About a month after unveiling plans to sell its first single-board computer powered by an Intel processor, Hardkernel is now taking orders for the ODROID-H2.

It’s priced at $111 and features a 10 watt, quad-core Intel Celeron J4105 processor and a 4.3″ x 4.3″ x 1.7″ with a bunch of ports, two slots for DDR4 memory, and support for several types of storage including a PCIe NVMe solid state drive.

The ODROID-H2 is up for pre-order from Hardkernel.com, and it should begin shipping November 27th.

The little computer features DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and audio jacks (3.5mm audio in and out jacks and S/PDIF).

There’s support for an optional eMMC module module, an M.2 2280 slot for an SSD, two SATA III connectors, and a 20-pin peripheral expansion header.

You can equip the system with up to 32GB of DDR4-2400 memory and Hardkernel says the little computer is compatible with Ubuntu 18.04 or Ubuntu 18.10 Linux out of the box — unlike the company’s single-board computers with ARM processors, there’s no need to download a special build of a GNU/Linux distribution. You can just grab the latest official download from Ubuntu.com.

There’s also nothing stopping you from installing Windows 10 or other operating systems on the ODROID-H2, aside from the fact that paying for a Windows license could just about double the price of the PC.

While Hardkernel sells the ODROID-H2 as a fanless system that supports a heat sink, although I suppose you could add a fan if you prefer additional cooling to silent operation. You could also buy and/or build a custom case for the little computer. Hardkernel has a few different options designed for folks who prefer a minimal case or a larger model with room for 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch drives mounted below the board.

via CNX-Software

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26 replies on “ODROID-H2 Gemini Lake single-board PC launches for $111”

  1. One of the key advantages of a SBC is in small projects, therefore, power suck is also a factor, but not disclosed. If someone is just gonna use it as a desktop PC, its still underpowered, may as well trade up. If bought in units of thousands, the above question may be very important.

  2. When you buy from Hardkernel, you are buying a device that is as reliable and banged out as the Pi Foundation’s products. When you buy and test various other single board computers you realize most out there are rushed, and don’t even come with open source drivers half the time.

    Hardkernel provides a product that just works, thats fast and fleshed out compared to the competition, is priced just right, and has an ever increasing community.

  3. Does Microsoft still have that scheme where low end tablets/cpus can use a free windows license? – and would it apply to this board?

      1. Microsoft still offers reduced cost (free or nearly free) Windows licenses to makers of low end computers. It would be impossible to sell $200 Windows laptops if the manufacturers were paying $100 or even $50 for the license. The allowed specs have gradually crept up; systems with 4GB RAM are now eligible.

        As competition from Chromebooks grows and higher performance Chromebooks become available, I suspect that the allowed specs for reduced cost Windows licenses will continue to creep up. My prediction is that ALL Windows licenses for home use will be free within five years. At that point paying for Windows will only be necessary for access to enterprise features such as domain logon, and perhaps for support of very high end hardware like systems with more than 16 processor cores. (8 core CPUs are already mainstream now and even more cores will be in the future.)

        The specs of this ODROID are within the bounds of what would qualify for a cheap Windows license. Hardkernel might choose not to pursue that because of their commitment to open source software.

  4. This is a crazy good deal. Of course, the J5005 powered NUC is the most obvious comparison, which can be bought for $185, with no ram or storage.

    The NUC comes with a case, and a Wifi adapter. However, the Odroid is fanless, has more storage connections, has an M.2 slot, and dual ethernet.

    The Odroid also seems to have an expansion header with I2C support, so you could connect IO expanders, and all sorts of things, if you like tinkering.

    That Odroid acrylic case looks interesting. Im guessing that’s a standard 80mm PC fan. That has the potential to be much quieter than a NUC.

    I’ll probably pick up the Odroid, it will make a good HTPC + Emulator machine.

    1. Intel generally reserves ECC support for its workstation and server CPUs (Xeon). AMD doesn’t lock out ECC on its consumer CPUs.

  5. 32 gb ram when the cpu only supports 8? I also like 8 cylinder, twin turbo 5.0L engines with the car locked to 100mph

    1. I’ve heard more than 8GB has been tested with this board, and it wouldn’t be the first time the CPU supports more RAM than Intel advertised.

    2. A lot of OEM products pushed in mass to vendors usually allows them to tweak and customize to their specifications. This is why some people can double VRAM on soldered lapyop GPU’s, as it’s not locked out by any hardware, mainly by firmware.

      Apple tells it’s customers they can only use X amount of RAM when the device usually supports more, if not double the amount in most cases. Using a 2008 MacBook Pro and some MacMini’s as examples.

    1. I… are you joking? I hope you are.

      That’s not a similar board that you just linked to. That is the EXACT SAME PRODUCT. Did you not even take the time to *read* this article?!

      Go home, you’re drunk.

      1. Are you drunk? Did you read his comment or was that too difficult?

        Bo is a great guy and stands behind his store.

      2. Ameridroid is a US-based source of the Hardkernel products as well as other single board computers. Shipping charges will usually be lower if you are in the US and order ODROID products from them.

  6. It is a little too similar to Intel NUC7CJYSAL (June Canyon $220). H2 has dual lan, dual sata ports and a 2280 m.2 slot, but the NUC comes with a case a 32GB eMMC. While Intel linux support is amazing, I will pass on this board.

    1. After buying a case and the upgrades to match, this is a much more affordable option over the NUC’s, especially coming from a reliable vendor like Hardkernel. May need to buy myself a christmas gift LOL

  7. Wifi/bluetooth sold separately.
    Seems like a nice piece of kit. Would love to play with it. Too bad Santa is taking all my discretionary funds for the next couple of months.

  8. I remember seeing some people estimating the price would be much higher than this. I suspected it would be just a little bit higher than this. This is a pretty good price. I’ve always found Hardkernel to be competitive on price with other products. Remember that the price doesn’t include memory. Perhaps the higher estimates forgot that part. No storage either, but many boards lack that.

    1. Perhaps your estimate forgot that the J4105 is sold by Intel for $107 in batches of 1000. I’m not sure how they built the rest of the board for $4.

      1. Clearly the J4105 and some other Intel chips are not selling anywhere near their reported price. The same happened with the Cherry Trail Atoms. And this is not the only J4105 mini PC near this price level, plus there are standard small motherboards with the chip below $80.

  9. Uh, this is ridiculous for the price. What’s the catch? I guess one has to weigh the decision between a mitx board for less that has the same things vs this size board.

    Intel cpu with 2 lan = pfsense
    Intel cpu with 32gb ram = viable windows computer in small form
    32gb + sata = server-ish limited NAS

    1. The surprising value isn’t really unprecedented with Hardkernel. The XU4 is a Pi-competitor with an 8-core Samsung Exynos smartphone SOC for $59. Crazy good deal. I run a Dreamcast emulator on it with no issues.

      1. Agree’d. I have bought several different brands of SBC’s and the only two that are fully functional are Pi Foundation and Hardkernel’s products. I’ve used OrangePi and Libre and those boards are a joke in real world performance.

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