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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On what can I use this device? Obviously I’m not a tech person.
Basic NAS running OpenMediaVault connected to Gigabit Ethernet and a USB 3.0 storage device.
Similar to that review where the drive is internal (SATA), instead of external (USB 3.0 to SATA): https://www.cnx-software.com/2017/06/18/nanopi-neo-nas-kit-review-assembly-openmediavault-installation-setup-and-benchmarks/
It can serve as a small home server, reverse proxy, camera server, mail or VPN gateway etc. There are plenty of use cases for small low-power machines at home once you get used to that. However, once again, FriendlyELEC insists on *not* providing a console port, meaning that once the device fails to boot after a system update (which *does* happen), you’re totally blind with a bricked machine. Your only solution is then to pick a screwdriver to open the box, and buy a USB-TTL adapter if you don’t already have one, and connect it to the internal 3 pins. It’s a real pity, I stopped buying from them solely because of this design failure (because otherwise their machines are great), and switched to Radxa instead who understood this importance (and whose customers praise this addition in the forums when they have to fix a problem). And I’m using a few E20C at home for various usages.
The SoC (RK3528A) is pretty well supported in mainline now, it started to be supported around 6.17 IIRC, and I think that complete support is around 6.18 or 6.19 (my machines work on 6.17 plus a few DTS patches, but I also have one that booted on 6.19 with no patch precisely to test some extra patches).
I got a Radxa A5E that once again does not have an external console, but I bodged one into the case 🙂
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a3BE14DzAdMcT_iRdxHQODjA
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b6NSSwzvYtP8_4SEx5JXgbFw
Lets you plug in an FTDI -AJ ended cable, and get your console without opening anything up. It’s not a perfect fit in the case, there is a slight angle on the socket colliding with the nvme connector, but it’s pretty good!
I add TRS sockets to most of the SBC’s that I work on repeatedly. It’s very convenient, and they can be quite small.
Agreed, I’ve done that in the past as well. If FE did that and provided an adapter, that would already be much better!
DNS+DHCP+Wireguard server on a cluster of two such small & low power devices (I’m currently on NEO2)
sooooo cute!
Headless SBC, in a nice metal case (that you would not want to drill), without debug port…Come on FriendlyELEC, we know you can do it!
Can friendlywrt use the usbc port as an ethernet connection to a pc? I would have a use case for an eth2usb with integrated DHCP server