There’s now a Raspberry Pi 400 alternative with the Orange Pi 800 Keyboard PC that offers a very similar design, but it is powered by a Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex-A72/A53 processor.
Like the Raspberry Pi model, the Orange Pi 800 comes with 4GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, two USB 3.0 ports, and one USB 2.0 port, but it also adds 64GB on-board flash storage and features one full-size HDMI port capable of 4Kp60 resolution plus a VGA port, instead of two micro HDMI ports.
Orange Pi 800 specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A72 cores up to 1.8GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.4GHz, and an Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU
- System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4
- Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60
- VGA port up to Full HD resolution
- Audio
- 3.5mm audio (headphone+mic) jack
- Integrated speaker(s) and microphone
- Digital audio via HDMI
- Networking
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port
- Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE
- Keyboard – 78-key QWERTY Keyboard
- USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 2.0 port
- Expansion – 26-pin GPIO header
- Power Supply – 5V/4A via Type-C port
- Dimensions – 286 x 122 x 22mm
- Weight – 385 grams
The product page says the keyboard PC can run Android12.1, Orange Pi OS, Manjaro OS, Ubuntu 22.04, and Debian 11. “Orange Pi OS” is described as a lightweight operating system based Arch Linux Arm that will support all Orange Pi hardware including Orange Pi 800 on the website, but the store page says it is compatible with Android 12 and comes with the Google Play store.
The supported operating system images are not available for download yet, but should eventually show up on the Download page on the Orange Pi website, and hopefully, there will be images released by the Armbian community as well.
The Orange Pi 800 is now available for $99.00 plus shipping on Aliexpress, but you might want to get the $108 bundle with a 5V/4A power adapter instead [Update: It’s also listed on Amazon US]. Considering the Orange Pi 800 does come with 64GB eMMC flash storage, it’s somewhat competitive against the Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC which was launched for $70, and could provide an alternative to advanced users. Note that the Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC now seems to be out of stock in most shops, and is often sold as part of a $100 kit with a mouse, 16GB microSD card, HDMI cable, and a programming book, or even more on places like Amazon.
Update: The article was initially published on June 4, 2022 and updated following the availability of the keyboard PC on Aliexpress.
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.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
