When the RK3588 first appeared and the Rock5B was released, the first RK3588 development board, Firefly ITX-3588J, was also announced. I estimate that the mainstream price for RK3588 is over 1000. After that, RK3588S development boards started to become cheaper, with the cheapest RK3588S development board, R6C, costing only 549. Now, we have finally waited for the time when RK3588 development boards are affordable.
The RK3588 development board has reached a price of 700.
Friendly NanoPC T6
Price: 720
Unlike the common NanoPi, it is NanoPC, another series, which means that this development board has strong expandability.
And indeed, it does.
It uses the RK3588 SoC
It has 4GB LPDDR4X memory (frequency up to 2133MHz) + 32GB eMMC, with three configurations available: 8GB+64GB, 16GB+256GB.
| Configuration | Price |
|---|---|
| 4GB+32GB | 720 |
| 8GB+64GB | 823 |
| 16GB+256GB | 1029 |
This configuration and price can be said to be very reasonable, with the top configuration just over 1000, what more could you ask for? Previously, RK3588 development boards started at 1000, and honestly, I couldn’t even imagine a 16+256 configuration, at least it would be around 2000.
The motherboard size is 110x80mm, with an 8-layer board process.
Optional CNC anodized aluminum case. The case adds 103.
Dimensions with the case are 114x86x30mm.
The interfaces are very rich.
It has two 2.5G network ports
There are two HDMI output interfaces (HDMI2.1, resolution up to 8K60Hz) and 1 HDMI input interface (resolution up to 4K60Hz).
Two 4-lane MIPI-DSI, compatible with MIPI DPHY 2.0 or CPHY 1.1.
Two 4-lane MIPI-CSI, compatible with MIPI V1.2.
1 M.2 B-Key slot for installing NVME solid-state drives, using PCIe 3.0 x4 channels, with speeds up to 2500 MB/s.
1 M.2 E-Key slot for installing M.2 2230 size WiFi wireless modules, using PCIe 2.1 x1 and USB2.0 Host channels.
1 miniPCIe interface for installing 4G LTE modules.
1 USB3.0 interface.
1 full-featured USB Type-C interface (supports USB3.0 data transfer and DP display output, resolution up to 4K60Hz).
1 12V DC power interface.
A 38KHz infrared receiver, very convenient for use as a set-top box, with no shortcomings.
A 5V fan interface.
For audio, it uses the ALC5616 chip, with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 2.0mm PH-2A analog microphone jack.
40-pin I/O interface, with 2x SPIs, 6x UARTs, 1x I2Cs, 8x PWMs, 2x I2Ss, 28x GPIOs.
To be honest, this interface configuration is very reasonable, almost no flaws can be found. The only downside is that the USB interfaces are a bit few. Also, there might be no eMMC module interface, but since the official has already onboarded eMMC, I consider this a minor issue.
Some of the previous development boards’ dilemmas are no longer present. It can be said to be a culmination of efforts. The configuration of interfaces even surpasses that of Rock5. Moreover, it comes with a matching metal case, making it more user-friendly.
The system support is also quite good, with the official offering not only Debian11, Ubuntu22.04, and Android12 as regular systems
But also OpenWRT and AndroidTV.
The official has prepared the firmware for soft routing and set-top boxes for you. You can start playing right out of the box. Friendly is getting better at understanding what players want.
I believe this development board is a kind of surpassing for Friendly, no longer the brand that often causes dilemmas. Now I can say there is no need for concern, this development board is currently the best and most convenient development board you can buy at this price point.
From the price perspective, the R6C, at 549, is still quite attractive, but for just a little more than 100, you can upgrade to the RK3588 chip, with onboard eMMC, HDMI interfaces, and two 2.5G network ports, all of which are very appealing. Looking at it this way, this extra 100 is definitely worth it.
This price point will also impact many previous AI development boards. If your AI computing power is not reaching 6TOPS, but the price is higher than T6, then I will have to reconsider the cost-effectiveness of this development board.
Once this development board is released, I believe most other brands’ RK3588 development boards will have to reconsider their pricing, otherwise, they might not be able to sell any boards.
Friendly NanoPC-T6
https://m.tb.cn/h.UETo95d?tk=EhC4docEr92
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