AweSun has sent me a sample of their “Cloud KVM Q1” 4K KVM over IP solution for review. It’s a compact device with the minimum number of ports for a connected KVM: USB-C for keyboard and mouse emulation, HDMI input for video, and Ethernet for connectivity to the host.
Like other such KVMs, it enables hardware-level remote access even in the BIOS, and the company advertised remote access to server, computer, and mobile phone targets, with the latter requiring an additional USB-C dock for HDMI input. I’ll start the review by going through the specifications, performing an unboxing and a teardown, and testing both mobile and desktop clients with targets like a Raspberry Pi 5 and an Android mobile phone.
AweSun Cloud KVM Q1 specifications
Here are the specifications from the company:
- Video Input
- HDMI port
- Resolution – Up to 2560 x 1600 with 15 FPS framerate
- Networking
- 100Mbps RJ45 WAN Port
- Bluetooth 5.0 (no WiFi)
- USB – 1x USB-C port for mouse and keyboard emulation
- Misc
- System LED
- Reset pinhole
- Power Supply – 12V/1A via DC jack
- Dimensions – 75 x 45.05 x 17mm
- Weight – 63 grams
- Material – aluminum alloy + engineering plastic
- Temperature Range – Operating: 0~40°C; storage: -40~85°C
- Humidity – Operating and storage: 10%~90% RH, non-condensing
No information about the SoC and memory, but we’ll find more details about these in the teardown below.
AweSun IPKVM Q1 unboxing
I received the device in a simple retail package reading “AweSun IPKVM Q1 hardware-level remote access” along with a CN to US/AU plug adapter. I was told the following for the latter: “our power plugs are the Chinese version, so we’ve included the adapter to make it compatible with US outlets for now”. However, I didn’t have to use it at all here in Thailand.
The package comes with the device itself, quite smaller than the GL.iNet Comet (GL-RM1) KVM-over-IP solution I reviewed last year (partially because it lacks a USB Type-A port), a 12V/1A power adapter, a QC pass sticker, and a card with QR codes to the documentation, as well as WhatsApp and Facebook for support.
There aren’t any cables, so you’ll need your own HDMI and USB Type-C cables.
The front panel only features a power/status LED and the Q1 marking.
All ports are on the rear panel. From left to right: 12V DC jack, USB-C port, Reset pinhole, Ethernet RJ45 jack, and HDMI input port.
Teardown
It took me a couple of minutes to find out how to open it. I initially thought the inner part was clipped to the case, but I eventually found four screws on each corner.
From there, it’s relatively easy to take out the board from the enclosure. The top of the board features a Winbond 25NQ1GVZE1G 1 Gbit (256MB) SPI NAND flash for the OS, an U&T Unlimited UTH16A10 Ethernet transformer, and a WB800DCS.2 wireless module based on the AIC8800DC 2.4GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 chipset. People who want to play around with the serial terminal will also find an unpopulated 3-pin UART connector.
The chip under the small thermal pad is a Rockchip RK628H MIPI CSI/DSI to HDMI bridge, a newer variant of the RK628D, to handle up to 4Kp60 video input..
The bottom side has various passive components, and the main chip is under a thermal pad for cooling.
Unsurprisingly, it’s a Rockchip RV1106G3 Arm Cortex A7 camera SoC with 256MB on-chip DDR3L memory.
Initial setup
Let’s reassemble everything together to get started and set up the device. I’ll mostly follow the instructions from the user manual accessible using the QR code on the card in the package.
For the first setup, we’re told to connect the Q1 to an AweSun account to enable remote control, and do so via the AweSun app. I personally prefer desktop control, but fair enough, I’ll go the mobile route first and head over to the download page. The AweSun app is available for Windows (32/64-bit x86 and Arm), iOS, and Android. For the latter, two apps are available: “Control side” and “Host side”. We want the former for now, and we’ll use the host app later to control the phone from a Windows laptop, since there’s no Linux client for my Ubuntu installation. I installed the “AweSun Remote Control” app on an OPPO A98 5G Android smartphone via Google Play.
After a welcome screen, we’re asked to agree to the privacy policy and user license, and enable permissions for location, calls, camera, and Bluetooth. As I understand it, only Bluetooth is actually required for the AweSun Q1 KVM.
After that, we’ll need to register an account with an email or Google account, and upon sign-up, we’re asked whether we want to pay 675 THB per year (about $21) to enable extra features such as high-speed file transfer, 2K HD quality, multi-screen control, and True Color 4:4:4. As I understand it, it’s because the app also works as a remote access solution without hardware.
I just closed this window and reached the “Devices” section on the main page, where I was asked to agree to a user license agreement and privacy policy again… Time to add our device. Tap on the + icon on the top right, and select “Add smart device”. You’ll want to make sure the AweSun Cloud KVM Q1 is connected to power (and optionally to Ethernet) at this stage, with the Blue LED blinking, waiting for pairing.
The device will show as Q1-XXXX. Let’s select it, another scan occurs, and we can click on Add. Bluetooth connectivity should now be established with the LED on the unit turning to solid Blue. If you haven’t done it already, it’s time to connect an Ethernet cable.
Tap Connect via network cable, and after waiting for a couple of seconds, you’ll be asked to enter a device name and a password for remote access. The password requirements are pretty low, with a minimum of six characters and 2 types of letters, so something like Passw0rd would work (weak password). Make sure to select something better, since this can be used to remotely access your computer and, by extension, your whole network.
Once successful, you’ll see the Binding success window, and your new device will be listed in the Devices window with its name and public IP address. You’ll want to keep that secret, since it might also give access to your ISP’s router dashboard. Where I live (Thailand), ISPs don’t take security seriously with default passwords (like admin), open telnet port, and other vulnerabilities… I initially had some issues at the Binding stage, and I first thought it may have been because of the VPN enabled on my smartphone, but I had the same problem after resetting the Q1, and several tries were necessary for binding to be successful. Once the initial setup is complete, the LED on the AweSun Q1 should become solid green.
Testing the AweSun KVM Cloud Q1 with a Raspberry Pi 5 and AweSun Android app
Now that the initial configuration is finished, let’s connect the AweSun KVM Cloud Q1 to a target: a Raspberry Pi 5 housed in a Pironman 5 Pro Max enclosure. I connected my own HDMI cable and USB-C to USB-A cable between the two. I used HDMI1, but it might be better to go with HDMI0.
The Pironman 5 Pro Max enclosure also comes with a MIPI DSI display (800×480 resolution), and it’s better to disable it in Raspberry Pi OS.
That’s because, in a dual-screen configuration, the KVM will only show the secondary HDMI output without access to the top menu (by default). It’s possible to set up mirroring, but since the displays have different aspect ratios, that’s an issue, especially with Wayland…
Two connection methods are available: click on the device itself in the Devices section and enter the “access password”, or go to the Remote Access section and use the Device ID and a user-defined passcode. By default, that password is temporary for security, but you can change that to long-term passcode, Today’s passcode, or One-time passcode.
I initially had some problems with the “access password” with the app claiming it was wrong, so I did most of the testing with the “Remote Assist” method instead. The Devices method eventually worked for me, so I’m not sure what went wrong initially.
While it’s possible to use the default cursor during emulation, I found out that enabling “touch mode” and “virtual mouse” is much more convenient on a small smartphone display. It brings a draggable mouse with large left and right buttons that makes everything easier to use. It can be enabled through the <> button in the interface.
While you can use the built-in keyboard on your smartphone, there’s also a “custom key combinations” function to enable shortcuts.
I’ve shot a video controlling Raspberry Pi OS, mostly to show the lag and performance of the solution.
I also demonstrated the ability to access the Raspberry Pi 5 remotely even when Raspberry Pi OS is not running. I turned off the Pi 5, at which point the system detects there’s no video signal and shows a color test pattern.
I removed the microSD card to simulate an issue, and I was able to see the output on my phone through the AweSun app.
What I couldn’t do was press the Spacebar to enter the bootloader. It looks to be a common issue for KVM used with the Raspberry Pi and not unique to the AweSun Q1.
Switching to AweSun for Desktop
The AweSun app is not only available for Android and iOS mobile devices, but also for Windows and macOS computers. As an Ubuntu user, I was a little disappointed by the lack of Linux support, and I had to reboot my ASUS Vivobook 16 laptop to Windows 11 to download and install AweSun for Windows.
What I could immediately do in the program is control the Windows laptop from the Android app using the Remote Control device ID and passcode provided in the Windows program. That’s not using the KVM at all, though.
To access the AweSun Q1 KVM, either through the “Device List” or the “Control Remote Device” option, I had to log in using the same credentials used in the Android app. Just one little problem: the “Continue with browser” button didn’t do anything on my laptop, so I used the “copy link” option from the program to go through the login process. It completed, but wouldn’t go back to the AweSun program, which read “connection failed, try to switch the login page”.
I tried with Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Chrome browsers, but all had the same result. I communicated with the company for a while about the issues, and we couldn’t find a working solution. In the meantime, I received the Khadas Mind 2 with Windows 11, so I installed the AweSun program on it. I didn’t get “connection failed” anymore and a “Log in” pop-up I had never seen on the laptop showed up.
I could go through the login process normally and found my Q1-CNXSOFT KVM right there.
As a side note, the Mind (2) mini PC also showed up in the Android app. So that means each device running the AweSun app/program becomes part of a remote access “mesh” where each device can access each other, which is pretty neat.
The phone is not part of the Devices list because a separate app (AweSun Host) is required to control the phone from the AweSun program, and I haven’t tried it because it’s out of the scope of this review. What does work directly with the AweSun mobile app is screen mirroring.
Since it’s possible to do remote access without hardware, the KVM is mostly useful for unsupported operating systems like Linux or BSD distributions, and when you need remote access even if the system crashes or to access the BIOS, for example to install or reinstall Windows/Linux remotely. Note that the storage on the Q1 is too small for most ISOs, so you’d need a USB drive attached to the target to install an operating system.
I can now access the Raspberry Pi 5 in Windows 11. There’s some lag similar to what we got in Android, but that’s normal since it goes over the Internet, and it’s still usable…
The toolbar has options for Desktop, notably for resolution (original or scaled), image- or game-optimized desktop mode (I didn’t notice that much difference between the two while browsing), and more. The Keymouse has two options: local mouse and immersive mode. When I enabled local mouse, it was unusable and jittery, but I could disable it with Ctrl+Alt+Enter. Immersive mode means the mouse pointer stays in the target window. To use the mouse pointer on the host again, press Alt+Shift+X.
I tried to play a YouTube video with “Play sound of remote device” enabled. It didn’t work with the Raspberry Pi 5 due to an issue with HDMI audio on Raspberry Pi OS unrelated to the Q1 KVM. However, I could confirm audio worked fine after connecting the Q1 KVM to my Ubuntu 24.04 laptop. The video itself was watchable.
Finally, I did a quick test turning off the Pi 5 and starting it again without a microSD card to show I could still access the bootloader output from the AweSun Windows program.
Conclusion
The AweSun Cloud KVM Q1 can be useful for people who want an ultra-compact KVM device with basic KVM features such as HDMI video and audio, and keyboard and mouse emulation. Besides the hardware, I found the AweSun program/app ecosystem to be interesting, as it creates a sort of “KVM mesh” for all your devices, and any device running AweSun can be a remote access host or target, and the KVM adds support for unsupported OS and provides access to the BIOS and to a system that crashed/hung.
On the downside, I found the software can have rough edges, especially the on-board/logging part for which I had issues in both Android and Windows. But once you’re in, it’s working pretty smoothly. Some limitations to be aware of include the lack of expansion ports such as a USB connector or a microSD card slot, so you can’t do hardware power control with an ATX power board or FingerBot (Wake-on-LAN is supported, however), or copy an ISO file directly to the device like some other KVM solutions. The AweSun Q1 also only works through the cloud, and there’s no LAN access option.
I’d like to thank AweRay for sending the AweSun Cloud KVM Q1 for review. It can be purchased for $69 on the company’s store or on Amazon.
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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