NanoPi R28S is yet another tiny dual Gigabit Ethernet single board computer or router (with a metal enclosure), and the second from FriendlyELEC to implement a USB-C console port, often requested by our readers, after the NanoPi R2S Plus launched in 2024.
At just 49.5 x 49.5 x 24 mm in its metal case, the Rockchip RK3528A-powered router also features 1GB LPDDR4, a microSD card slot and an eMMC module socket for storage, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity. The USB-C ports are only used for power, eMMC firmware upgrades, and debugging, and the system doesn’t feature any USB port for data connectivity, nor any GPIO header for expansion. In other words, it’s mostly useful for networking (firewalls, soft routers), as well as IoT gateway applications.
NanoPi R28S specifications:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3528A
- CPU – Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 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 up to 128GB
- eMMC module connector
- Video Output – N/A
- Networking
- 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports via RTL8211F and RTL8111H controllers
- WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 with IPEX antenna connector; the module is blurred in the photos, but I suspect an AIC8800 module.
- USB
- USB 2.0 Type-C port for eMMC upgrade and 5V power input
- USB Type-C port for UART debug console
- Debugging – Via USB-C port above only
- Misc
- User and MASK buttons for eMMC upgrade
- SYS LED and 2x user LEDs
- 2-pin 1.27/1.25mm battery connector for low-power RTC (HYM8563TS)
- Power supply – 5V/2A via USB-C port
- Dimensions and weight
- PCB – 45 x 45 x 1.2 mm | 14 grams
- Enclosure – 49.5 x 49.5 x 24 mm | 77.5 grams
- Temperature Range – 0°C to 70°C (or 80°C depending on where you read…)
FriendlyELEC lists support for a range of operating systems including Alpine Linux 3.23, Buildroot – Weston (Wayland), Debian 13 Core, FriendlyWrt 25.12 (OpenWrt fork), OpenMediaVault 8.0.6 (probably not super useful with this board…), Proxmox VE 8.2.7, and Ubuntu 24.04 Core, all based on Linux 6.1 LTS and U-boot 2017.09. Additional technical information and download links for the OS image can be found in the wiki.
It’s the third Rockchip RK3528A board from FriendlyELEC, but the other NanoPi NEO3 Plus serves other purposes with a single Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 2.0 port, and a GPIO header, and the previous-generation NanoPi Zero2 offers similar features. Other Rockchip RK3528A-based routers with multiple Gigabit Ethernet interfaces include the Radxa ROCK E20C (dual GbE + USB-C debug), the Radxa E24C (quad GbE + USB-C debug), and the Banana Pi BPI-M1S, which is more of a complete SBC with HDMI video output, GbE + 2.5GbE networking, wireless, and so on.
FriendlyELEC sells the NanoPi R28S SBC for $20, and the router with a CNC-milled metal case for $29 on the same page. They usually add various accessories like eMMC flash modules and a power supply as options, but that’s not the case for now, so you’ll need to browse their shop if you need any of those.
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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