Shenzhen Xunlong Software has introduced the Orange Pi 3B V2.1 SBC with an M.2 socket that supports 2280 NVMe or SATA SSDs, and a new Ampak AP6256 WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5 wireless module replacing the Allwinner AW859A-based CDTech 20U5622 module in the first revision of the board.
The Orange Pi 3B SBC was first introduced in August 2023 as a Rockchip RK3566 SBC with Raspberry Pi 3B form factor and support for M.2 2230 and 2242 NVMe or SATA storage. The new Orange Pi 3B V2.1 supports longer M.2 2280 SSDs at the cost of being slightly bigger than a credit card (89×56 mm) and offers better WiFi 5 connectivity.
Orange Pi 3B V2.1 specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3566
- CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz
- GPU – Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1
- NPU – 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator with support for Caffe, TensorFlow, TFLite, ONNX, PyTorch, Keras, Darknet
- VPU
- 4Kp60 H.265, H.264, VP9 video decoding
- 1080p100 H.265 video encoding
- 1080p60 H.264 video encoding
- Process – 22nm
- System Memory – 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4/4x
- Storage
- eMMC module socket (16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB capacity)
- 16MB or 32MB SPI flash
- M.2 M-Key socket for SATA III or PCIe 2.0 2280 NVMe SSD
- MicroSD card slot
- Video Output
- HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60
- 2-lane MIPI DSI connector
- eDP 1.3 connector
- Camera I/F – 2-lane MIPI CSI connector
- Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, digital audio output via HDMI
- Networking
- Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port via YT8531C transceiver
- Dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 via Ampak AP6256 wireless module
- USB
- 1x USB 3.0 host port
- 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- 1x USB 2.0 Device/Host port
- Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible GPIO header with up to 28x GPIOs, UART, SPI, I2C, PWM
- Misc
- MaskROM key, Reset key, Power key
- 2-pin 5V fan connector
- 2-pin RTC battery connector
- Power Supply
- 5V/3A via USB Type-C port
- Rockchip RK809-5 PMIC
- Dimensions – 89 x 56 mm
- Weight – 52 grams
Shenzhen Xunlong Software says the board supports Android 11, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11, Debian 12, OpenHarmony 4.0 Beta1, Orange Pi OS (Arch), Orange Pi OS (OH) based on OpenHarmony, and other operating systems. You’ll find all those on the Download page, but as usual, the devil is in the details, and it’s unclear what is supported and what is not in each image. The Orange Pi 3B is also supported in Armbian with community-maintained Debian and Ubuntu images.
The new Orange Pi 3B V2.1 can be purchased on Amazon for $40.99 and up, as well as on Aliexpress for $30 and up with the final price depending on the selected configuration, shipping, and eventual taxes.
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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