$85+ NanoPi R6C 2.5GbE router and SBC gets M.2 NVMe SSD socket

NanoPi R6C SBC router RK3588S

FriendlyElec has come up with a low-cost version of the NanoPi R6S with the NanoPi R6C router/SBC based on the same Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor but offering just one Gigabit Ethernet port and one 2.5GbE port, and adding an M.2 NVMe SSD socket for storage. The NanoPi R6C is also offered with 4GB or 8GB RAM, an optional 32GB eMMC flash soldered on the board, a Micro SD card socket, an 8K capable HDMI 2.1, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, and a few extra features we’ll discuss further below. NanoPi R6C specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with: CPU – 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with OpenGL ES3.2 / OpenCL 2.2 / Vulkan1.1 support VPU – 8Kp60 H.265/VP9/AVS2 video decoder, 8Kp30 H.264 decoder, 4Kp60 AV1 decoder, 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder AI […]

Rockchip showcases RK3528 TV box SoC and RK3562 tablet SoC

Rockchip RK3528 RK3562

Rockchip showcased some new processors at Mobile World Congress 2023: the RK3528 for TV boxes, and the RK3562 for tablets both with a Cortex-A53 CPU subsystem, but the former comes with a Mali-450 GPU, and the latter with a faster Mali-G52 2EE GPU. Both are clearly for entry-level devices, but I’m a little surprised they didn’t go with Cortex-A55 cores instead. Rockchip demonstrated the new processors in a TV box running Android 13 and a tablet with a 144,506 score in the latest Antutu benchmark as shown below. Rockchip RK3528 preliminary specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-A53 processor (core count unspecified) GPU – Arm Mali-450 GPU with AFBC compression support Memory – LP4, LP4X, LP3, DDR4, DDR3 Video decoding – Up to 8Kp25 Supported OS – Android 13 Rockchip RK3562 preliminary specifications: CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 2 GHz GPU – Mali-G52 EE AI accelerator – 1 TOPS NPU VPU […]

Beelink SER6 Pro mini PC review – Windows 11, Ubuntu 22.04, and USB4

Beelink SER6 Review

Beelink upgraded their earlier SER6, which used an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H processor with integrated AMD Radeon 660M graphics, and released the SER6 Pro which has a faster AMD Ryzen 7 6800H processor with much more powerful integrated AMD Radeon 680M graphics. Beelink kindly sent a SER6 Pro unit for review however since receiving the mini PC, Beelink have ‘refreshed’ the processor to use an AMD Ryzen 7 7735H also with AMD Radeon 680M graphics, and called it the SER6 Pro Refresh. As a result, this review looks at Windows performance which should be indicative for both versions, together with a quick look at running Ubuntu and also a more detailed look at the USB4 port which is a new inclusion to Beelink’s mini PCs. Update: you may be interested in the review of the Beelink SER6 Pro 7735HS – in Windows 11 only – as we’ve also received it […]

Firefly AIO-3588SG – A compact, low-profile 8K SBC with WiFi 6 and Gigabit Ethernet

AIO-3588SG SBC

Firefly AIO-3588SG is a compact, low-profile SBC with Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and an 8K capable USB-C port with DisplayPort that is based on the company’s Core-3588SG module powered by a Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor with up to 32GB RAM and 256GB eMMC flash. The board is designed to be as thin as possible and includes a low-profile RJ45 Ethernet jack which should make it suitable for projects and products that require high performance in a thin form factor such as robotics, digital signage, virtual reality headsets, etc… Firefly AIO-3588SG specifications: System-on-module – Firefly Core-3588SG with SoC – Rockchip RK3588S octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores, Arm Mali-G610 MP4  GPU, 6 TOPS NPU, 8Kp60 video decoder, 8Kp30 video encoder System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB (32GB optional) 64-bit LPDDR4, LPDDR4x, or LPDDR5 Storage – 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or […]

PlanetPC XR1/XR2 Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 Mini PC comes with a touchscreen display for control (Crowdfunding)

Planet XR2 RK3588 mini PC touchscreen display

PlanetPC XR1/XR2 are Arm Linux mini PCs based on Rockchip RK3568 or RK3588 processor respectively with a unique design featuring an integrated touchscreen display for control. Planet Computers has designed several unique computing devices over the years such as the Cosmo Communicator 2-in-1 smartphone and computer or Astro Slide 5G transformer smartphone, and the British company has now come up with a mini PC  preloaded with Ubuntu with a touchscreen screen interface, dual 4K/8K video output, dual Gigabit Ethernet and more. PlanetPC XR1/XR2 specifications: SoC PlanetPC XR1 – Rockchip RK3568 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE, 0.8 TOPS NPU PlanetPC XR2 – Rockchip 3588 octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor up to 2.4 GHz with Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, 6 TOPS NPU System Memory & Storage PlanetPC XR1 4GB LPDDR4 32GB eMMC flash Optional 512GB, 1TB, 2TB M.2 NVMe Optional up to 14TB SATA HDD or 2TB SATA […]

Amlogic S928X specifications – A penta-core Arm Cortex-A76/A55 SoC with Mali-G57 GPU, 3.2 TOPS NPU

Amlogic S928X block diagram

Amlogic S928X Cortex-A76/A55 will soon power some 8K TV boxes running Android TV from SDMC and others, and we now have detailed specifications as a “Quick Reference Manual” dropped in my inbox last night. While like most Amlogic processors, the S928X is designed for TV boxes, the penta-core SoC may end up in affordable yet powerful single board computers with features such as HDMI 2.1a, Gigabit Ethernet, PCIe 2.0 or USB 3.0. Amlogic S928X specifications: CPU sub-system 1x Arm Cortex-A76 core and 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores in big.LITTLE configuration NEON and Crypto extensions Private L2 cache and unified system L3 cache Build-in RISC-V core for system control processing GPUs Arm Mali-G57 MC2 3D GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2, and OpenCL 2.0 2.5D graphics processor for scaling, alpha, rotation, and color space conversion operations VPU Amlogic Video Engine (AVE) with dedicated hardware decoders and encoders Decoding AV1 […]

NanoPi R6S RK3588S mini PC & router review – Part 2: Ubuntu 22.04

NanoPi R6S Ubuntu 22.04

NanoPi R6S is both a mini PC and a router based on Rockchip RK3588S processor. I received some samples in November and started the NanoPi R6S review with OpenWrt/FriendlyWrt quickly testing the 2.5GbE interfaces and routing with iperf3, and it worked pretty well. But using a system with an octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 processor and 8GB RAM as an OpenWrt router only feels like a waste of resources, so I wanted to install a more versatile operating system – Ubuntu 22.04 – for further testing. My struggles installing Ubuntu 22.04 on NanoPi R6S FriendlyELEC provides various images on the Wiki either booting from an SD card, installing from a MicroSD to the eMMC flash (aka eFlasher imagers), or flashing through USB with Windows tools. I like the eFlasher images since the OS runs from the internal eMMC flash and no special tools are needed. I had just used the FriendlyWrt eFlasher image, […]

8K AI embedded computer gets 4K HDMI input, WiFi 6, dual GbE interfaces, and more

Firefly EC-A3588Q 8K AI Embedded Computer

Firefly EC-A3588Q is a fanless 8K AI embedded computer powered by a Rockchip RK3588 processor and fitted with up to 32GB RAM, SATA or NVMe storage, offering dual Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and optional 5G/4G cellular connectivity, dual 8K video outputs, etc… It is a higher-end and larger version of the Firefly EC-R3588SPC industrial mini PC based on the Rockchip RK3588S processor that adds a 4K HDMI input port, a VGA output port, gets two GbE interfaces and support for WiFi 6/Bt 5.0, offers more USB ports, and replaces some terminal blocks with DB9 interfaces for RS232, RS485, and CAN Bus interfaces. Firefly EC-Q3588Q specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with CPU – 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 quad-core GPU with OpenGL ES3.2 / OpenCL 2.2 / Vulkan1.1 support AI accelerator […]