FriendlyElec’s latest single-board computer looks like a Raspberry Pi 3 and has a lot of the same features, including a 40-pin header, WiFi, and a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor.
But while the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ uses a 1.4 GHz Broadcom BCM2837 system-on-a-chip, FriendlyElec’s NanoPi K1 Plus has a 1.3 GHz Allwinner H5 ARM processor with ARM Mali-450 hexa-core graphics.
The NanoPi K1 Plus also has 2GB of RAM, which is twice as much as you get with the latest Raspberry Pi computer, and in addition to having a microSD card reader, you can use an optional eMMC module for storage.
The NanoPi K1 Plus is available for purchase from FriendlyElec for $35.
The little computer also features Gigabit Ethernet, an HDMI 1.4 port with support for 4K@30fps or 1080p@60fps video playback, a 3.5mm audio jack, and three USB 2.0 ports.
There’s also a micro USB OTG port that can be used to connect a power adapter or for data transmission.
FriendlyElec also equipped the system with an onboard microphone and an infrared receiver, which could make this an interesting choice for use in a kiosk or digital signage system. You could also theoretically use it as a media center system.
The Linux Sunxi community reports that initial support for the Allwinner H5 chipset was added to the Linux kernel starting in 2017, and FriendlyARM offers an Ubuntu Core-based operating system image for the NanoPi K1 Plus called FriendlyCore.
You can find more details about the hardware and instructions for setting up the software at the FriendlyElec Wiki.
Or you could just stick with the Raspberry Pi platform, which already has a huge user community and support for a bunch of different operating systems.
