mali-400MP4 GPU, plus the addition of 4K video output and decoding, as well as H.265 video codec support. So many manufacturers got involved that I decided to write a list of RK3288 TV boxes and sticks. Rockchip RK3368, the company’s new “flagship” processor for 2015, is a bit less exciting despite providing eight 64-bit ARM cores, since Cortex A53 cores are significantly less powerful than the Cortex A17 cores found in RK3288, and the performance of the PowerVR G6110 GPU used in the processor is a bit of an unknown for now. RK3368 might still rank pretty well in benchmark since it comes with eight cores instead of four cores, but I’m not convinced it will really show during normal use, although the upgrade to Android 5.1 on the newer processor may also help. The main improvement is probably support for 4K @ 60Hz video decoding and output (HDMI 2.0), which was not possible with RK3288 and lower end 4K UHD televisions.

Rockchip_RK3368_mini_PCNevertheless, it’s still interesting to look at new platforms, and I’ve compiled a list of RK3368 mini PCs announced so far, some of which already ship:

  • Eny EKB368 – TV box with 1 or 2GB RAM, 8 or 16 GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG and HDMI 2.0. Price: TBD
  • Beelink i68 – TV box with 1 or 2 GB RAM, 8 GB flash, Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG and HDMI 2.0. Price: $71 on GearBest (1GB RAM/8GB flash version)
  • Tronsmart Orion R68 – TV box based on Beelink i68 platform with two models:
    • Pro – 1 GB RAM, 8 GB flash, Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG and HDMI 2.0. Price: $75 on GeekBuying.
    • Meta – 2 GB RAM, 16 GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG and HDMI 2.0. Price: $99.99 on GeekBuying.
  • CSA90 – TV box with two models:
    • Model 1 – 1 GB RAM, 8 GB flash, Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG and HDMI 2.0 & composite (RCA) output. Price: $70 on Aliexpress.
    • Model 2 – 2 GB RAM, 16 GB flash, Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth, 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG, and HDMI 2.0 & composite (RCA) output. Price: $96 on Aliexpress.
  • Rikomagic MK68 – TV box with 2 GB RAM, 16 GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth, 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG and HDMI 2.0. Price: $111.90 on Aliexpress
  • Zero Devices Z64 – TV box apparently based on CSA90 “Model 2” but with Gigabit Ethernet. Price: $125 on Asiapads.
  • Measy B4T – TV box with 1 GB RAM, 8 GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, and HDMI 2.0. Price: $72.95 on Aliexpress
  • CloudnetGo CR13 Plus – TV box with 2 GB RAM, 8 or 16 GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, and HDMI 2.0. Price: TBD.
  • CloudnetGo CR18 – TV box with 2 GB RAM, 8 or 16 GB flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth, 3x USB 2.0 host ports, and HDMI 2.0 & composite (RCA) outputs. Price: TBD.
  • X6 – TV box with 1 GB RAM, 8 GB flash, Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth (Maybe), 2x USB 2.0 host ports, and HDMI 2.0 & composite (RCA) outputs. Price: $57 on Aliexpress. Note: X6 model was supposed to be for the Chinese market, but the few who bought appear satisfied.
  • Himedia H7 III – TV box with 1 GB RAM, 8 GB flash, Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 2x USB 2.0 host ports, and HDMI 2.0 & composite (RCA) outputs. Price: $89.89 on Aliexpress. The firmware is likely in Chinese only (TBC).
  • Ugoos UT4 – Upcoming RK3368 TV Box with Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac WiFi. Listing found on Android Warehouse. Price: TDB

All boxes run Android 5.1, and prices when available including shipping. The cheapest and lower end model is X6 selling for $57, with other 1GB RAM/8GB flash boxes selling for around $70. The best devices in terms of features appear to be Rikomagic MK68 and Tronsmart Orion R68 Meta both with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac WiFi, and selling respectively for $100 and $112. For reference, their Rockchip RK3288 equivalent, namely Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta and Rikomagic MK902 II sell respectively for $115 and $113. So far, nobody appears to have come up with a Rockchip RK3368 HDMI TV stick. Not sure whether the cause is fading demand for sticks, the CPU gets a little too hot, or we just need to be patient.

Corrections and additions to the list are more than welcome.

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59 Replies to “List of Rockchip RK3368 Android mini PCs”

  1. They still seem to be a little on the expensive side, especially since most have just 1GB of RAM. This is how it always was with a new SOC though so in a few months prices should come down.

    Reply

  2. Hallo, is USB 2.0 enough to play 4K content? I dont understand why none of these boxes have USB 3.0 or sata connector.

    Reply

  3. @Dupu
    Yes, USB 2.0 is fast enough to play 4K content.
    4K Blu-ray peak rate is 100 Mbps, while USB 2.0 theoretical throughput is 480 Mbps.

    I normally get around 30 MB/s read speed on USB hard drives (around 240 Mbps).

    These boxes don’t have USB 3.0 or SATA because Rockchip decided not to support it in their SoC.

    Reply

  4. Interesting that the (rk3368) cortex a53 is less powerful than the (rk3188) a9 or (rk3288) a17, yet can do 4k!

    all the tv boxes seem to have similar specs, so it may just come down to price. I’ll wait for one that has atsc or pvr capabilities

    Reply

  6. I ordered a 2GB CSA90 at the beginning of the summer, and mine arrived a week or two ago. In terms of UI, it is fantastically fast, and for 1080p content, its’ great, but I’ve been unable to get 4k content working smoothly on it. It ships with Kodi, not SPMC, and the Play store SPMC version plays back to a corrupted surface (garbage video, even wrong size). I’ve tried playing back h264 and VP9 4k@60, the former is smoother but they’re both choppy. I’ve got an HEVC file that I haven’t yet tried to play back, but that seems even less likely. YouTube on the device is limited to 720p, though the best answer I have for that is that it’s not using ExoPlayer, which is required for >720p. I have tried tricks to force it, but I’m stuck. Maybe in another couple of months these boxes will be worth it, but for the moment it seems like a lost cause… 🙁

    Reply

  7. You mentioned that RK 3368 has support for H265 video codec. Does that include support for 10bit H265 as well?

    Reply

  8. @Douglas
    Some companies want to sell me samples, but they delayed either because of production issues or because their current models only support 10/100M, and by the end of the month they’ll get Gigabit Ethernet.

    @Hap Hapablap
    Maybe. I’ll need to test it.
    I can only test whether it can decode 10-bit HEVC, but I don’t think I can test whether it outputs 8-bit or 10-bit colors.

    Reply

  10. Received the Beelink i68 and testing showed that the shipped firmware did not support 4K@60hz HDMI 2.0 output. I am in contact with the company and they said they would be releasing new firmware to fix that. I’m hopeful, but why would they have advertised 4K UI output when they obviously haven’t tested it?

    Reply

  11. these SOC are not designed for a Linux server/desktop. They are for tv box or pad and so they are cheap enough…

    Reply

  14. @massimo
    The prob with Hi media is there is no support from them.

    Only one firmware with bugs and that’s it.

    I would not touch their devices with a bargepole….ever again.

    Reply

  15. @cnxsoft
    The company is assuring me that it will do 4K UI after the firmware update. Curious if you think the RK3368 will be able to support a simple android app in 4k@60hz. Many mobile phone processors can push that many pixels (maybe not at 60hz) – how about this processor?

    Reply

  20. @mirror
    Audio HD 7.1 passthrough work external player and/or kodi internal(dvdplayer) ?
    ZIDOO rk3368 support Adjust display refresh rate to match video 24/50/60 and 23.976 fps with KODI?

    Support 4K HEVC 10-Bit it’s big news! 1080p h.265/h264 10 bit?

    Reply

  21. mirror :
    zidoo Rockchip 3368 device coming soon:)

    Thank God Zidoo is finaly giving up on the Allloser and MStar Weakling-SOCs. Hurray for picking something powerfull this time.

    Reply

  23. KODI 15.0 Isengard Support hardware decoding,Support 4K HEVC 10-Bit

    from freaktab and minixforum report: “RK3368 – It does not support 10bit HEVC, confirmed this with RK.” Zidoo X6 have new/special firmware?

    Reply

  35. RK3368 does not support 10-bit

    RK3288 – YES

    S905 – I think yes, but its datasheet is not clear enough…

    Coming S912 – YES

    Reply

  47. @cnxsoft
    Who makes them? “Noname Corp”? I’ve bought in september the CSA90 model for 64.63$ at the same aliexpress, and this one you have linked to, looks almost exactly as mine. The board inside (of CSA90) looks exactly like that you have described when rockchip was introducing their rk3368 chip. I bought it for system programming-crazy enough, but I am going to implement UEFI firmware, where it’s possible (thus, the documentation is present). And these devices are as cheap as not documented. Now I’m looking at it and even don’t know what to begin with – there is absolutely nothing except of the device on its own – no TRMs, no any manuals, even the instruction on reflushing it to a newer android is awkwardly written such that even my level og english would look as god level compared to that. And yet, maybe someone knows here – are they able to run some linux?

    Reply

  51. First thank you for the very informative site and candid views.

    These boxes seem to have names with 68 – like R68 and i68.

    Doing various searches I found this R68 at TomTop.com
    RK3368 up to 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, Android 5.1, HDMI 2.0, WiFi: 802.11 ac/a/b/g /n; 2.4GHz & 5GHz, Ethernet:10/100/1000M, standard RJ-45 Port, 4K UHD, HEVC X265 –

    listed at $60.89 (but shipping extra – lowest = $7.81 to USA)

    http://www.tomtop.com/r68-android-51-smart-tv-box-rk3368-64-bits-octa-core-2gb16gb-4k2k-1080p-mini-pc-24g5g-wifi-kodixbmcmiracastdlna-h265-bluetooth-40-streaming-media-player-w-remote-controller-v1797us.html

    However, I also accidentally found a slight wrinkle/discount –
    Since I was initially searching and comparing I left this in their cart
    and received an email offering me a 5% discount code to complete my order:
    so I got it for $65.66 incl shipping

    Reply

  55. G10 Pro at http://www.dealsmachine.com/best_306212.html intrigues me. The outputs: 4 X USB 2; 1 X gigabit lan; 1 X HDMI 2; 1 X optical Audio for a TV box seems very good, compared to most other boxes. Of concern to me is there are no screen shots and is KODIOS really OpenELEC? Or should I wait for the next processor that is better than them all? Or with that in mind, will I wait forever?
    Thanks for your informative site & this page.

    Reply

  56. Off all the boxes mentioned which ones can stream Netflix?
    Do they come with preinstalled Netflix apps.
    Lan configuration is it possible to setup VAN ons these boxes?

    Reply

    1. Thank you for the feedback. I am going to buy the G10 Pro TV box because of the choice of connections it offers. If you want to recommend an alternative I would be grateful simply because I have never bought from this side of the world before. I will buy via deals machine alongside the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro version. I will let you know how it all works out in the coming weeks

      Reply

  58. UnknownVT :
    Doing various searches I found this R68 at TomTop.com
    RK3368 up to 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, Android 5.1, HDMI 2.0, WiFi: 802.11 ac/a/b/g /n; 2.4GHz & 5GHz, Ethernet:10/100/1000M, standard RJ-45 Port, 4K UHD, HEVC X265 –
    listed at $60.89 (but shipping extra – lowest = $7.81 to USA)
    http://www.tomtop.com/r68-android-51-smart-tv-box-rk3368-64-bits-octa-core-2gb16gb-4k2k-1080p-mini-pc-24g5g-wifi-kodixbmcmiracastdlna-h265-bluetooth-40-streaming-media-player-w-remote-controller-v1797us.html

    Just a follow up on purchase – took 25 days for order to arrive.
    The microSD slot did not work – tried different brands and capacities not even recognized by the box –
    then if a card was inserted, the WiFi would stop working on next Off/On cycle.

    After reporting this the vendor made me jump through hoops doing testing and providing information for nearly 2 months – some repeats, when the results/info had been provided already.

    Reached out to PayPal who opened a case, and finally the vendor offered a partial refund, which is pending.

    However the box will work without SD card – can workaround using a USB flash drive.

    The WiFi does NOT have “ac”, nor 5GHz.

    There is no sleep/suspend mode – sleep/suspend Apps do not work, merely turns HDMI off, which automatically turns back on if the connected TV is On.

    Shutdown the box each night – turning back on – the LED indicator on the box shows “boot” – but occasionally TV shows “unsupported mode” – unplug and re-plug power supply to boot again – always successful. Cannot be sure – but this quirk might be due to my partially faulty unit.

    All-in-all, not a very positive experience – but the box does function, and is (slightly) better than the MX III Android TV Box (Amlogic S802 @GHz Cortex A-9) I had, which does not support HEVC/X265, and is only HDMI 1.4.

    Fortunately now see RK3368 TV boxes lower in price – some can be found for ~US$50 shipped on eBay –
    while the rival Amlogic S905 boxes are now just over US$30 – but only 1GB RAM/8GB NAND flash – 2GB/16GB configurations are also about US$50.

    Reply

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Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products
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