anyon_e DIY laptop features Rockchip RK3588 SoC, 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display, aluminum chassis

We’ve already seen several Rockchip RK3588 laptops with the Cool Pi laptop and GenBook RK3588, as well as the open-source hardware MNT Reform Next. anyon_e is another open-source DIY laptop based on Rockchip RK3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC but with higher-end specifications compared to competitors.

The anyon_e features a 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display, a wireless QWERTY mechanical keyboard, a custom aluminum chassis that keeps the thickness of the laptop to just 18mm, and a battery good for about 7 hours. It’s based on the FriendlyELEC CM3588 core board found in the CM3588 NAS Kit.

anyon_e laptop (preliminary) specifications:

SoM – FriendlyELEC CM3588
- SoC – Rockchip RK3588
  - CPU – 4x CortexA76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x CortexA55 core @ 1.8 GHz
  - GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU
  - Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8
  - Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder
  - AI accelerator – 6 TOPS NPU
- System Memory – 16GB DDR4 (but specs somehow say up to 32 GB DDR5 2400 MHz RAM)
- Storage – Optional 64GB eMMC flash
- Audio – Realtek ALC5616 audio codec
- Networking – Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5GbE controller
- 4x 100-pin high-density board-to-board connectors with USB 3.0/2.0, PCIe Gen 3 x4, 2.5GbE, HDMI Tx/Rx, GPIOs, etc…
- PMIC – Rockchip RK806-1 power management IC
- Dimensions – 65 x 55 mm (8-layer PCB)
- Weight – About 21 grams
Display – Samsung 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED display; 330 PPI
Audio – Build-in stereo speakers
USB
- USB-C USB3.1 Gen 1 with DisplayPort and PD
- Separate USB-C PD controller and port
User input
- Mechanical keyboard with Cherry ULP switches and based on Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth SoC
- Azoteq Win 11 certified trackpad
Misc
- Raspberry Pi RP2040 embedded controller (potentially) for system monitoring or as a general-purpose embedded MCU.
- Field-Oriented-Control BLDC input (maybe)
Battery – High discharge/charge ~60Wh Li-Po battery pack
Material – Anodized aluminum CNC chassis

You’ll find the hardware design files (KiCad schematics and PCB layout) for all boards of the laptop (minus the CM3588 sourced from FriendlyELEC), the CAD files for the chassis and keyboard, firmware source code for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 embedded controller, and the bootloader for the nRF52840 wireless MCU on GitHub. I could not find an OS image for the laptop, so I would assume it’s running the Ubuntu 24.04 image for the CM3588 for now. You can also follow the progress of the project, which started about six months ago, on its website.

Sadly, you’ll probably never be able to purchase it, and it will be pricey to DIY the laptop. What’s amazing is Byran Huang is still a high-school student who made this rather complex laptop as a high-school project. You’ll find more details in a blog post and the video below which documents the creation of the laptop from scratch.

Via Liliputing and Hackaday

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.