FriendlyELEC NanoPi NEO3 Plus is an ultra-compact headless SBC powered by a Rockchip RK3528A SoC paired with 1GB RAM, whose main interfaces are a Gigabit Ethernet jack, a USB 3.2 port, and a 26-pin GPIO header.
I can still remember using its predecessor, the NanoPi NEO3, based on a Rockchip RK3328, which I reviewed with Armbian in 2020. The new model is similar, with a quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC but clocked at 2.0 GHz instead of 1.5 GHz, and offered with a black metal case instead of a white plastic case. The OS can still be booted from a microSD card, but the NanoPi NEO3 Plus also offers a socket for an optional eMMC flash module, and adds an RTC battery connector, a speaker connector, and a MASK button for firmware updates.
NanoPi NEO3 Plus specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3528A
- CPU – Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 @ 2.0 GHz
- GPU – Arm Mali-450 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1, ES2.0, and OpenVG 1.1 APIs
- VPU – 4K H265/H264 60fps decoding
- System Memory – 1GB LPDDR4
- Storage
- MicroSD Card slot
- Support for eMMC module
- Video Output – N/A
- Audio – 4-pin 1.27/1.25mm connector for stereo speakers
- Networking – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port
- USB
- 1x USB 3.0 Host Type-A port
- 1x USB 2.0 Host Type-C port
- Expansion – 26-pin GPIO header with I2C, UART, SPI, I2S, GPIO, etc.
- Debugging – Debug UART, 3.3V level, 1,500,000bps
- Misc
- User and MASK Button for eMMC upgrade
- 2x user LEDs (SYS & LED1)
- 2-pin 1.27/1.25mm battery connector for low-power RTC
- 2-pin 1.5mm 5V fan connector
- Power supply – 5V/2A via USB-C port or GPIO header
- Dimensions and weight
- PCB – 48 x 48 x 1.2mm | 21.5 grams
- Enclosure – 54 x 52.5 x 25 mm | 87.2 grams
- Temperature Range – 0°C to 80°C
Software support is basically the same as the NanoPi NEO3, but the Plus version benefits from updated OS images for Debian 13 Core, Ubuntu Core 24.04, OpenMediaVault NAS system, Proxmox VE OS, and FriendlyWrt 24.10/23.05 (forks of OpenWrt), all based on Linux 6.1 LTS. You’ll find those images and documentation in the wiki. As most SBC vendors now do, the company also highlights compatibility with OpenClaw/Nanobot personal AI assistants.
It’s not quite the first Rockchip RK3825A board for headless applications, as Radxa launched the ROCK E20C “Mini Network Titan” in 2024 with two GbE ports, the LinkStar H28K travel router was launched a few months earlier, and FriendlyELEC already had the NanoPi Zero2, similarly sized as the NanoPi NEO3 Plus, but only with GbE and USB 2.0, since the PCIe/USB 3.0 interface was reserved for an M.2 socket for WiFi and Bluetooth.
FriendlyELEC sells the board itself for $24, excluding shipping. The case adds $8, and you can also get an optional 64GB or 256GB eMMC module for $23 or $61, respectively.
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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