The Radxa Zero is a single-board computer with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, support for up to 4GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of eMMC storage plus a microSD card reader.

Measuring 65mm x 30mm, the tiny computer is exactly the same size as a Raspberry Pi Zero W.  But Radxa’s version has a significantly faster processor and more configuration options, all of which is unsurprising since it’s launching four years after Raspberry Pi first introduced its tiny computer. It’s available for purchase for around $16 to $86 depending on the specs.

 

Radxa first introduced the Radxa Zero in June, and the little computer features a micro HDMI 2.0 port for video output, a USB 3.0 Type-C host port and USB 2.0 Type-C OTG port for power and data plus a 40-pin GPIO header.

It’s powered by a 1.8 GHz Amlogic S950Y 12nm ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core processor with ARM Mali-G31 MP2 graphics and support for 4K/60fps video decoding for VP9 and H.265 codecs.

The $15 starting price will get you a model with 512MB of LPDDR4 memory, a wireless card with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4 support, and no built-in storage. But Radxa will offer several different pricing/configuration options:

  • 512MB RAM with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4 for $15
  • 1GB of RAM with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4 for $20
  • 2GB of RAM, 8GB of eMMC storage with WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5 for $30
  • 4GB of RAM and 16GB of eMMC storage with WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5 for $45

The computer should be capable of running operating systems including Android and Linux. Radxa says it already has a build of Armbian that boots on the Zero, and the company plans to make that the official operating system for this little computer. But Radxa will also be donating hardware to developers of other operating systems including Manjaro, FreeBSD and LibreELEC to encourage development of other options.

Android 9 is also said to be “running very well” on models with 2GB or 4GB of RAM.

via CNX-Software

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11 replies on “Radxa Zero is a like higher-performance Raspberry Pi Zero W (coming soon for $15 and up)”

  1. AliExpress has a development demo expansion board module for python programming that could turn this little dandy into a weather station. The package comes with humidity, air pressure, proximity sensors and a cute little OLED.

  2. I don’t see the micro-usb power port in the images from the Radxa forums, in cnx site, it shows that power is through usb-c

    1. Probably not possible to get a board this small with the S922X. The S922X is a significantly larger chip. It’s more than twice as large by area, and it has a significantly larger amount of pins in its FCBGA package. Also, the chip probably requires more additional components to support its extra features.

      Maybe if you got rid of the GPIO header, and all the IO ports, but it would be tight.

  3. nice but why on this board no exist power.
    simple AA or solar panel + 3.7V battery
    small device == mobility!
    why not using mobile this linux?

  4. Typo, MB instead of GB:
    “The $15 starting price will get you a model with 512GB of LPDDR4 memory, a wireless card with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4 support, and no built-in storage.”
    Although if it’s not, I’ll buy a hundred.
    I wonder how well this copes with Pi-related hardware, including HATs and power sources. I’m guessing they don’t have the camera connector.

  5. Wonder if this would work be a direct swap-in for the RP Zero in the Retroflag GPi case? Could make for an interesting upgrade…

    1. Doubtful, the IO ports are all different on this board.

      The Rasp Pi Zero uses Mini-HDMI, and Micro-USB.

      This board uses Micro HDMI, and USB Type-C.

      I haven’t bothered to check if the GPIO header’s layout is the same, but even if it is, there are potentially some differences between the SOC that might contribute to some incompatibilities, such as the electrical specs that the IO pins can support (max input voltages, etc).

      Essentially, even if the GPIO header is the same layout, there is still some care needed in determining if the GPi’s design meets the specs of the SOC used in this new board.

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