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The Banana Pi BPI-W3 is a compact but versatile computer board powered by a Rockchip RK3588 processor, 8GB of RAM, and plenty of ports and connectors including an M.2 slot for storage, a 40-pin GPIO connector, and two HDMI outputs and one HDMI input.
First positioned as a router board when it was unveiled last year, the board has undergone a bit of redesign and it’s now available for purchase for $162 from AliExpress.
The original design included two Gigabit Ethernet ports, but those have been replaced by a single 2.5 GbE Ethernet jack. That makes the updated board a bit less useful for router and networking applications, but now it should support faster network connections.
The updated board also lacks the PCIe x4 slot that had been included in the original. And instead of soldering the processor to the mainboard, the new designed has a system-on-a-module connected to the board.
Rockchip’s RK3588 processor features four Cortex-A76 CPU cores, four Cortex-A55 cores, and a neural processing for up to 6 TOPs of AI performance. Paired with the HDMI input and dual HDMI outputs, that could make this system useful for video capture applications like security systems or streaming.
The updated BPI-W3’s other features include 32GB of eMMC storage, MIPI-DSI and MIPI-CSI connectors, USB Type0C, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Type-A ports, an PCIe 2.1 M.2 E Key on top of the board for a wireless module and a PCIe 3.0 x4 key on the bottom of the board that can be used for an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD.
The board measures 148 x 101mm (5.8″ x 4″) and can draw power from a 12V/2.5A DC power supply or via the USB-C port, which supports 9V/2A, 12V/2A, and 15V/2A input.
via CNX Software and @sinovoip
“Bananda” – is that a panda eating a banana?
What’s the HDMI input for?
If I was ever going to buy an SBC with HDMI input just for the HDMI input, I’d probably use it for taking a video source that isn’t an IP camera and streaming it.