what the market offers

Single board computers are a great tool for both DIY projects and corporate tasks. Manufacturers continue to release new models, while we talk about the advantages and disadvantages of these devices. Under the cut – a selection of new models that can be useful to everyone. Go!

Orange Pi 3B with M.2 slot

The Orange Pi 3B single-board PC, which is equipped with an M.2 slot, has gone on sale. The slot is designed to install an M.2 2242 SSD. This, in turn, allows you to increase system performance.

The single board computer also received a Rockchip RK3566 processor. Graphics – Arm Mali-G52 2EE NPU. The manufacturer announced the possibility of simultaneously connecting the spirit of 4K monitors with a frequency of up to 60 Hz.

The amount of RAM, depending on the configuration, is 2, 4 or 8 GB, the eMMC drive is 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256 GB. The traditional microSD is also in place. HDMI 2.0, eDP 1.3 or dual-lane MIPI DSI, Ethernet, USB, CSI and Raspberry Pi GPIO connectors are also available.

List of ports and connectors:

• 1 x HDMI.
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet.
• 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A.
• 3 x USB 2.0 Type-A.
• 1 x USB Type-C (for 5V/3A power supply).
• 3.5mm audio.
• 1 x micro SD .
• 1 x eDP interface.
• 40-pin GPIO header.
• MIPI-DSI interface.
• MIPI-CSI interface.

The size of the board is very small – 85 x 56 mm, with a weight of 49 grams. The manufacturer announced support for Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Android 11, OpenHarmony and, of course, Orange Pi OS builds.

The single-board price is from $39 and up, depending on the configuration.

UP 7000

Another competitor of the “raspberry”. This device is so similar to one of the Raspberry Foundation devices that it can be confused with a “raspberry. But it’s actually a device developed by an independent team.

In addition, if the “raspberries” are based on ARM chips, then this device received an Intel Alder Lake-N processor. Accordingly, the range of supported operating systems for a single-board device is very wide. As for the specifications, the device supports up to 8 GB of LPDDR5 memory and 64 GB of main memory. Processor models may be different:

• Intel Processor N97
• Intel Processor N100
• Intel Processor N50

And here is the list of ports and connectors:

• 1 x HDMI 1.4b
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8111H CG)
• 3 x USB 3.2 Type-A
• DC power input (12V/5A)

Unfortunately, the developer does not say anything about support for memory cards, so you can only count on connecting devices to USB ports. But we must not forget about the 10-pin connector with support for two USB 2.0 connections.

Supports Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS device.

The cost of the device is about $249.

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini

A small device that is positioned by the manufacturer as a network device. Of course, it can be used in other industries, but there are other boards for this. And at
Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini has two 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, two M.2 connectors, plus WiFi 6E support. And, by the way, there is no video stream – the developers did not provide for it.

So the device can be used as a firewall, repeater, gateway, etc. But if you need a device for desktop development, albeit a low-power one, then this device is not the best option. Its cost is about $79.

Characteristics:

• MediaTek MT7986 (Filogic 830) processor. 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores @ 2 GHz.
• 2GB DDR4 RAM.
• 8GB eMMC internal memory.
• 1 x USB 2.0 Type-C port.
• 2 x 2.5GbE Ethernet.
• MT7976C with WiFi 6 support.
• M.2 B-Key socket (M.2 2230 with PCIe NVMe SSD support)
• M.2 M-Key socket (M.2 3052 USB 3.0 connector with 5G NR module support).
• DC connector.
• UART for debug.
• Nano SIM slot.

In general, a profile device for solving certain problems.

BeagleV-Ahead

BeagleBoard has released a new single board that is compatible with all manufacturer’s accessories. But there is one difference between this single-pay card and other models of the company. The main thing is the architecture of the processor. Instead of ARM, they decided to choose RISC-V. True, there is a second difference – a relatively high price, $149.

Here is a list of ports and connectors:

• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek TRL8211F-VD-CG).
• 1 x micro USB 3.0.
• 1 x microSD.
• 1 x micro HDMI port.
• 2 x CSI connectors.
• 1 x DSI connector.
• mikroBUS Shuttle (UART/I2C/SPI/ADC/PWM/GPIO).
• 92-pin Beaglebone Cape headers (P8 and P9).

Details about the device can be obtained from the manufacturer’s documentation, here at this link.

Sipeed Lichee Pi 4A

And one more RISC-V single-board, which, according to the manufacturer, shows better results than Raspberry Pi 4. But, of course, due to the different configuration, it will not be very correct to compare both devices. Well, the cost of the device is about $119.

Processor – Alibaba T-Head TH1520. This is a 12nm processor with Xuantie C910, C906, and E902 cores. Other models available include:

• 8GB RAM + 8GB eMMC for $119.
• 8GB RAM + 32GB eMMC for $135.
• 16GB RAM + 128GB eMMC for $179.

We also indicate the list of ports and connectors:

• 2 x Gigabit Ethernet ports (with PoE).
• 4 x USB 3.0 Type-A ports (5 Gbps).
• 1 x HDMI 2.0 (support 4K/60fps).
• 1 x 3.5mm audio.
• 1 x 20-pin connector.
• 1 x USB 2.0 Type-C (charging only).
• 1 x microSD.
• 1 x 5V/2A DC.

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