BIGTREETECH’s Raspberry Pad 5 is a carrier board for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 that gives the tiny computer a 5 inch touchscreen display, Ethernet, HDMI, and USB ports, and a microSD card reader.
Available now for $99, BIGTREEETECH positions the Raspberry Pad 5 as a solution that can be used as a 3D printer controller, smart display, digital photo frame, or smart home accessory. Basically it turns Raspberry Pi’s latest compute module into a full-fledged touchscreen computer.
I’d be tempted to call it a tablet, but the lack of a built-in battery means you’d need to bring along a power bank if you wanted to use the Raspberry Pad 5 + CM4 as a mobile device.
The board measures 121 x 76mm (4.8″ x 3″) and features:
- 5 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display
- 1 x USB Type-C port
- 3 x USB 2.0 ports
- 1 x HDMI port
- 1 x Ethernet port
- 1 x microSD card reader
- 40 pin GPIO interface
- 1 x MIPI-CSI interface
There’s also an onboard real-time-clock that requires a CR1220 lithium coin-cell battery, sold separately.
Note that the $99 price tag doesn’t include a Raspberry Pi Compute Module. BIGTREETECH does sell kits that come with the compute module for $209 and up though if you don’t feel like sourcing the module elsewhere.
The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 is a tiny computer with the same quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor used in the Raspberry Pi 4. But the 2.1″ x 1.5″ Compute Module isn’t designed to be used on its own – you need to connect it to another board to get features like USB, video out, or power input.
via Jeff Geerling and 3D Printing Industry
If this was a 10inh or 7inch screen. I would say $99 price is ok. IMO. Only because it doesn’t include the pi.
I’d buy one rightnow* were it available with a 10″-or-larger screen and a built-in battery — with a CM4 8GB, would be they ultimate open-source tablet, and probably cheaper than even the proprietary ones.
sorry but no battery on this board (and ups for charging battery),
I know there’s no battery — and that’s a pity. I don’t see why there couldn’t be one, tho: a couple of 18550 batteries in a holder plus a charging & buck converter circuit isn’t that difficult (I’ve assembled one myself).
This could be good to make a switch like handheld emulator!
I need ups and lipo ON BOARD !
meybe additional 18650 socket for increase default working time
In Features, you show an 8 inch display. It is obviously a 5 inch display- Pad5
Yep, that was just a typo. Thanks for pointing it out. I’ve fixed it now!