Reviews - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 20, 2026January 20, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 review – A 40 TOPS AI accelerator tested with Computer Vision, LLM, and VLM workloads

Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 review VLM chat test

Raspberry Pi sent me a sample of their AI HAT+ 2 generative AI accelerator based on Hailo-10H for review. The 40 TOPS AI accelerator is advertised as being suitable for LLMs (Large Language Models) and VLM (Vision Language Models), while delivering about the same performance as the first-generation AI HAT+ (Hailo-8) for AI vision/computer vision models. After going through an unboxing, I’ll assemble the AI HAT+ 2 to a Raspberry Pi 5 with 2GB of RAM fitted with a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, before quickly checking whether AI vision models work as expected, and spending more time on testing LLM and VLM samples. Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 unboxing My sample had a somewhat long and rough trip from the UK to Thailand, and the package did not look that good when DHL delivered it. But luckily, nothing was damaged, and I got the AI HAT+ 2 with a […]

January 18, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Getting started with SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 Zigbee adapter using Home Assistant

SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 review AirGuard TH MINI-ZB2GS-L

We have received a sample of the SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24 (also known as Dongle-PMG24) Zigbee/Thread USB dongle for review. As its name implies, it’s based on a Silicon Labs EFR32MG24 wireless chip, and the company claims up to 200 meters range thanks to an included 3dBi antenna. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi OS, and other operating systems that support USB serial drivers. The dongle works seamlessly with popular open-source platforms, such as Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, ioBroker, and OpenHAB. In this review, we will go through an unboxing of the SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24, before connecting it to a Raspberry Pi 4 running Home Assistant. We will use two Zigbee devices from SONOFF: the AirGuard TH (SNZB-02DR2) temperature and humidity sensor with an LCD, and the MINI DUO-L (MINI-ZB2GS-L) dual-channel/2-gang Zigbee 3.0 switch to demonstrate how to use the dongle with Home Assistant. SONOFF Dongle Plus […]

January 15, 2026 by Kumpee Teeravech - 1 Comment

reComputer Industrial R2135-12 review – A Raspberry Pi CM5-powered fanless Edge AI PC with Hailo-8 AI accelerator

Hello, today I am going to review the reComputer AI Industrial R2135-12 from Seeed Studio. This is an industrial edge computer built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 platform. The model is configured with 8 GB LPDDR4 memory and 32 GB eMMC storage. It provides a rich set of I/O options, including dual Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0/USB 2.0, HDMI output, and industrial interfaces such as RS-485/RS-232, CAN, and GPIO, along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support and a wide DC power input range suitable for industrial environments. In addition to standard checking and benchmarking the device, I will also include a hands-on demo application in which the system runs an AI model for real-time people detection from a USB camera, then sends detection results to an external ESP32 microcontroller to drive LED matrices for visually highlighting the locations of detected people. I made the following YouTube video to quickly demonstrate […]

January 8, 2026January 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

MUSE Book laptop review – Testing an octa-core RISC-V Linux laptop in 2026

SpacemiT sent me a sample of the MUSE Book RISC-V Linux laptop for review. It’s based on the SpacemiT K1/M1 octa-core 64-bit RISC-V SoC, ships with up to 16 GB of RAM, eMMC flash and/or NVMe SSD, and features a 14.1-inch IPS display with 1920×1080 resolution, WiFi 6 connectivity, a few USB ports, and more. I won’t go through all the hardware specifications since Leo already did that when he wrote about the MUSE Book Laptop in April 2024, along with a teardown, and additional details about the SpacemiT K1/M1 SoC. I’ll still do an unboxing and quickly check the hardware, but I’ll focus on the software part to show the progress with Bianbu OS 2.3 (Ubuntu 24.04-based) on RISC-V hardware, as I just did for the low-end StarFive JH7110S-based VisionFive 2 Lite SBC. It’s quite a long review, so if you are short on time, you can jump directly […]

December 31, 2025January 4, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

VisionFive 2 Lite SBC Review – Ubuntu 24.04 on a low-cost RISC-V SBC in 2026

VisionFive 2 Lite RISC-V SBC Ubuntu Review 2026

StarFive has sent me a sample of the VisionFive 2 Lite RISC-V SBC for review. It’s a low-cost credit card-sized board based on the StarFive JH7110S quad-core RISC-V SBC and designed to get started with Linux RISC-V on the cheap. When I first tested the earlier VisionFive 2 SBC with a StarFive JH7110 RISC-V SoC in February 2023, I didn’t call it a review, but rather a hands-on experience, since, at the time, many features still didn’t work properly. Almost three years have passed since then, so reviewing the VisionFive 2 Lite SBC with Ubuntu 24.04 will allow us to see how much progress has been made on the software side. If you are in a rush, you can jump to the what works, what doesn’t section. VisionFive 2 Lite unboxing I received the board in a plastic box with a cover reading “VisionFive 2 Lite Your Gateway to RISC-V”. […]

December 31, 2025 by Kumpee Teeravech - No Comments

DFRobot HUSKYLENS 2 AI camera review – From built-in AI samples to training a custom model to detect elephants

Hello, today I am going to review the HUSKYLENS 2, released in October 2025. It is the next generation of HUSKYLENS, an AI vision sensor equipped with a Kendryte K230 dual-core RISC-V SoC with a 6 TOPS AI accelerator and a 2.4-inch IPS touchscreen. The device runs machine vision algorithms fully on-device, providing fast and low-latency performance, and includes more than 15 built-in AI models. HUSKYLENS 2 also supports deploying custom-trained models, including integration with Large Language Models (LLMs) via a Model Context Protocol (MCP) service. In addition, it is compatible with various microcontrollers, such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi, through UART or I2C communication interfaces. HUSKYLENS 2 unboxing The manufacturer sent the HUSKYLENS 2 module and the Microscope Lens separately. Both parcels were shipped from Chengdu, China, and arrived at my office in Chanthaburi, Thailand, in about one week. The parcels were packed in standard cardboard boxes and arrived […]

December 21, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

XIAO Soil Moisture Sensor review with Home Assistant

Seeed Studio sent us a review sample of the XIAO Soil Moisture Sensor powered by the XIAO ESP32C6 wireless module and running on a single AA battery. Designed for ultra-low power consumption, it’s supposed to offer long-lasting operation with dynamic adjustment of monitoring intervals. It’s preloaded with ESPHome firmware and is fully compatible with Home Assistant. It’s ideal for indoor plants monitoring, but it can’t be used outdoors since the 3D printed enclosure is not weatherproof. In this review, we’ll start with an unboxing, do a quick teardown, and test it with Home Assistant to receive a notification on our smartphone when the soil is dry. XIAO Soil Moisture Sensor specifications Wireless module – XIAO ESP32C6 Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 CPU 32-bit RISC-V core up to 160 MHz Low-power RISC-V core up to 20 MHz Memory – 512 KB SRAM, 16KB low-power SRAM Storage – 320 KB ROM, 4MB […]

December 15, 2025December 14, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

reTerminal E1001/E1002 Review – B&W and color ePaper displays tested with SenseCraft HMI and Home Assistant

Seeed Studio reTerminal E1001 E002 ePaper Display review

Seeed Studio sent us samples of the reTerminal E1001 (monochrome) and E1002 (color) ePaper displays for review. They are powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller providing WiFi and Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity, and are designed for low-power information display applications, consuming power only when updating the screen content. This makes them ideal for tasks requiring long battery life (average of 3 months per charge, depending on how often they are updated) and always-on display capabilities. In this review, we will unbox the devices, go through a teardown, and test them with Seeed Studio’s SenseCraft no-code HMI platform, as well as ESPHome firmware for Home Assistant integration. reTerminal E1001/E1002 unboxing We received two cardboard packages that look identical and are labeled “Seeed Studio reTerminal ePaper Display”. But the sticker on the bottom side of the boxes provides clarity… Inside each box, we’ll find the ePaper display, a USB Type-C cable, a display […]