In the past, we have seen some Rockchip boards from Radxa, like the Rock pi N10(RK3399Pro) and the Rock PiS powered by the RK3308 Cortex-A35 processor. Now, Radxa has launched a Rock Pi E SBC, which is a Rockchip RK3328 based SBC. It is equipped with a 64bits quad core processor, USB 3.0, dual ethernet, wireless connectivity at the size of 2.5×2.2 inch (56x65mm), making it perfect for IoT and network applications. ROCK Pi E comes in various ram sizes from 512MB to 4GB DDR3, and uses uSD card for OS and storage as well as supporting eMMC module. Optionally, ROCK Pi E supports PoE, additional HAT is required. The SBC that is similar to the ROCK Pi E in the market, is the NanoPi R2S dual Gigabit Ethernet SBC from FriendlyElec, which is powered by Rockchip RK3328 SBC. The major difference between the two SBC is that Rock Pi E is equipped with one Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 3.0 port, a built-in WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity which is unavailable on the NanoPi R2S.
The following are specifications of Rock Pi E:
- SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.3 GHz
- System Memory – 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, or 2GB DDR3
- Storage – MicroSD card slot up to 128GB, eMMC module support ( 16GB / 32GB / 64GB / 128GB)
- Video & Audio – 3.5mm AV output jack (Not 100% sure whether composite video is supported)
- Connectivity
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet port with PoE support via an additional HAT
- 10/100M Ethernet
- Wireless
- 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wifi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 via RTL8723DU OR
- Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 via RTL8821CU
- USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A host port
- Expansion – 40-pin expansion header with 1x USB 2.0, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 2x
- UART, 1x I2S, 5V, 3.3V and GND signals
- Misc – Reset key, Maskrom key, LEDs
- Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port
- Dimensions – 56 x 65mm.
The ROCk Pi E currently supports Debian Buster, Ubuntu Bionic, etc. The following are the only variants available for sale on Seeed Studio :
- Rock Pi E D4W1P : The ROCK Pi E D4W1P Is equipped with 512MB DDR3, RTL8723DU (Wi-Fi 4 + Bluetooth 4.2), PoE support, with an additional PoE HAT, and uses a micro-SD card for OS and storage as well as supports eMMC modules. It sells for $24.
- Rock Pi E D8W2P: The ROCK Pi E D8W2P comes in 1GB DDR3 RAM and uses a micro-SD card for OS and storage as well as supports eMMC modules. Also, this supports PoE, with an additional PoE HAT, for $26.
- Rock Pi E D8W2: The ROCK Pi E D8W2 comes in 1GB DDR3 RAM and uses a micro-SD card for OS and storage as well as supports eMMC modules. RTL8821CU (Wi-Fi 5 + Bluetooth 4.2), PoE support, for $28.
Read more: ROCK PI E SBC FEATURES ROCKCHIP RK3328, WITH 64BITS QUAD CORE PROCESSOR