Harkernel ODROID-H2 is an Intel Celeron J4105 Gemini Lake powered SBC that offers great value and performs reasonably well as we’ve seen in our ODROID-H2 Ubuntu review.
But there’s an upgraded model coming soon with ODROID-H2+ getting a slightly faster Intel Celeron J4115 processor, 2.5 GbE networking, a couple of extra I/O on the header for USB 2.0 and HDMI CEC, and a change to the 12V SATA power circuit to improve the suspend-resume power control sequence of 3.5″ HDDs.
ODROID-H2+ specifications:
- SoC – Intel Celeron J4115 Gemini Lake Refresh quad-core processor @ 1.8 GHz / 2.5 GHz (turbo single thread) / 2.3Ghz (turbo multi-thread) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 up to 700 MHz; Noted listed on Ark Intel just yet, but it’s real.
- System Memory – Dual-channel Memory DDR4-PC19200 (2400MT/s) supporting up to 32GB RAM in total
- Storage – M.2 PCIe 2.0 x4 slot for one NVMe storage, 2x SATA 3.0 ports, eMMC flash support
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.0 up to 4K (4096×2160) @ 60 Hz
- DisplayPort 1.2 up to 4K (4096×2160) @ 60 Hz
- Audio – HDMI, audio jacks for HP, MIC. and S/PDIF
- Connectivity – Dual 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) via RTL8125B chipset
- Expansion – 24-pin header with I2C, UART (3.3V), USB2.0 and HDMI CEC signals
- Misc – RTC battery (Included)
- Power Supply – 14V to 20V DC power input
- Dimensions – 110x110x43mm
- Weight – About 320 grams with heatsink, two DRAM modules, and M.2 NVMe SSD.
The board remains fully compatible with the original ODROID-H2 single board computer, and you can install Windows 10, Ubuntu 20.04, and other Linux operating systems on the board. Note, however, that you’ll need to either compile the Ethernet driver or install it as a DKMS package if you plan on using Linux. No extra drivers are needed for Windows 10. You’ll need an add-on board to use HDMI CEC.
The new board is really great for people wanting 2.5 GbE without breaking the bank, as ODROID-H2+ is up for pre-order for $119 on Hardkernel, and you can also find it on Ameridroid for $128.95 after applying coupon CNXSFWSUPPORTER6. Note you’ll also need to purchase a power adapter, one or two DDR4 SODIMM modules, as well as storage to make a complete system. Delivery is expected to start at the end of the month.
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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Sounds like RPi4B is pushing the limits and the competition seriously needs to fight back. Does this really have two display outputs? The power supply voltage seems a bit problematic compared to venerable 5V USB chargers.
>compared to venerable 5V USB chargers.
Apparently those don’t work for the RPI either considering all the issues they seem to have from people using the *wrong* chargers.
I bet you have a 19v laptop power brick laying around there.
Oh, it takes up to 20V! That’s better than the inputs of the C4 and N2 which only go up to 17V. Being able to reuse all of these 19V laptop bricks is wonderful. Thanks, HK!
Well, Rpi 4 just sold 640K units in march 2020 only. You can’t really compete against that. Just proves, price and community(support) matters the most. Power Supply Voltage has been fixed on latest Rpi 4 8Gb model. Yes, It does have 2 display outputs. This Odroid-H2 has been on my list for months because it’s an impressive SBC. Unfortunately, it’s hard to justify $350(SBC board, case, AC adapter, BT module, wifi module, LED power button, plus taxes and shipping from hardkernel or ameridroid). I live in Canada and import duties are expensive($100), this does not include ram($64 for dual channel 8 Gb). Total of $514 for a working H2+. I pass. Got two(2) new Rpi 4 8Gb locally for $230 including taxes instead.
I concur. I’m very much want HK product. But the price difference is huge. Here, $70 = RPi4 4GB+all-metal case vs $126 = N2+case. Their base price is about $65 vs $85, but the final price is $70 vs $126).
Yes, unlike the Rpi4, this really has two working display outputs. They’re even normal sized so you won’t need an adapter. The power input is vastly more flexable than the very limited input abilities of the Rpi4.
The H2+ is what you get when you actually have hardware engineers.
After the RP4 came out with 8GB, I finally surrendered and got one. My main display is 4k at 42″ or the equivalent of 4 ‘normal’ ones and the RP4 can’t handle that, neither for HD media (not talking 4k) nor even Google Maps in Chromium, which is supposed to be accelerated.
My Jetson Nano, which I got last year for the same price, handles that display very competently and with an A2 speed µSD and swapping turned on 4GB of RAM, worked well enough for desktop work, even if I’d prefer more RAM. Actually I guess I’d really want the €400 or €800 Xaviers at 4x and 8x the performance, but the same price.
I run four J5005 based Mini-ITX boards with 32GB of DDR4 in 3+1 oVirtClusters, but also as Cinnamon desktops: The Nano beats them on graphics, but the PI is no contest. 4k on Atom is quite usable, even more so with Windows, which I also tested when I got them first.
Thomas, thank you for your opinion on the real-world performance of the RP4, Jetson Nano, and J5005. Currently I am using an old desktop with a fourth generation Intel Core i3. On both X11 and Wayland, Chromium is struggling to give me smooth panning of a map with Google Maps on a the native resolution on a 4K monitor. With Firefox it’s even worse. I would like to replace the i3 with an SBC to gain quietness and to save electrical energy.
Could you elaborate what you mean by “no contest” please? Is Google Maps performing better or worse on the RP4 compared with the Jetson Nano and J5005?
And are you referring to the J5005 when you write Atom in your last sentence?
Google Maps on the RP4 is next to unusable, it will start to overheat on loading the initial map and changing angles or zooming results in something like 1 frame per minute. Even the mightiest of all Raspberries IMHO is a pure 2D device and can’t hold a candle to the Jetson in terms of graphics power.
On the Jetson Nano Google Maps at 4k is far from super smooth, perhaps 10 FPS or only 5, and more handicapped by the amount of data the CPU side has to handle. As you zoom in closer, frame rate increases, as you pan out far more map and polygon data imposes limits, but it remains usable for what you want: Getting a good understanding of the lay of the land. It wouldn’t make a gamer happy.
I’d say the Nano is light gaming at THD and 3D business graphics at 4k.
Yes, J5005 is the Atom I am referring to. Under windows it’s quite Google Maps 3D capable on both Firefox and Chrome, because they enjoy full OpenGL acceleration paths. On Linux WebGL support came much later, but seems to be there now. I’d have to crawl under the table to hook an Atom to the 4k screen right now, but on 1080 it’s quite snappy on both Chromium and Firefox, so it might be acceptable at 4k… if you moderate your expectations.
The 18EU GPU in the J5005 is a vast improvement over the J1900, which was hardly usable even at 1080 and the N3700, which was ok as HD Linux desktop, but it’s still far below a typical Core ix iGPU. I wouldn’t vouch for it being faster than your i3 in any regard. And that might include the CPU portion, too because at 2.8GHz each J5005 core is perhaps as fast as a Skylake core at 1.4 GHz. But then RP4 and Nano CPU cores may be as slow as a 1.5 GHz Atoms would be.
The J5005 (or the Atoms) will give you 100% silent operation in a nice small form factor for most productivity work and even some light server loads. But that doesn’t make them workstations. Even my phone runs Google Earth much smoother than any of these €99 devices. I doubt buttery smooth Google Earth can be done with less than 50 Watts at 4k: Xavier AGX territory, €800 not €99.
Somewhat oversimplified, CPU cores on RP4 and Nano are about the same and half an Atom (sorry, if that sounds odd). GPU power on the Jetson is vastly higher and perhaps twice that of the fastest current Atom for 3D. Of course for Machine Learning inference with its specialized hardware and matching code it can beat much bigger CPUs. But all that work, which generated the 3D Google Maps data from aerial photography, has already been done in Google’s data centers.
Ultimately performance has to be paid in Watts and none of these devices are leading edge technology. Don’t expect miracles below 10 Watts and €100.
I know pfsense doesn’t like realtek a lot, but will this be a good candidate for a cheep 2.5G router?
if pfsense doesn’t like it go with ipfire. ipfire is based off of linux instead of bsd so it would likely be more agreeable with a wider range of hardware.
edit: actually.. It looks like it needs driver installation for the networking to work in Linux. So for the moment you might be out of luck for either.
> I know pfsense doesn’t like realtek a lot
It’s especially users that don’t like Realtek a lot based on experiences they had one or two decades ago with older revisions of RTL8111/RTL8168 and Fast Ethernet chipsets. And this applies not only to pfSense users but to an awful lot of Linux ‘experts’ as well.
Realtek did great improvements in many areas (for example they still provide the only hassle-free USB3-GbE adapter that performs also pretty well – RTL8153) and this applies even to later revisions of their RTL8111 chipsets as used for example on original ODROID H2.
So the question boils down to having an RTL8125 NIC driver available in FreeBSD: https://www.xigmanas.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15326 (you need some patience)
Thanks for some logic tkaiser. The Realtek issue has almost reached urban legend status.
I’ve tried both the RealTek 2.5Gbit and Aquantia/QNAP 5Gbit USB3 Adapters with a very similar J5005 on CentOS7: RealTek delivers 30MByte/s and Aquantia is effectively throttled by USB3 encoding limitations to 40MByte/s, so it’s not really worth the upgrade at twice the price.
In all of these cases you’ll have to compile a source code driver on kernel upgrades, which can be a bit of a bother in a locked down software appliance.
With Astaro aka Sophos UTM this should otherwise work fine, pfSense’s BSD seems to lag a bit on driver support.
Actually I got myself a bitcoin miner PCIe x1 to x16 break-out kit cheap and have been wanting to try how the Aquantia PCIe x4 NBase-T NIC would work: 500MBit/s might be obtainable… Haven’t got around to testing it and I would never operate it like that, if only because it messes with the nice little chassis I use on the machines.
I’d just love to have an Aquantia that fits the M.2 B 2230 slot they have on these boards: Should be rather near 10GBit at PCIe 2 x2.
The Aquantia PCIe variants have native support starting with CentOS 7.6+ and most likely all 18+ Ubuntus.
Data rates are actually 300 and 400MByte/s, respectively: Sorry for the mistake!
@cnx available for £139.85 at odriod co UK as well
nice upgrade. Have placed an order.
So finally they delivered. 🙂
Cannot find the datasheet for neither, the Intel J4115 nor Realtek RTL8125B.
Warranty period 4 weeks
How can anybody trust a company that has so little confidence in it’s own products.
Guess why smart people order ODROIDs via Hardkernel distributors. I expect H2+ being available for +160€ on pollin.de once available.
Having bought the second revision of H2 I do not feel too bad not having 2 x 2.5 Gbit ethernet ports. I do not have use for it yet, everything in my local network is capped at 1 Gbit. HardKernel is actually listening to its users, there were enough voiced saying that they would want 2.5 Gbit instead of 1Gbit. I rarely max out 1 Gbit locally, but the Realtek nics work really well. I am actually thinking of using a dedicated port for the Internet and one for local network (having 2).