Radxa CM4 – A Raspberry Pi CM4 replacement with Rockchip RK3576 Edge AI SoC, up to 16GB RAM

The Radxa CM4 is a Raspberry Pi CM4-like compute module built around the Rockchip RK3576(J) octa-core Cortex-A72/A53 SoC and designed for Edge AI and multimedia applications.  The SoC is suitable for Edge AI applications with a 6 TOPS NPU, and the module supports up to 16GB RAM.

The system-on-module also features up to 256GB of onboard eMMC storage, a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 module, and a Gigabit Ethernet PHY. Besides the two 100-pin connectors found on the Raspberry Pi CM4, the Radxa module adds another one, for extra features like UFS 2.0, dual PCIe Gen2, SATA 3,  DisplayPort, and more. It comes in commercial (0 – 60°C, RK3576) and industrial (-40 – 85°C, RK3576J) variants, and Radxa guarantees availability until 2035.

Radxa CM4 Specifications

• SoC – Rockchip RK3576 or RK3576J (industrial-grade version)
  • CPU – Octa-core  CPU with 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 2.0 GHz
  • GPU – Arm Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, and 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, and Vulkan 1.2
  • NPU – 6 TOPS (INT8) AI accelerator with support for INT4, INT8, INT16, BF16, TF32 mixed operations.
  • VPU
    • Video Decoder
      • H.265, VP9, AV1, and AVS2 up to 8Kp30 or 4Kp120
      • H.264/AVC and MJPEG up to 4Kp60
    • Video Encoder – H.264, H.265, MJPEG up to 4Kp60
• System Memory – 4, 8, or 16 GB LPDDR4X
• Storage
  • Onboard eMMC flash up to 256 GB
  • Optional SPI flash (unpopulated)
• Networking
  • Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.4 module  with external antenna support
  • Gigabit Ethernet PHY
• 3x 100-pin high-density board-to-board connectors with:
  • Storage
    • 2x SATA 3.1
    • UFS 2.0 module support for OS boot and storage
    • Supports SDMMC interface for data storage and OS booting
  • Video Output
    • HDMI Tx up to 4K @ 120Hz
    • 4-lane eDP up to 4K @ 60fps
    • DP up to 4K @ 120fps
    • 4-lane MIPI DSI for LCD
    • Up to 2 simultaneous display outputs
  • Camera – 1x 4-lane MIPI CSI or 2x 2-lane MIPI CSI
  • Audio
    • I²S interface – supports external audio codecs or DAC/ADC chips
    • PDM interface – with microphone array support
  • Networking – Gigabit Ethernet
  • USB
    • 1x USB 3.2 Gen1x1 OTG/Host
    • 1x USB 3.2 Gen2x1
  • PCIe – 2x PCIe Gen2
  • Other I/Os – GPIO, I²C, SPI, UART, PWM, ADC, SDIO
• Misc – Maskrom button
• Supply Voltage – 5V
• Dimensions – 55 x 40 mm
• Weight – TBD
• Temperature Range
  • 0°C to 60°C (Commercial)
  • –40°C to 85°C (Industrial)

The Radxa CM4 can be paired with the Radxa CM4 IO Board for full feature support, but the company also mentions that it is compatible with the official Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO board and many third-party boards like the Waveshare CM4-NANO-B, LimeNET Micro 2.0 board, CM4 IoT Router Board Mini, Radxa’s Taco board.

Radxa CM4 IO board specifications

• Compatibility – Radxa CM4
• Storage
  • UFS module socket
  • MicroSD card slot
  • M.2 M-Key slot (See Expansion section)
• Display
  • HDMI port
  • 4-lane MIPI DSI connector
• Camera
  • 4-lane MIPI CSI connector
  • 2x 2-lane MIPI CSI connectors
• Audio – 3.5mm audio jack
• Networking – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port with PoE support
• USB
  • 2x USB 2.0 Type-A host ports
  • 1x USB 3.0 Type-A host port
  • 1x USB 3.0 Type-C host/OTG port
• Expansion
  • M.2 M-Key 2280 NVMe SSD slot
  • 14-pin GPIO header
  • 40-pin GPIO header (Raspberry Pi style)
• Mis
  • Fan header
  • RTC battery socket
• Power
  • 12V DC Input
  • PoE header for connecting a PoE module
  • Onboard power header
  • 5/12V power output
• Dimensions – 160 x 90 mm

The Radxa CM4 IO Board also supports various optional modules and accessories, including the Radxa Camera 4K (IMX415 sensor) for high-resolution video capture, Radxa UFS modules for fast storage, and touchscreen displays like Radxa Display 8 HD and Radxa Display 10 FHD.

In terms of software support, the Radxa CM4 module runs Debian 12 with Rockchip’s Linux 6.1 kernel for stability and hardware compatibility. It also supports custom builds through Yocto and Buildroot, along with Android 14 for modern app frameworks and APIs. More information about the Radxa CM4 can be found on the board’s wiki and related GitHub repository.

For many years, the Raspberry Pi CM4 has been the go-to option thanks to its ecosystem, community support, and long-term availability. But we have seen several alternatives over the last few years, including the Banana Pi BPI-CM4 with a hexa-core Amlogic A311D processor and 5 TOPS NPU, but it suffers from outdated software support. The Orange Pi CM4 is the most affordable, starting at just $22.9, but relies on a weaker Rockchip RK3566 Cortex-A55 processor and a modest 0.8 TOPS NPU. Among all this, Radxa’s new CM4 is the most capable one with RK3576(J) SoC, up to 16GB LPDDR4x RAM, UFS storage, and more, making it better suited for AI workloads and industrial use cases. On paper, it’s quite powerful, but software support will be the key factor for adoption.

The Radxa CM4 can be purchased from AliExpress, where the 4GB/32GB variant starts at $70.31, and the top-of-the-line 16GB/128GB module goes for $168.94 before taxes and shipping. The Radxa CM4 IO Board sells for $26.23. More information is available on the product page.

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