Orange Pi PC Allwinner H3 Board Is Now Available for $15

Orange Pi 2 is a board powered by Allwinner H3 quad core processor that sells for $25. Shenzhen Xunlong Software has now launched a lower cost version with Orange Pi PC, still based on Allwinner H3 SoC, but getting ridiculously cheap at $15 + shipping ($3.43 in my case).

Orange_Pi_PC
Orange Pi PC specifications:

  • SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.6 GHz (likely 1.2 GHz instead) with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz
  • System Memory – 1GB DDR3
  • Storage – micro SD card slot (up to 64GB)
  • Video Output – HDMI with CEC and HDCP support, AV port
  • Audio I/O – HDMI, AV port, on-board microphone
  • Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet
  • USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port
  • Camera – CSI Interface
  • Expansions – 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header with 28 GPIOs, UART, I2C, SPI, PWM, CAN, I2S, SPDIF, LRADC, ADC, LINE-IN, FM-IN, and HP-IN
  • Debugging – 3-pin UART header for serial console
  • Misc – IR receiver; Power button; Power and status LEDs
  • Power Supply – 5V/2A via barrel jack (micro USB OTG cannot be used to power the board).
  • Dimensions – 85 x 55 mm (vs 93 x 60 mm for Orange Pi 2)
  • Weight – 38 grams

Compared to Orange Pi 2, Orange Pi PC is smaller, and it loses one USB port, reset and u-boot keys, and the WiFi module.

Orange_Pi_PC_Micro_SD

The new Orange Pi board should be fully software compatible with the previous H3 versions, and you can find firmware images for Lubuntu, Android 4.4, Raspbian, Debian server, as well as the Linux and Android SDK on the Download page. Bear in mind that the company is good a launching ultra low cost hardware, but seems under staffed, so if you expect support and regularly updated images, this board won’t be for you, and instead you need to be prepared to rely on others in the forums, and most likely do the job yourself. Good luck! There’s also a product page, but not with much more information.

Thank to Brian for the tip.

Share this:

Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress

ROCK Pi 4C Plus
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
The comment form collects your name, email and content to allow us keep track of the comments placed on the website. Please read and accept our website Terms and Privacy Policy to post a comment.
72 Comments
oldest
newest
eebrah
eebrah
8 years ago

Can’t wait to get my hands on this, compare it with the raspi2 and Odroid C1

Demetris
Demetris
8 years ago

I”ll compare it for you!
NO (support+gigabit ethernet+bluetooth+ eMMC+WiFi), enjoy!

Peter
Peter
8 years ago

Different people has different needs.

JotaMG
JotaMG
8 years ago

Well this price is no surprise really, remember the Yuan is devalued ??
I wonder if others will follow act…

Demetris
Demetris
8 years ago

@Peter And companies also(have different needs) like looking for fools to buy their shitty products

onebir
onebir
8 years ago

@Demetris
“NO (support+gigabit ethernet+bluetooth+ eMMC+WiFi)”
Raspi2 has support/community… but AFAIK none of the rest.

@JotaMG
Yuan devaluation was too small to have much role in this. My guess is they’ve realised marketing/support is not their strong suite, so have to compete on price. And can make a profit at this price, given bulk purchasing components (& near zero development costs, since they’re just stripping down the other version).

Demetris
Demetris
8 years ago

He WAS asking for both rasp2+c1 so lets just take out emmc and bluetooth and be done with it.

Peter
Peter
8 years ago

For running some simple application in networked environment this is enough I think. For it’s price.

nofun
nofun
8 years ago

That price! :O
What about HW video ? Bananas suffer that issue for a long time and it still doesn’t work

Gabe
Gabe
8 years ago

Is there any plastic case for this?

miniNodes
8 years ago

Anyone know if it can boot from USB? Or is it boot from SD card only?

JotaMG
JotaMG
8 years ago

Boot from SD card only.

kucho
kucho
8 years ago

understaffed like odroid?

Demetris
Demetris
8 years ago

Actually i must retract my previous comments.
Looks like it supports Openwrt and with my Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8191SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter makes a powerful router for WiFi-AP on the living room.
Shame it doesn’t support Gigabit or i would connect a gbit switch to make this a full blown Quad core router oh so cheaply LOL
Sorry guys my deepest apologies for the misleading posts.

milkboy
milkboy
8 years ago

@Gabe
i see from their taobao page, that there is a board + case bundel for 24cny (~4usd) available

sky770
sky770
8 years ago

@milkboy
case + orange pi pc bundle is for ~19 USD
IMO better than the aliexpress deal but for those who can read chinese; having a hard time translating it 😀
Maybe I’ll just ask my friends to do it for me.

milkboy
milkboy
8 years ago

@sky770
hahahaha……..
my bad. i want to write additional $4, i was in a hurry and didnt proof read before submitting the comment.
i can read chinese. which part do you need translating?

Marius Cirsta
8 years ago

So much talk about how this compares to foo … it’s a good board for $15… if you need more there are better options out there but for $15 there’s nothing that I’m aware of.

sky770
sky770
8 years ago

@milkboy
Hahaa..it’s alright :>
I basically need someone to order for me; sick of using google translator for each word.
I’ll ask my local friends to do it for me 😀

For me it’s $3.43 for shipping so final price is ~$19
Sweet deal!

shik
shik
8 years ago

Does anybody know where case for this can found?

Arnab
Arnab
8 years ago

Perhaps this one is going to be my first embedded board, only ~ 20$ , for further cost reduction they should drop IR receiver, MIC, CSI camera interface etc. etc. But every board is missing one important thing , a gigabit ethernet port !

Pteridium
Pteridium
8 years ago

Off topic:
@Demetris, AFAIK RTL81XXSU open source drivers only support managed and monitor modes. Can Realtek proprietary drivers work with OpenWRT?
IMHO you must look for a board with gigabit ethernet MAC (and make sure that the drivers can take advantage of the hardware).

banana pi
8 years ago

very cheap:).

milkboy
milkboy
8 years ago

@sky770
hahahaha…….
i know how you feel. the positive side of living in china
dirt cheap electronics

@shik
the case only available in china, for now (i think)
for now, if you want a case, it is easier with DIY route (3d printing or acrylic case)
i got the orage pi 2, and they dont even have a case for that,
so i just use acrylic board and sandwich my board with it.

Jacob Gadikian
Jacob Gadikian
8 years ago

Going to try to visit them tomorrow, Ill let ya know what I find. I can’t get mine to boot, so there’s that….. :/

Mark
Mark
8 years ago

@shik

Shameless plug: we build laser cut cases for embedded boards. Currently building 50 custom cases for FOSDEM video gear.

Get in touch if you’re in the EU and you have difficulties buying an Orange Pi PC case. We’re adapting our raspberry pi 2 acrylic case design to it.

sky770
sky770
8 years ago

Does anyone got benchmarks for Allwinner H3 vs Amlogic S805?

I am trying to get myself a makeshift desktop and thinking of getting either of them (in case of s805 I found a deal of ~34 USD for an MXQ).

From what I recall having a Mali 450-MP2(s805) > mali 400-MP2 (h3)?

sky770
sky770
8 years ago

That. was. fast! 😀
Thanks a lot; this will surely clear a lot ^^

Loïc
Loïc
8 years ago

What??? Did I understand correctly that no OS will work correctly with this Orange Pi? What’s about theAndroid 4.4.2 Custom by Loboris?

I hope this Orange Pi (Allwinner H3) will be capable of decoding H265 4k videos… Thats the advantage compare to Amlogic S805

Alberts00
8 years ago

Could someone point me to a website where I can buy Orange Pi PC + Case + Power supply? I’m having hard time finding the case.

sola
8 years ago

@Gabe
In “Set 5”, you also get a case. I assume, it can be purchased separately as well.

Steven
8 years ago

@ everyone Xunlong have only one public interface person. It’s Steven. We have more than 10 employees. We have released Orange OS and Lubuntu for Orange Pi PC. Orange Pi PC have ABS case in aliexpress shop.

Demetris
Demetris
8 years ago

@Pteridium
RTL8188SU/RTL8191SU/RTL8192SU use the same driver and is supported by openwrt

Arthur
Arthur
8 years ago

@nofun
HW video only on android 🙁

chiptron.petus.cz
8 years ago

I ordered Orange Pi last week and seller yet doesn’t ship it.

Roel
Roel
8 years ago

Should the power of this device be OK to make it an automatic cd-ripper + squeeze server, vortexbox style?

pat
pat
8 years ago

@Demetris
lol so funny!
look updape date .
Easy to say we have 1 000 000 employees but if they do nothing…..
1 or 2 employees max
No support at all scam

daveisdigital
8 years ago

So I’ve tried 2 different micro-SD cards with the Orange Pi PC. It won’t boot. Only the red LED is lit up, along with the Ethernet jack LEDs. Tried to register on the forums – never get the confirmation e-mail. Tried two email accounts. Nada. So, there’s no support, and I got what appears to be a DOA board. Anyone else having trouble with this thing?

alexcom
alexcom
8 years ago

I also bought orange pi pc and when it arrived I thought it’s dead – red LED and nothing on screen. Then i attached serial console and saw that device is booting actually. I connect network cable, but I assume you can use this thing as NAS or something networky only, cause I really have no idea how to make it output anything through HDMI.

alexcom
alexcom
8 years ago

Sorry, I meant “I did not connect network cable”. Just a typo

Maniac
8 years ago

Just got mine, will be testing it soon. Why I like the configuration of Orange Pi PC? because it doesn’t have a bunch of stuff that I don’t need, including WIFI and Gigabit… Seriously, does anyone really expect this processor to PROCESS more than 10MB/s of data? Watching video in excess of 100Mbps? Get a nVidia Shield TV and hook it to your gigabit switch!

Plan to use it for audio streaming, WIFI and stuff are just going to be interference onboard…

hopefully mine will boot without glitch…

Peter Scargill
8 years ago

My Orange Pi PC turned up this week – and does not work – nothing but the ETHERNET lights come on – and two others who visit my blog at http://tech.scargill.net have written in to say that they have received theirs – and have EXACTLY the same problem. I cannot get a response form the supplier via Aliexpress where I bought the Orange Pi from – and I tried to register for their forums and I am “pending” after 2 days.

This does NOT look good.

Jannyun
Jannyun
8 years ago

Ethernet in Android on OrangePI_PC do not work. Can you help please! On Ubuntu ethernet works fine, so OrangePI hardware seems to be good. Radiator attached (under 50*Celsius), power from PC power supply (5V max 21.0A). Android image downloaded from here: http://www.orangepi.org/downloadresources/orangepipc/oragepipc_6ace8597a2051c8bcf2b9e7b63.html The image was written to TF card via PhoenixCard. Android starts, plays music and video from USB flash drive on HDMI monitor. But does not work Ethernet. I tried in android GUI static IP and DHCP. GUI detects MAC but does not change IP settings. Reboot did not help. I attached UART_ttl console cable and tried this: (as… Read more »

Jannyun
Jannyun
8 years ago


I tried Loboris Ubuntu images – network works fine, but video plays bad (on DivX files artefacts, mp4 1 frame per second, fullscreen freezes SMplayer).
I can play video on Android, but have no network.

Thanks for the link, I will read it when my profile on that forum will be checked.

carlos empinada
carlos empinada
8 years ago

I got one. The software is alpha. 100% of the images on the official site do not boot stably. I did find one someone else had compiled that worked for me. Many people are reporting mixed results here with some having good success and no clear reason for the difference. However it appears that it is very finicy about what monitor is plugged in. Unless you recompile the image you must use an HDMI monitor, not a dongle converting hdmi to something else. It is also extremely (to the point of absurdity) picky about the power supply. I have four… Read more »

carlos empinada
carlos empinada
8 years ago

@Demetris I got one too. The software is alpha and will cost you hours and hours of time. 100% of the images on the official site do not boot stably. I did find one someone else had compiled that worked for me. Many people are reporting mixed results here with some having good success and no clear reason for the difference. However it appears that it is very finicy about what monitor is plugged in. Unless you recompile the image you must use an HDMI monitor, not a dongle converting hdmi to something else. It is also extremely (to the… Read more »

gambis
gambis
8 years ago

My orange just arrived, but…
its not even close to a raspberry pi,

Compatibility???
Not even close to it.

Mine does not even power up…. so I feel like I just wasted $15 for a sh1t

gambis
gambis
8 years ago

@carlos empinada
100% true if you have a life forget about orange pi

gambis
gambis
8 years ago


Forum does not sending me any verification mails, so I can not see any threads until I’m not verified….
even orange pi forum does not work for me…
pece of sh1t

Pecospete
Pecospete
8 years ago

Does anybody know the polarity of J1 the 5v power input!
Is the pin positive?

GStott
GStott
8 years ago

BEWARE
This will NOT RUN Raspberry Pi OS Images You have to download Raspbian OS Image from a Chinese Web site No English Translation and it requires you to install a download manger. Also uses a odd Standard DC Connector. Have since found it’s a 4mm x 1.7mm x 10mm. So at the moment I have a Orange pi that powers on network leds lite up and nothing else.
SAVE YOUR MONEY AND BUY A GENUINE RASPBERRY PI

GStott
GStott
8 years ago

Does anybody have a working image of Rasplex that that can be installed on Orange Pi PC?

GStott
GStott
8 years ago

This is being sold on Aliexpress as being able to run Raspberry Pi images.
Rasplex is a Plex client specifically tuned for the raspberry Pi, which according the Aliexpress advert should run as it states it runs Raspberry Pi Images.
aliexpress.com/item/Orange-Pi-PC-set-2-Orange-Pi-PC-Transparent-ABS-Case/32450169921.html

Regards

JotaMG
JotaMG
8 years ago

“Poor choice of words…”

_Poor_ ??

THIS IS PURE SCAM, and should be advertised as that.
One thing is mistakes from time to time, another thing is continued and probably intentional misleading of people!!

All that “steven” or anyone responsible for the OrangePi operation is doing is just attracting more bad reputation to china devices….

Demetris
Demetris
8 years ago

Ok guys as promised here is my openwrt firmware as posted in Orange Pi forums
For Orange Pi PC
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=06335986125282675376

natsu
natsu
8 years ago

@Demetris
thx, just hopping it will run well

tkaiser
tkaiser
7 years ago

For Orange Pi PC’s bigger sibling, the Orange Pi PC Plus adding 8GM fast eMMC and the new RTL8189FTV WiFi, new Armbian 5.13 images have been released fully supporting all features: http://www.armbian.com/orange-pi-pc-plus/ OpenELEC users can rely on the build for Orange Pi Lite and simply exchange script.bin to get all PC Plus features supported. Users of older Orange Pi Linux distributions might also take Armbian’s fex/script.bin for PC Plus but have to adjust some details in the fex file (since Armbian is using a way more recent kernel) and would of course need the new driver to be able to… Read more »

Khadas VIM4 SBC