Rockchip RK3188 Based QC802 mini PC Can Now Be Purchased for $65

When Rockchip RK3188 powered mini PC started to show up in March 2013, many were priced around $90, which some shops aggressively (and temporarily) pricing UG007B at $74. But it’s now possible to purchase QC802, a quad core mini PC with 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash, for just $61.75 excluding shipping from a seller with good feedback. Adding shipping will bring it to about $70 depending where you live, but applying “registernewbuyer5” coupon brings it back to $65 or even a bit less. QC802 is by far the cheap RK3188 device I’ve found.

QC802Just a quick reminder of the specs:

  • SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.6 Ghz + Mali-400MP4 GPU
  • System Memory – 2GB DDR3
  • Storage – 8 GB internal flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB)
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1
  • Video Output – HDMI (male)
  • USB – 1x USB Host 2.0, 2x micro USB ports including one for power, one USB Host.
A QC802 review made near the end of may was mostly positive about the device, although firmware improvements were needed. However, an updated firmware has not been released since this review. Ugoos.net does have a download section, but it’s password protected, so the most likely sources of firmware upgrades should be GeekBuying or Kimdecent, both of which also sell the device.
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26 Replies to “Rockchip RK3188 Based QC802 mini PC Can Now Be Purchased for $65”

  1. @onebir
    I was not so sure, but it’s $12 cheaper than the cheapest current price I knew before, so I decided to write about it. At $65, it starts to be quite competitive compared to RK3066 mini PCs, even if it’s just for the 2GB RAM extra. The 2 extra cores do not actually help that much in practice. Next article at $50, but I think it will take a little while.

    The only problems with QC802 is firmware. The stock firmware is not available, so if something goes wrong you’re stuck with a brick, and there’s no community around it. I’m a bit confused as to why T428, one of the most expensive, but with about the same features, seems to be the most popular.

    The other item you linked to is not so cheap for me, as there’s no China Post option, at least to Thailand.

  2. I think 2GB RK3188 devices should start to hit $50 by end-October, based on the way tablet/arm device prices have been developing over the last year or so.

    Don’t the extra two cores help when lots of processes are running simultaneously? Esp with 2GB ram to minimise disk/rom access?

    Both items are from the same seller; likely any difference in shipping prices/policy is a mistake…

  3. Well well you guys seem to forget that the T428 has a better wifi chip with dual band support (wifi ac support as well) + Bluetooth 4.0. That’s what makes it more expensive.

  4. @QK
    I understand T428 has some more expensive hardware, but most extra features are not really useful to most people.

    1. T428 has a dual band Wi-FI chip, but I found performance to be weak on my setup compared to most other devices.
    Also: How many people are using 5GHz band? Has 802.11ac support been confirmed?

    I’m only using Bluetooth with a game controller, so I haven’t tested other BT features. Does it support High Speed transfer, and is it compatible with Low Energy (SMART)? If not, it’s just like the Bluetooth 2.1.

  5. @cnxsoft
    Good comparison or RK3188 & RK3066 under tablet usage here:
    http://www.topnotchtablets.com/pipo-max-m9-review
    (In “PERFORMANCE – System and Application” section)

    This confirms your suggestion that the RK3188 didn’t have compelling advantages except maybe with 2GB DDR. But have things changed? (eg are the CPU/GPU clocked faster now? Does the firmware exploit the extra cores better?)

    Perhaps the more valid comparison now is RK3168 vs RK3188?

  6. @onebir
    When I use those sticks I often tick “Show CPU Usage” in the developers options, and most of the time it’s using less than 2 cores, except at boot time, when it installs some apps in the background, or during benchmarks. It’s not really a hardware issue, it’s just the current software does not handle multiple cores for most tasks, either because it’s not really needed, or because it has not been implemented yet.

  7. @cnxsoft
    Ok, any idea about the CPU/GPU clock speeds? Seemed like there was room for improvement there; significant in the case of the GPU…

  8. @onebir
    Yes, RK3188 can be clocked to 1.8Ghz in theory, I must have read/heard somewhere they’ll do it for next revision of the chip.
    I don’t really know about the GPU clock speed.

  9. @cnxsoft
    Ta – it’s just that the article I linked to mentioned that the 3188/s Mali was specced to be overclocked (relative to 3066) but didn’t seem to be in the tablet being reviewed (back in March).

  10. Actually there now seem to be quite a lot of sellers offering 2GB sticks at $69-70:
    http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?shipCountry=us&shipCompanies=&SearchText=rk3188&exception=&isFreeShip=y&isRtl=yes&CatId=0&g=y&SortType=price_asc&initiative_id=SB_20130614111832&isPremium=y&filterCat=70803003%2C200004329%2C5092303&groupsort=1&needQuery=y&maxPrice=72
    So plenty of places to get a 2GB/8GB RK3188 stick (MK809 III/UG007B/QC802) for ~$65-67 (after $5 coupon). CX-919 & HI702 (only 1GB DDR, but external wifi aerial) is also available at this price.

  11. @cnxsoft
    I think they watch each others’ prices, and sellers who’ve overstocked undercut in 50c decrements. Could be an interesting microeconomic study…

  12. @onebir
    MK809 III = RK3066, MK809 IV = RK3188
    We have the source code for Rikomagic MK802 IV (RK3188)

    The problem with Chinese sellers is that you always have to read the full description, and check the picture in details, to make sure what they are selling is actually what they’ve described.

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