Zidoo M6 is both a complete mini PC and a single board computer based on Rockchip RK3566 processor with up to 8GB RAM with plenty of peripherals connectivity options including built-in Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5, and support for 5G modems.
Several years ago, Zidoo used to serve the TV box market, but they’ve now veered towards higher-end media players, digital signage players, and industrial applications. While we’ve already seen some RK3566 TV boxes on the market, using the AIoT processor does not make much sense in this type of product, and instead, Zidoo M6 targets AI Edge gateways, digital signage, and other AIoT products.
Zidoo M6 specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3566 with a quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.8GHz, Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2. OpenCL 2.0. Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator, 4K H.265/H.265/VP9 video decoder, 1080p100 H.265/H.264 video encoder.
- System Memory – 2GB, 4GB (default), or 8GB LPDDR4
- Storage
- 32GB (default), 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash
- MicroSD card socket
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60
- eDP connector
- MIPI DSI connector up to 2560×1440 @ 60fps
- LVDS connector
- Audio
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Optical output (SPDIF)
- Digital audio output via HDMI
- Microphone and speaker headers
- Microphone array headers
- Camera – MIPI CSI connector, MIPI CIF connector
- Networking
- Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port
- Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac/ax WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0
- Support 5G and 4G LTE module via mini PCIe socket (USB 3.0 interface) + SIM card slot
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x USB OTG port
- Serial – RS232 DB9 port for debugging
- Sensor – G-sensor
- Misc – IR receiver, power & recovery buttons, VFD display connector, LED, RTC, ADC header
- Power Supply – 5V/2A via DC jack
- Dimensions
- SBC – 158 x 95 x 1.6mm
- Mini PC – 166 x 102.5 x 32mm
- Temperature Range – Operating: -10°C to 60°C, storage: -20°C to 70°C
- Humidity – 10% to 80%
Zidoo will provide Android 11, Ubuntu 18.04, and Station OS for the board/mini PC, as well as support for Buildroot to built custom Linux images, and Qt and Froglogic for graphical user interface development.
It’s not the first Rockchip RK3566 mini PC and SBC, as we’ve previously covered Station M2 mini PC fitted with ROC-RK3566-PC board, as well as Pine64 Quartz64 SBC, but Zidoo M6 is certainly the most features-rich RK3566 platform we’ve seen so far.
Via AndroidTVBox.eu
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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My elderly mom is using a high-end Android TV Box as a PC (H96 Max: 4GB, Cortex A72 cores, enough iO+storage). It’s getting long in the tooth though (Android… 7 ?). What can I replace it with ? I mostly need reliability (solid wifi ! + OS + apps/drivers). A bit better performance would be nice, but I’m seeing mostly Cortex A5x SoCs, no recent TV Boxes w/ Cortex A7x ? I’d go for an nVidia thingie, but apparently those are fairly locked down and I’ll have issues configuring them for Desktop use (w/ Skype+Duo, a Webcam, a printer, keyboard+mouse,… Read more »
If you’d like a more recent Android version with a Cortex-A7x processor, you’d have to look at S922X/A311D platforms. I can’t recommend any particular TV box, but they have at least Android 9.0
Khadas VIM3 SBC is a reference platform for Android: https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/11/21/khadas-vim3-vim3l-sbc-android-reference-board/
That means it can run the latest Android version, currently Android 11. But that means AOSP without GMS (Google Play, etc…). If you’d like to go with VIM3, make sure to find a case that’s suitable, and whether there’s a way to install GMS reliably.
Thanks. For some reason the RK 3566 seems all the rage nowadays; everything w/ Android 11 is running that, but it’s Cortex A55, and the performance difference seems meaningful (2x ?). Also Mom needs the PlayStore (or rather I do, I’m not about to complicate my life trying the sideload the Google stuff ^^)
I’ll try to wait until a new spin of something A7x comes out with Android 11 or 12. I’m guessing a S922X is due for a refresh, it’s almost 4years old.
> it’s Cortex A55, and the performance difference seems meaningful (2x ?)
Nobody knows with what you compare since ‘H96 Max’ is meaningless since almost every ARM SoC has been put into TV boxes with this name.
In case you’re comparing with RK3399 then both single and multi threaded CPU performance is roughly a third less with RK3566. No idea about GPU/VPU acceleration and the influence of fast storage since no Android user at all.
Yes, 3399. It’s already slow-ish CPU-wise (browsing the Web, UI lag…) , I’m a bit leery of “upgrading” to something slower, even if I’m sure newer Androids run faster.
> It’s already slow-ish CPU-wise (browsing the Web, UI lag…)
This does not need to be CPU bound but on crappy devices like SBC or TV boxes often relates to low random I/O write performance. If it’s possible to access /proc/stat on Android you could monitor the cpu line. 2nd column is %usr, 4th %sys and 6th %iowait. If the latter increases significantly/more while ‘doing something’ you know it’s random I/O that sucks.
Look at a ALLDOCUBE IPLAY 40 PRO tablet as a alternative
UNISOC T618 SoC an Octa Core includes 2 high-performance ARM Cortex-A75 processors capable of reaching 2.0 GHz, six ARM Cortex-A55 processors with a maximum speed of 2.0 GHz ARM and a ARM Mali-G52 MP3 GPU that reaches 850 Mhz.
Make sure to take into account Widevine support if that’s a requirement.
Thanks for the reminder, but no. This really needs to be a PC, there will be video chatting on it, but no meaningful video watching.
(Variation on the 75 FPS question I’ve asked) Why specify 100 FPS video encoding capability? AFAIK people watch video content at 30/60 FPS, rarely 120 FPS (Gemini Man was shot at this rate, and new 4K TVs support it), but nothing like 75, 90, or 100 FPS.
You’re talking NTSC, PAL is using 25/50/100fps.
Yes, it’s dumb, but PAL is still being used as a video standard with regards to frame rate in Europe and many other places, despite using really odd frame rates.
It could also be that whatever encoder they’re using can encode up to that frame rate and they’re trying sell it as something better than the standard 30/60fps.
Thanks, that seems to be the answer for 100 FPS at least.
What is odd about PAL framer ates.?