Khadas VIM2 is the only low cost development board powered by Amlogic S912 octa-core processor that I know of, but when we first wrote about the board it was not available yet. The three versions of the boards are now being sold on GearBest with the Basic version going for $74.99, the Pro version for $94.99, and the Max version for $109.99. [Update: You can get VIM2 Max for $99.99 by using GBVIM2MAX coupon code for the first 100 boards daily, and the five first boards are sold for $49.99 daily at 9:00 UTC until August 28th. Details on promotion page.]
Khadas VIM2 Basic/Pro/Max specifications:
- SoC – Amlogic S912 octa core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP GPU
- System Memory
- Basic – 2 GB DDR4
- Pro/Max – 3 GB DDR4
- Storage
- micro SD card and 2MB SPI flash
- eMMC Flash – Basic: 16GB; Pro: 32GB; Max: 64GB
- Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with CEC support
- Connectivity
- Basic – Gigabit Ethernet with WoL support, 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.1 via Ampak AP6356S module
- Pro/Max – Gigabit Ethernet with WoL support, 802.11 b/g/n/ac with RSDB and Bluetooth 4.2 via Ampak AP6359SA module
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports supporting 900mA and 500mA loads, 1x USB 2.0 type C port supporting power and data only
- Expansion header
- 40-pin 2.54mm pitch header with USB, UART, I2C, ADC, PWM, I2S, SPDIF, and ISO7816
- 10-pin FPC connector with I2C and IOs
- 20-pin pogo pads array with USB, I2C, DVB bus, and I/Os
- 7-pin pogo pads array for MCU
- Misc – Blue LED, white LED, dual channel IR, power/function/reset buttons, header for RTC battery, fan header
- Power Supply – 5V to 9V via USB type C, 4-pin VIN 1.25mm pitch header, or pogo pads for VIN (5V recommended for better efficiency); programmable current limit switch up to 4A (Set to 3A by default)
- Dimensions – 82.0 x 57.5 x 11.5 mm (4x M2 mounting holes)
SZWesion has a single Wiki for both Khadas VIM (S905X) and VIM2 (S912) boards, so it may be a little confusing, but you’ll find Android Nougat, Ubuntu 16.04.2 and Dual OS (Android + Ubuntu) images in the firmware page, as well as more technical information (e.g. schematics, build instructions…) in the documentation page. The board should work well in Android 7.1 with hardware video decoding and GPU acceleration working since they’ve been so many Amlogic S912 Android devices on the market. For Linux, the board will likely work well for headless applications, or applications that do not require multimedia features, but for example, 4K video decoding may not work that well – at least for now -, as I was told kszaq work on LibreELEC using 32-bit Android libraries and libhybris would only work up to 1080p60. If you have any specific question, you should be able to get your answer in the support forum.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Actually video decoding works up to 4K in LE.
@kszaq
Thanks for the info, I’ve stricken-though that part in the post. I got the info about 1080p60 limitation last week from a discussion with a developer, but I guess this has been fixed, or the info has not up-to-date.
I was also told that LE for S912 used 32bit android libraries, libhybris and put into 32bit userspace, and there was another attempt to use RK3399 libs (X11), but that did not worked either.
If you can/known, can you share about the status of GPU/VPU in Linux both in LE, and with X11?
VPU is the same as in S905X and it doesn’t rely on Mali drivers, therefore status is the same as with S905X – on Linux everything works.
GPU side for the moment using is available using libhybris with one limitation: no vsync, so there is a lot of picture tearing on animations. In LE we are using fbdev but I think libhybris can also provide X11 and Wayland support – but I never tested this.
Hi kszaq, are you going to buy this development board? Would you prefer this over KI Pro for Libreelec?
How good is this brand with updates? Is an update to Android 8.0 likely or not?
Also does anyone know if I could just replace the included Remote with another IR Remote from another TV Box? I prefer IR Remotes with media keys.
Yes, any IR remote can be supported by developing the new ROM, but our official ROM only support official remote.
I learn from Amlogic that they are working on Android 8, and it’s hope to be released next early year, then VIMs(VIM1/2) will support Android O 🙂
Hi kszaq ,I know that your LE works very well and there is an KODI Version in balbes’s Armbian that works with VPU.
Do you know there is a Player like vlc mpv ffplay around that can use Amlogic’s VPU? Every of these players i tryed uses CPU decoding in Armbian 🙁
Well, im already working on the VIM2 (android only) and i got many things fixed, as is now is 99% done(just having some TWRP issues, so i m8 rls without it for now).
After this one i will make a ATV one for it.
The device is really good and well build like the vim1, the wifi chip used is great as the ram and emmc, the only thing i think it needs is a heatsink as default(you guys should think on that) im using now the fan from my vim 1 to make is cool since is really hot here in my country, if i dont it gets really hot :/
But great work guys nice device!
Has anyone managed to get any board for $49.99? It seems scammy to me. I’ve been lurking around 09:00 UTC for four days straight looking for one but it’s never at that price. The “units left” isn’t even changing so they can’t say that the boxes are being purchased very fast by someone else. I checked “63 units left” minutes before the advertised, and several minutes after that there are still “63 units left”.
@Jay
I got the same impression. $49.99 would be the right price for this toy, $100+ is forgettable.
@Jay
Those flash sale are usually challenging, so I never try those. One strategy (which I have not tested), could be to add the product to your cart before 9:00, go to the check out page, then when 9:00:00 UTC hits or maybe 8:59:59 UTC, you can click on “proceed with check out” and see if the price changes to $49.99. As I understand it, the promo is only for the MAX version, not the other boards.
If you g to this page on gearbest
https://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_676878.html?wid=21
Scroll to the bottom and watch the video of the guy in a black shirt, then you will notice he shows two add-on boards for the vim 2. I know one is a tuner board, the other one I don’t recognise.
Also VTV Extension DTV Board 223492301 for Khadas VIM2 TV Box Super DVB / S2 DVB / T2 DVB C
Is on Gearbest presale £30.88
@cnxsoft
Thanks for the responses. Yes, I was trying with the MAX version. I will try adding it to my cart and checking out at 9:00:00 UTC. This will be the last time I try to buy one.
@cnxsoft
As others have commented, PRO & MAX bit pricy; might you review the BASIC in due course ?
@Paul
They asked me to review it, but since I said it would be done in October, it looks like they decided against it.
Well, adding to the cart beforehand didn’t work to get the deal. Honestly, I think this is false advertising, prefer not to deal with this company (Gearbest) anymore in the future.
@Jay
It’s hard but possible. I manage to buy one today…
@Chuck
Did you add to cart at full price before the time and then checked out or did you add to your cart at the discounted price?
Yey, I also managed to buy one for 49$, but you need to be fast refreshing the webpage.
If all the models have eMMC on board, what is the purpose of the SPI flash?