Sipeed Longan Pi3H – A Raspberry Pi Zero-sized board with gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, HDMI, and USB ports

Sipeed Longan Pi3H is a Raspberry Pi Zero-sized single board computer (SBC) powered by an Allwinner H618 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and equipped with full-size connectors namely an HDMI 2.0 video output, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, and a gigabit Ethernet RJ45 jack.

It also offers WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, features the usual 40-pin GPIO header found in Pi Zero boards and relies on a USB OTG Type-C port for power. Its design is unusual for a board of that size, not only because of the full-size ports, but also because it’s comprised of a carrier board and a replaceable LM3H CPU module with the Allwinner H618 SoC, RAM, and eMMC flash.

Lichee Longan Pi3H

Sipeed Longan Pi3H specifications:

  • SoC – Allwinner H618
    • CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5GHz with 1MB L2 cache
    • GPU – Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.0/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1
    • VPU
      • VP9-10 Profile-2 up to 6Kp30
      • H.265 HEVC MP-10 @ L5.1 up to 6Kp30
      • H.264 AVC HP @ L5.1 up to 4Kp30
      • H.264 MVC up to 1080p60
  • System Memory – 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4
  • Storage
    • MicroSD card slot
    • Optional 32GB eMMC flash,
  • Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60
  • Networking
  • USB – 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-C port
  • Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header with I2C, SPI, UART, up to 28x GPIOs, etc…
  • Debugging – 4-pin debug UART (3.3V)
  • Misc – FEL and Reset buttons; 2x user LEDs
  • Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-C port or 4-pin Debug UART header
  • Dimensions
    • SBC – 65 x 30.8 x 23.6 mm
    • LM3H module only – 46.1 x 25 x 2.9mm

Lichee Longan Pi3H Raspberry Pi Zero SBC

Sipeed provides Debian and Android 12 images with the SDK released on GitHub. We are also told mainline Linux for the board is supposed to be merged in Q1 2024 based on the code on GitHub. There’s supposed to be documentation at wiki.sipeed.com/lpi3h, but that page is not working at the time of writing. In the meantime, you can check hardware documentation such as schematics and mechanical drawings on the “Download” page.

I really like the design of the board with all those features and easy-to-use ports in a small form factor. I just wish they had used a different processor than the Allwinner H618, but since the design is modular, the company may end up offering multiple CPU modules, and the LM3H looks very similar to the Allwinner D1 RISC-V module used in the LicheeRV board.

Allwinner H618 SBC with enclosure
Sipeed Longan Pi3H with enclosure

Sipeed has started to take pre-orders on Aliexpress for $23.90 (2GB RAM, no eMMC flash) to $34.90 (4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash) with shipping expected to start on February 11. If you only need the LM3H module prices start at $17.90.

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19 Comments
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sander
sander
10 months ago

Nice board. I want one … if there is an ready-to-flash linux image.
“Sipeed provides Debian and Android 12 images” … I see no images, only shell scripts, of which the first one already fails for me.

So … where is that Debian image?

Willy
10 months ago

The ports and incredibly rich and dense for that size, and the design is particularly smart overall, showing some efforts fitting a 2.4G+5G+BT module between HDMI and the 40-pin header, with less than 1mm total margin. There’s little room to add anything. Congrats to them for this prowess. Now I’m not quite sure what the expected use cases are. I.e. OK it can replace any regular SBC with similar specs but why would someone specifically want that compact one is not very clear to me.

Hart, Henry
Hart, Henry
10 months ago

I wish more boards came with POE

Stuart Naylor
10 months ago

Radxa do one where the POE is an addon board https://radxa.com/products/zeros/zero3e but still quite interesting and sort of similar.
I am not sure as just wish devices such as UCTRONICS for Raspberry Pi Zero Ethernet and Power, Micro USB Ethernet/PoE Adapter for Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, Google Mini, and More, IEEE 802.3af Compliant.Was more common as there are benefits to being modular.

Knyte
Knyte
10 months ago

Pretty great specs and form factor

Homer10
Homer10
10 months ago

Nice! Another Raspberry Pi option. Only $17.00. For when you don’t need a full RP-5, but something more than a RP-0.

fenom
fenom
10 months ago

For me the $17 (20 EUR with VAT) is only SOC+RAM+ROM module without the breakout board (ports, WiFi, etc.)

For EU the smallest full set (2G RAM, 0 ROM) costs incl. VAT 27 EUR + 5,5 for shipping.

rowdster
10 months ago

Very cool. Price is right. I have a particular need for Ubuntu 18 for tuya-convert

Will likely get if that’s an option

Joe Brampton
Joe Brampton
10 months ago

What does the 0GB imply? There’s zero internal storage? I can’t find a model with 32gb onboard, I have no desire to add plug in aftermarket storage on this board

Gung
Gung
10 months ago

yes, no eMMC, solder it yourself or use microSD.

Michael Lenczewski
10 months ago

Good to know you gotta surface mount it yourself… Sometimes they have an EMMC socket, the SoQuartz has one.

Chris
Chris
10 months ago

Everything was fine until I see Allwinner…
Happy new year to all !

Sander
Sander
10 months ago

Ah, that’s cool: a motherboard with place for 7 Sipeed Longan Pi3H devices:
https://twitter.com/SipeedIO/status/1742156731088883851

tkaiser
tkaiser
10 months ago

One of the few SBC cluster thingies that makes sense (due to internal Ethernet switch).

Joe Brampton
Joe Brampton
10 months ago

Would the performance on this be worse than a Chromecast w/GTV 4K? It’s the current cheapest device available ($45 CAD) and aside from the OS seems like a near impossible value to beat. If performance on this was better I’d grab a few for sure, but I’m not an expert and unfamiliar with the hardware differences

Michael Lenczewski
10 months ago

so…. its tiny, but its not a Single Board Computer. Just saying, these “single” boards are quickly turning into a CPU board with a baseboard and a tiny EMMC board…

Don’t get me wrong, I think the extra boards are a good thing, especially the modularity in the design. I was thinking Small Modularized Computer, but that is too much like Surface Mount Component. Any ideas?

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products