ARM Cortex A72 class development boards are usually quite expensive, and cheaper boards like Mediatek X20 development board ($200) appears to be out of stock very often, and software support is limited to Android 6.0. But things look to improve soon, as T-Chip is about to release Firefly-RK3399 development board powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72/A53 processor.
Firefly-RK3399 (preliminary) specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core bit.LITTLE processor with dual core Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.0 support, OpenVG 1.1, OpenCL and DX 11.
- System Memory – 2 to 4 GB DDR3
- Storage – 16 to 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card
- Video Output & Display Interfaces – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, eDP 1.2 interface, YUV interface, 1x MIPI DSI interface
- Video Decode – 4K VP9 and 10-bit H.265 video codec support up to 60 fps
- Audio – HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, optical S/PDIF, built-in microphone
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) port, WiFi and Bluetooth
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 3.0 type C port
- Camera – 2x MIPI CSI interfaces
- Debugging – 3-pin serial header
- Expansion
- GPIO female header
- mini PCIe 2.1 M.2 slot
- SIM card slot
- Misc – RTC battery header; power, reset and recovery buttons; IR receiver
- Power Supply – 12V DC
- Dimensions and Weight – TBD
The board will support Android 6.0.1 and Ubuntu 16.04, and can achieve around 75,000 points in Antutu. I got all information above from the video embedded below.
There’s a WIP Wiki page for the board currently in Chinese only, based on support for their previous Firefly-RK3288 board, we should soon have pretty good documentation and software support in English.
What I don’t know is pricing, but T-chip is not one of the Chinese manufacturers trying to cut price with almost zero margin, which explains why they can provide decent support for their board. For reference Firefly-RK3288 board is selling in 2GB/16GB and 4GB/32GB configuration on GeekBuying for respectively $159.99 and $219.99, so I’d expect the new board to go for less than $200 / $250 based on the same configurations. The end of the video also gives the clue that the board will be launched on Kickstarter, I just don’t know exactly when.
Thanks to Nanik for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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