Orange Pi Zero2 Allwinner H616 SBC runs Android 10 or Linux

Last year, Shenzhen Xunlong Software unveiled Orange Pi Zero2 SBC as an update to the popular Orange Pi Zero board with a faster Allwinner H6 processor, HDMI 2.0 video output, USB 3.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi.

Just one little problem: AFAIK they never sold it. But Orange Pi Zero2 board is now back with another design features instead equipped with a newer Allwinner H616 processor supporting Android 10, and various Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian.

Orange Pi Zero2 (2020) specifications:

SoC – Allwinner H616 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with Arm Mali G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2 and OpenCL 2.0
Memory – 512MB or 1GB DDR3
Storage – 2MB SPI flash and MicroSD card slot
Video Output
- Micro HDMI 2.0a port up to 4Kp60
- Video composite (CVBS) via 13-pin header (See Expansion section)
Video
- Decoding
  - 10-bit H265/HEVC up tp 4Kp60 or 6Kp30
  - VP9 up to 4Kp60
  - H264/AVC up to 4Kp30
  - AVS2 up to 4Kp60
- Encoding
  - H.264 up to 4Kp25 or 1080p60
  - JPEG up to 1080p60
Audio – Analog stereo audio via 13-pin header, and digital audio via micro HDMI port
Network Connectivity
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 + Bluetooth 5.0 via AW859A module
USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 2x USB 2.0 interfaces via 13-pin header
Expansion
- 13-pin header with 2x USB, analog stereo audio output, CVBS video output, IR input, 3x GPIOs
- 26-pin IO header with I2C, SPI, UART, multiple GPIOs
Debugging – 3-pin UART header for serial console
Misc – Power & status LEDs, power key
Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-C port
Dimensions – 60 x 53 mm
Weight – 26 grams

Compared to Orange Pi Zero, Orange Pi Zero2 offers a 64-bit Arm processor, more RAM up to 1GB, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 (no Bluetooth at all in Pi0), Gigabit Ethernet, and power via a USB-C port instead of a micro USB port.

There were lots of complaints about Allwinner XR819 WiFi module when Orange Pi Zero first launched, but hopefully, the new Allwinner AW859A wireless module will perform better. Thanks to a micro HDMI interface, Orange Pi Zero2 is not only reserved for headless applications.

Somehow the company has made a habit to launch boards before the documentation and firmware images are available, and that appears to be the case of Orange Pi Zero2, which you can purchase for $15.99 with 512 MB RAM on Amazon US, and should soon be listed on the company’s Aliexpress store.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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.