Reviews - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 11, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Mind xPlay display and keyboard review using Khadas Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs

Khadas xPlay connected to Crowview USB C display

In this review, I’ll report my experience with the Khadas Mind xPlay display and keyboard using the Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs, as well as a CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16 laptop to test it as a standard external display. Using Mind xPlay with the Mind 2 mini PC I received the Mind xPlay with the Mind 2 Meteor Lake mini PC, and I already showed how to connect it and get started in the first part of the review. So I’ll continue the review with it initially. I used the EIZO monitor test website to evaluate the display panel itself. I went through all 13 tests, including dead pixel and gradients tests. The pattern above looks fine too, so I compare the Mind xPlay monitor to the 16-inch display of the ASUS Vivobook 16 to find differences. Both were set to maximum brightness. The xPlay delivers noticeably more […]

May 9, 2026May 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Review of Rikomagic DS08 Android 13 digital signage player

Rikomagic has sent me a sample of their DS08 digital signage player for review. It’s based on a Rockchip RK3588 SoC paired with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB eMMC flash, and offers two HDMI 2.1 ports, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, as well as several USB ports, optical S/PDIF audio output, and more. I was initially not sure I could receive a sample, as Thailand is pretty strict with licenses for this type of hardware, but Rikomagic told us that it would not be a problem when using DDP (delivered duty paid), and the courier handles all paperwork. And indeed we did receive the parcel without issue. Since Rockchip RK3588 is now a mature platform, we won’t run benchmarks in this review, but instead go through an unboxing and a teardown, and focus on digital signage features such as video playback, RTC support, and display orientation […]

May 7, 2026May 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Khadas Mind Graphics 2 and Mind xPlay display + keyboard review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first try

Khadas has sent us the Mind Graphics 2 dock, Mind xPlay portable display and keyboard, as well as the Mind 2 mini PC for review. In the first part of the review, I’ll start by listing specifications, an unboxing of all three packages, a teardown of the graphics dock, and a first try of the xPlay and Mind Graphics 2 with the mini PC. While the Mind 2 will be used for testing, I won’t go into details here since it’s quite similar to the Mind 2 AI Maker Kit we reviewed last year. Instead, in the next parts, I’ll do a review of the xPlay with it, the first-generation Mind, and maybe another platform with USB-C video output. I’ll follow that by detailed testing of the Khadas Mind 2, including graphics and AI performance with the built-in NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB card, and check all its features. […]

April 18, 2026May 6, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Pironman 5 Pro Max Review – A Raspberry Pi 5 Tower PC case with integrated video and audio capabilities, optional UPS kit

SunFounder has sent us a sample of the Pironman 5 Pro Max tower PC case for Raspberry Pi 5 for review alongside a PiPower 5 UPS board. The “Pro Max” builds upon the Pironman 5 Max we reviewed last year, but adds a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display, a 5MP camera module, two speakers, a USB microphone, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The PiPower 5 is a UPS HAT designed for Raspberry Pi Zero/Model B single board computers, and not directly compatible with the Pironman cases, but we’ll still try to use it. I’ll start this review with an unboxing of the Pironman 5 Pro Max and PiPower 5 packages, followed by an assembly guide for the Pironman 5 Pro Max, a test of the new features (display, camera, audio interaction), and finally, I’ll have a quick test of the UPS HAT with the Raspberry Pi 5 enclosure. Unboxing of Pironman […]

March 28, 2026March 28, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

TerraMaster F2-425 Plus NAS review – Part 2: Configuration, benchmarks, and AI-enhanced media storage

I received the TerraMaster F2-425 Plus 3+2 Hybrid NAS for review last month, and after checking out the hardware in the first part of the review, I’ve finally had time to test the Intel N150 NAS. After installing two 4TB SATA drives and an M.2 NVMe SSD, I’ll report my experience setting up the system with the TNAS Android app, before running some benchmarks, and testing features like photo backup with AI search capabilities. Hard drive installation I already had an old, but little-used, 4TB HGST SATA drive, and I bought a “new” 4TB SATA drive online for a pretty good deal (2979 THB or a little over $90 US). It turns out the HPE MB4000GVY2K drive I got was refurbished, having been manufactured in 2017. However, it’s an enterprise-grade drive, and the TNAS app reports it has been used “only” for 2,517 hours, so I don’t feel too bad […]

March 18, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Review of Open Nextion ESP32-S3-based HMI displays with the Arduino IDE and the ESP-IDF framework

ITEAD has sent us samples of the Open Nextion ONX3248G035 and ONX2432G028 ESP32-S3 HMI displays for review. Open Nextion is a new product line that differs from the original Nextion HMI family, which relies on the Nextion Editor for UI design and UART communication for control. Instead, the Open Nextion features an ESP32-S3 wireless microcontroller handling logic processing, display control, and wireless connectivity, all in one integrated package. ITEAD fully supports the ESP-IDF framework and the Arduino IDE with LVGL graphics library support. The ONX3248G035 model features a 3.5-inch screen, while the ONX2432G028 variant has a 2.8-inch screen. The Open Nextion HMI wireless displays also take accessories such as a dual-microphone array, a speaker, and an I/Os adapter. The new Open Nextion product line is especially well-suited to embedded developers/makers who want an all-in-one board with HMI and wireless capabilities, IoT terminal and Smart HMI panel prototyping, students interested in […]

March 17, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Mini review of the ThinkNode M6 “outdoor solar power for Meshtastic”

Elecrow has sent us a solar-powered ThinkNode M6 Meshtastic device for review. Last year, I reviewed the ThinkNode M1 and M2 Meshtastic nodes, and I was a bit disappointed by the point-to-point range in a suburban environment, where I got about 550 meters of range after switching to LONG SLOW mode. Nine months have passed since that review, and there still doesn’t seem to be any Meshtastic community in the second-largest city in Thailand, probably because typical Meshtastic terminals are more expensive than entry-level Android smartphones, have limited functionality, and the mobile app is still a mess despite a revamp. Nevertheless, when Elecrow asked me whether I wanted to test the “ThinkNode M6 outdoor solar power for Meshtastic”, I thought it might be fun. The main purpose of this mini review is to check the range I get using the M6 as a router between the M1 and M2 nodes. […]

March 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

GEEKOM A5 Pro 2026 Edition Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 25.10 on an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U mini PC

GEEKOM A5 Pro 2026 Edition mini PC Ubuntu 25.10 linux review

After checking out the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the GEEKOM A5 Pro 2026 Edition mini PC, and testing it with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro OS in the second part of the review, we will now report our experience with Ubuntu 25.10 to show how the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U mini PC performs under Linux. The Ubuntu 25.10 review includes an overview of the system, benchmarks, storage and networking (2.5GbE and WiFi 6) performance testing, and measurements of CPU temperature under stress, fan noise levels, and power consumption of the mini PC under various workloads. Ubuntu 25.10 installation We decided to install Ubuntu 25.10 in dual boot configuration alongside Windows 11. To do so, we first shrank the Windows partition (C:) to roughly half its original size, before inserting a USB drive with the Ubuntu 25.10 ISO to carry on with the installation. The installation proceeded […]