Banana Pi BPI-M2 Pro compact Amlogic S905X3 SBC launched for $61

Banana Pi BPI-M2 Pro

Banana Pi has already designed an Amlogic S905X3 SBC with Banana Pi BPI-M5 that closely follows Raspberry Pi 3 Model B form factor, but they’ve now launched a more compact model with Banana Pi BPI-M2 Pro that follow the design of the company’ earlier BPI-M2+ SBC powered by the good old Allwinner H3 processor. BPI-M2 Pro comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC storage, HDMI video output, Gigabit Ethernet, Wifi & Bluetooth connectivity, as well as two USB 3.0 ports. Banana Pi BPI-M2 Pro specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex A55 @ up to 2.0 GHz with an Arm Mali-G31 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60 with HDR, CEC, EDID support Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet Dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 1×1 and Bluetooth 4.2 via Realtek RTL8821CU module USB – 2x USB 3.0 […]

ODROID-HC4 low-cost dual NAS comes with 4GB RAM, supports 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives

Low-cost Linux NAS dual SATA Drive

[Edit: Hardkernel has now updated their documentation to clarify the NAS uses ASM1061 PCIe to SATA controller instead of JMB582] It’s hard to find low-cost NAS platforms often because of the mechanism to insert drives and the enclosure add to the cost. An alternative is to use boards like Hardkernel ODROID-HC1 for 2.5-inch drives or ODROID-HC2 for 2.5- and 3.5-inch drives, but each board supports only one drive. The designs are stackable, but you’d need one Linux board per drive, so it’s not ideal. The Korean company has now launched a new model with ODROID-HC4 powered by an Amlogic S905X3 processor and shipping with a case supporting two 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives that will start selling later this month for just $65 and up. ODROID-HC4 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage 128 Mbit SPI […]

Beelink GS-King X Android TV Box, Dual HDD NAS & HiFi Audio System Launched for $250

buy Beelink GS-King X

Beelink GS-King X is an Android 9.0 TV box and a NAS with two 3.5″ SATA bays powered by Amlogic S922X-H processor combined with 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC flash that was unveiled last month with some blurry renders. We now have for the details about the device, which has started to sell for $249.99 plus shipping on GeekBuying when using a “Fixed Priced” coupon, in my case 4ATAOTO6. Updated Beelink GS-King X specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X-H hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with 4x Arm Cortex A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz, 2x Arm Cortex A53 cores @ 1.8 GHz, Arm Mali-G52MP4 GPU @ 846MHz; 12nm process System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot, 2x 3.5″ SATA HDD drive bay for up to 32TB storage in total Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDCP 2.2 Video – […]

Khadas VIM3L SBC up for pre-order for $50 and up, VIM1 & VIM2 Price Reduced

VIM3L pre-order

Shenzhen Wesion recently unveiled Khadas VIM3L SBC designed for HTPC / media center use cases. The board is based on Khadas VIM3 PCB but replaces the powerful Amlogic A311D processor by Amlogic S905D3 processor that should be just as good for video playback, but enable much cheaper hardware. Khadas VIM3L Pre-orders The board is not quite available yet, but the company has started to take pre-orders for Khadas VIM3L at discounted prices either as a bare board with Android 9.0 pre-installed ($49.99), or as a CoreELEC HTPC kit with enclosure, heatsink, WiFi antennas, and IR remote control ($69.99). Both feature Amlogic S905D3 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor coupled with 2GB LPDDR4(X) RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, and support 4Kp60 video output and playback with HDR support. Prices will increase with time as follows: September 3-16 (Early Bird) – $49.99 and $69.99 for the board and HTPC kit respectively September 17 – October 7 […]

ODROID-N2 CoreELEC Edition Media Center Launched for $65 and Up

ODROID-N2 CoreELEC Edition

ODROID-N2 is an Amlogic S922X single board computer with 2GB or 4GB  RAM that’s fairly popular thanks to its great performance/price ratio, good cooling, and decent support from Hardkernel. Hardkernel have worked in collaboration with CoreELEC, and have just introduced ODROID-N2 CoreELEC Edition media center featuring the SBC. The company offers the media center at introductory prices of $65 for the 2GB RAM model, and $75 for the 4GB model with limited stocks at those discounted prices. ODROID-N2 CoreELEC Edition media center includes the following: ODROID-N2 SBC with either 2GB or 4GB RAM ODROID-N2 Case Black An 8GB Industrial MicroSD UHS-1 card pre-loaded with CoreELEC for ODROID-N2 preinstalled 12V/2A Power Supply (with chosen type of plug) CoreELEC Logo Sticker CoreELEC for ODROID-N2 supports 4K HDR10 and HLG high dynamic-range, Auto frame rate switching & dynamic range matching,  DTS-HD & Dolby-HD audio pass-through including DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. The firmware is […]

Khadas VIM3L Amlogic S905D3 SBC Targets HTPC Enthusiasts

Amlogic S905D3 SBC

Khadas recently launched VIM3 single board computer powered by Amlogic A311D that delivers the best performance among Arm-based SBC’s I have tested myself, and for instance, Amlogic A311D is significantly faster than Rockchip RK3399, and the platform is quite suitable for Android gaming. All that power comes at a price however, as Khadas VIM3 starts at $99.99 with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. That’s fine if you’re going to leverage the features and power of the board, but for some applications, it’s quite expensive. One of those applications is HTPC, as in a world of sub-$50 TV boxes, $100 is a bit too much for watching video content. So the Khadas team is currently developing Khadas VIM3L based on Amlogic S905D3 processor that should provide an excellent platform for HTPC. Khadas VIM3L specifications known so far: SoC – Amlogic S905D3-N0N quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.9GHz with Arm Mali-G31MP2 GPU up […]

Amlogic A311D and S922X-B Processors Support 8K VP9 Video Decoding

Amlogic A311D 8K VP9

We’ve already written about future processors that will support 8K video decoding, such as Rockchip RK3588 that is expected to launch in early 2020. But I’ve just read claims that Amlogic A311D and S922X-B processors could also decode VP9 8K at 30 fps. So let’s have a look at Amlogic A311D datasheet first: Amlogic Video Engine (AVE-10) offloads the Cortex-A53 CPUs from all video CODEC processing. It includes dedicated hardware video decoder and encoder. AVE-10 is capable of decoding 4Kx2K resolution video at 75fps with complete Trusted Video Path (TVP) for secure applications and supports full formats including MVC, MPEG-1/2/4, VC-1/WMV, AVS, AVS+, AVS2 RealVideo, MJPEG streams, H.264, H265-10, VP9 and also JPEG pictures with no size limitation. The independent encoder is able to encode in JPEG or H.265/H.264 up to 1080p at 60fps There’s only mention of 4Kx2K decoding at up to 75fps, and further down in the document, […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case