Orange Pi Compute Module 4 – A low-cost Rockchip RK3566-powered alternative to Raspberry Pi CM4

Orange Pi Compute Module 4 is a system-on-module mechanically and electrically compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM4, but powered by a Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 AI processor just like the Radxa CM3 introduced a few years ago, or more recently the Banana Pi BPI-CM2 (RK3568).

The new module, also called Orange Pi CM4 for shorts, comes with 1GB to 8GB RAM, 8GB to 128GB eMMC flash, and an optional 128/256MBit SPI flash, as well as a Gigabit Ethernet PHY and on-board WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. It comes with the two 100-pin high-density connectors found on the Raspberry Pi CM4, and a smaller 24-pin connector for extra I/Os.

Orange Pi Compute Module 4 specifications:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 2EE GPU, 0.8 TOPS AI accelerator, 4Kp60 H.265/H.264/VP9 video decoding, 1080p100f H.265/H.264 video encoding
• System Memory – 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X
• Storage
  • 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash
  • 128 Mbit or  256 Mbit SPI flash (unpopulated by default)
• Networking
  • YT8531C Gigabit Ethernet PHY
  • Wireless – WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE module
• 2x 100-pin high-density connectors, plus one extra 24-pin high-density connector with:
  • Storage – SATA III (multiplexed with PCIe)
  • Display Interfaces
    • HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60
    • 2-lane MIPI DSI display interface
    • 4-lane MIPI DSI display interface
    • Embedded Display Port (eDP)
  • Camera interfaces
    • 2-lane MIPI CSI camera interface
    • 4-lane MIPI CSI camera interface
  • Audio – Audio input and output
  • Networking – Gigabit Ethernet
  • USB – 1x USB 3.0 + 3x USB 2.0
  • PCIe – PCIe 2.1 1×1 lane interface (multiplexed with SATA III)
  • Misc – Signal for Reset, Maskom, and Recovery
• Power Supply
  • 5V DC input
  • 1.8V and 3.3V output
  • PMU – Rockchip RK809-5
• Dimensions – 55 x 40 mm

Orange Pi provides a long list of supported operating systems, namely Android 11, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11, Debian 12, OpenHarmony 4.0 Beta1, Orange Pi OS (Arch), Orange Pi OS (OH), and also mentions other are supported. None of those can be found on the Download page, but it should be a matter of days before the images are uploaded since those will be similar to the images for the Orange Pi 3B, for which I also noted there’s a “Raspberry Pi OS” image that reproduces the appearance of the official Raspberry Pi OS (for Raspberry Pi boards).

While the Orange Pi Compute Module 4 should work in most carrier boards designed for the Raspberry Pi CM4, minus features like dual HDMI output, Orange Pi also designed a carrier board specifically for their new Rockchip RK3566-based CM4 system-on-module.

It has basically the same specifications as the Orange Pi 3B and mostly follows the Raspberry Pi 4 form factor, but compared to the latter it does lose one of the HDMI ports and PoE support, but it gains an M.2 Key-M socket for NVMe SSD, a 30-pin eDP interface, a second camera connector, a 4-pin fan connector, and a 3-pin debug connector.

Four variants are currently for sale, all with the WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module:

• $22.9 with 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash
• $28.9 with 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash
• $33.9 with 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash
• $46.9 with 8GB RAM, 64GB eMMC flash

The 1GB RAM model can be purchased on Amazon and the 8GB model is listed too but not available yet on Amazon. All four versions above are also available on Aliexpress. We’ve been told customized variants can be purchased with 100 pieces MOQ (minimum order quantity). The Orange Pi CM4 baseboard will soon start selling for $9.99 on Amazon and Aliexpress (no link yet). Additional information may be found on the product pages for the module and baseboard.

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