Argon 40 is better known for its Argon ONE Raspberry Pi enclosures, but the company has now launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Argon ONE UP 14-inch laptop powered by the Raspberry Pi CM5 module.
We’ve already covered a range of Raspberry Pi 4/5 laptops, but existing models are either rather thick or the Raspberry Pi 5 is placed on the side of a laptop shell, not ideal for portability. The Argon ONE UP looks like a proper laptop, as thin as a typical consumer laptop, while keeping Raspberry Pi features such as access to the GPIO pins.
The description is rather garbage, like on all recent Kickstarter campaigns we’ve covered, with low-resolution GIF animations and text in photos (instead of actual text), but I did my best to reconstruct the Argon ONE UP specifications:
- SoM – Raspberry Pi CM5 (included or BYO)
- SoC – Broadcom BCM2712
- CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz
- GPU – VideoCore VII
- Memory – 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4X RAM
- Storage – 0GB (CM5 Lite), 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB eMMC flash
- Wireless – Optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0
- SoC – Broadcom BCM2712
- Storage
- MicroSD card slot
- M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x1 socket for M.2 NVMe SSD
- Display – 14-inch IPS display with 1920×1200 resolution @ 60 Hz
- Video Output – HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60
- Camera – 2MP front-facing camera/webcam
- Audio – 2-mic array + stereo speakers
- USB
- 2x USB 3.1 Type-A ports
- 2x USB 2.0 Type-C modified ports for 40-pin GPIO expansion module (USB 2.0 data ports when the module is not connected)
- User Input – QWERTY keyboard and touchpad
- Misc
- Built-in fan
- Argon THRML Heatsink for CPU and M.2 NVMe
- Power Supply
- USB Type-C PD port up to 45 Watts
- 4780 mAh rechargeable battery (in photo of prototypes)
- Dimensions – TBD (Aluminum casing)
The laptop can run Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu, and other Debian flavors supported by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5. The internal design is made of a large carrier board and two I/O boards for the connectors. It will probably not match the price/performance ratio of Intel/AMD laptops, but many fans of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem will be happy to have a proper Raspberry Pi CM5 laptop.
Argon 40 has just launched the ONE UP on Kickstarter with a lowly 12,400 HKD funding target (about $1580 US) that has already been easily surpassed. Rewards start at about $331 for the Argon ONE UP Laptop Shell “Early Bird” reward with a 40-PIN GPIO Module, but without a CM5 module, and $401 for an Argon ONE UP Core laptop with the CM5 Lite with 8GB RAM and a wireless module, and a 256 GB M.2 NVMe drive. The shipping fee is not mentioned, and deliveries are scheduled to start by October 2025.
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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I really don’t like the repurposed USB thing. I wish you could just plug a 40 pin IDE cable in the side.
Any news on pricing?
yes, you can read more than just title or even click the kickstarter link
Might a Radxa CM5 fit and function within this laptop?
SoMs like the Radxa CM5 or Orange Pi CM5 would fit, but it’s hard to say for sure if they will work since Argon 40 did not provide enough details about the carrier board and/or overall design.