Allwinner H618 processor powers Android 12 TV boxes

Allwinner H618 TV Box Android 12

Allwinner H618 processor has started to show up in several TV boxes running Android 12, and capable of playing 6K/4K VP9 and H.265 videos with devices such as T95Z Plus and T95 Max, which may be confusing, as companies are reusing those model numbers over and over. Featuring a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, an Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU, and 6K video support, the Allwinner H618 looks exactly like the Allwinner H616 processor except it can run the more recent Android 12 operating system. There’s not much public information about Allwinner H618 at the time of writing, but let’s check T95Z Plus specifications to see if we can find any other new hidden features: SoC – Allwinner H618 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB or 4GB RAM Storage – 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket Video Output HDMI […]

Compact3566 – A Rockchip RK3566 SBC that closely follows Raspberry Pi 3 form factor

Rockchip RK3566 SBC vs Raspberry Pi 3

We’ve very recently written about Geniatech XPI-3566 SBC powered by Rockchip RK3566 CPU that somewhat follows the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B form factor. Boardcon Compact3566 offers similar features, but it appears to keep exactly the same port assignment as the Raspberry Pi SBC, so it should be compatible with more accessories. The Compact3566 SBC ships with up to 8GB LPDDR4 and 128GB eMMC flash, features Gigabit Ethernet & WiFi 5, four USB 3.0/2.0 ports,  HDMI 2.0 output, MIPI DSI and CSI interfaces, the 40-pin GPIO header, as well as extra built-in features such as an M.2 socket for storage, RTC with battery, and a built-in microphone. Compact3566 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.8 GHz with 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 NPU System Memory – 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X Storage 8GB, 16GB, […]

PIX NII is a pocket-sized mini PC powered by an Intel Pentium N6005 processor (Crowdfunding)

PIX-NII pocket-sized PC

PIX NII pocket-sized mini PC features an Intel Pentium N6005 Jasper Lake processor that should provide a nice upgrade to existing 2.4-inch mini PCs based on Gemini Lake processors such as Larkbox. The tiny computer is slightly larger (2.7×2.6 inch) than the previous 2.4-inch models, but ships with up to 16GB RAM, up to a 1TB NVMe SSD, and offers two 4K-capable HDMI 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet & WiFi 6 connectivity, as well as a few USB 3.2 ports, plus a 3.5mm audio jack. PIX NII specifications: SoC – Intel Pentium N6005 quad-core processor @ 2.0GHz / 3.3GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD graphics; 10W TDP System Memory – 8GB or 16GB DDR4 RAM Storage SATA or NVMe SSD with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB capacity (up to 520MB/s with SATA, 1,000MB/s with NVMe) MicroSD card socket Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0 ports up to 4Kp60 Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, […]

Mekotronics R58 review – Part 2: Android 12 on Rockchip RK3588 CPU

RK3588 mini PC SATA SSD

I’ve written the first part of Mekotronics R58 review last month with an unboxing, teardown, and first boot with 3D graphics benchmarks. I’ve now had more time to play with Android 12 on the Rockchp RK3588 mini PC, so I’ll report my experience with the device. User interface and settings As already mentioned, the box ships with Android 12 for TV and the stock launcher. The Google Play store is working, and I had no troubles installing all apps I needed for the review. Most of the settings are pretty much standard. While the first time, I used Ethernet, and also tried WiFi 6 connecting the R58 to Xiaomi Mi AX6000 router. It worked but not without some effort, as initially, all I got were messages like “Couldn’t find SSID” both with 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs. It turned out I had to disconnect the Ethernet to make WiFi work, and […]

4K wireless display adapter supports 3840×2160 resolution @ 60 Hz, HDR (Sponsored)

ProScreenCast SC01

ProScreenCast SC01 is a 4K wireless display adapter supporting 3840×2160 resolution at up to 60 Hz with High-Dynamic Range (HDR) support. The HDMI 2.0 adapter is compatible with Miracast, Airplay, and DLNA streaming standards, and can sustain the required bandwidth needed thanks to dual-band WiFi 5 connectivity. We started to see plenty of Miracast and DLNA capable wireless adapters about 8 years ago, but there were all limited to WiFi 4 and either 720p or 1080p resolutions, so the ProScreenCast SC01 wireless adapter offers a greatly improved video quality and user experience with faster WiFi, and 4K HDR support. SC01 specifications: Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 with HDR support Wireless – Dual-band WiFi 5 (802.11ac) Support standards – Airplay, Miracast, and DLNA Power Supply – 5V/1A or 2A via USB Type-C port Dimensions – 72 x 72 x 17 mm Weight – 50.7 grams Materials – ABS+PC […]

Beelink MINI S Review – A Low-cost mini PC tested with Ubuntu 22.04 and Windows 11

Beelink MINI S review

Whilst the first mini PCs were relatively simplistic using low-powered Intel Atom processors with minimal memory, storage, and ports, more recent mini PCs have become so advanced they can challenge SFF builds for both performance and functionality. However, such mini PCs come with prices to match. Beelink has now released the MINI S which is a mini PC that goes back to the basics and is based on a cut-down version of their earlier Beelink U59 mini PC and priced to match. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu and compared it directly against the U59. Beelink MINI S hardware overview The Beelink MINI S physically consists of a 115 x 102 x 41mm (4.53 x 4.02 x 1.61 inches) square plastic case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses Intel’s new 10 nm Jasper Lake N5095 processor which is […]

AMD unveils Ryzen Embedded R2000 Series processors with up to four cores, quad-display support

AMD Ryzen Embedded R2000

As expected, AMD has now launched the Ryzen Embedded R2000 series processors that build up on the earlier Ryzen Embedded R1000 family, but doubles the number of cores to up to four, gets improved Radeon graphics, and adds support for Windows 11 operating system. Performance and efficiency have also improved with the new Ryzen Embedded R2514 CPU exhibiting up to 81 percent higher CPU (Passmark v10) and graphics (3DMark) performance compared to Ryzen Embedded R1606G processor, as well as higher performance-per-watt efficiency thanks to the Zen+ core architecture. The company has four Ryzen Embedded R2000 processors in its portfolio at launch. Key features and specifications include: Memory – 2,400 to 3,200 MT/s (depending on SKU) DDR4 dual-channel memory support Storage – 2x SATA 3.0, NVMe support 16 lanes of PCIe Gen3, except for R2312 limited to just 8 lanes Up to four independent 4Kp60 displays using DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, […]

Beelink SER3 & SEi8 mini PCs review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04

Previously, I reviewed Beelink’s new SEi8 and SER3 mini PCs running Windows 11, so in this part, I will cover Ubuntu 22.04. Hardware Recap The SEi8 is an actively cooled Intel mini PC that physically consists of a 124 x 113 x 41 (4.88 x 4.45 x 1.61 inches) square metal case with a plastic top and uses Intel’s 14++ nm Coffee Lake Refresh Core i3-8109U processor from 2018 which is a dual-core 4-thread 3.00 GHz mobile processor boosting to 3.60 GHz with Intel’s Iris Plus Graphics 655. In comparison, the SER3 is an AMD mini PC and is physically very similar, consisting of a 126 x 113 x 40mm (4.96 x 4.45 x 1.57 inches) square metal case. It is also actively cooled and uses AMD’s 14 nm Zen Ryzen 3 3200U Picasso processor from 2019 which is a dual-core 4-thread 2.6 GHz mobile processor boosting to 3.5 GHz […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC