Hi there, I want to share this review about one of the most amazing and tiniest SBC (Single Board Computer) from Rock Pi called: Rock Pi S (S is for Small Square). Turns out Rock Pi devices are one of the best alternatives to Raspberry Pi devices, actually its Rock Pi 4 SBC is way more powerful than the latest Raspberry Pi 4 SBC, features like 64bit hexa core up to 1.8 GHz, eMMC modules and M.2 connector that supports up to 2T M.2 NVME SSD, make this board one of its kind in terms of performance but today I’ll be talking about its tiniest SBC: Rock Pi S.
According to Rock Pi S official website, Rock Pi S is a: Rockchip RK3308 based SBC (Single Board Computer) by Radxa. It equips a 64bits quad core processor, USB, ethernet, wireless connectivity and voice detection engine at the size of 1.7 inch, make it perfect for IoT and voice applications. ROCK Pi S comes in two ram sizes 256MB or 512MB DDR3, and uses uSD card for OS and storage. Optionally, ROCK Pi S can provide on board storage version with 1Gb/2Gb/4Gb/8Gb NAND flash.
Rock Pi S Main Features
- Rockchip RK3308 Quad A35 64bit processor (up to 1.3 GHz) with built-in VAD
- 512 MB RAM
- USB 2.0 OTG (type-C) + USB 2.0 HOST (type-A)
- RJ45 10/100Mbit Ethernet
- 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
- Bluetooth 4.0 (rtl8723DS)
- 26 pin GPIO header
- 26 pin voice/audio header includes I2C, PCM, TDM, PDM, SPDIF, and HDMI ARC
- Size 1.7×1.7 inch (~38.1mmx38.1mm)
Rock Pi S Available OS Images
Right now you can run Debian Buster (10) and Ubuntu Bionic (18.04) under this tiny board, both minimal images will work without any issues and are available from here. Also, there are other third-party images available like: Armbian, Slackware ARM and DietPi. I’ve installed Ubuntu Bionic (18.04) and it works perfectly.
Personal Opinion
Currently, I’m using this tiny board as a download-stream web server, if you’re interested in using your SBC as a download-stream web server Kodi-compatible, check this post. This tiny board can be used too as a one of the most popular internet service these days: Personal VPN, Wireguard, Pi-Hole, home router much more. I’ve received this tiny device a couple of months ago (February 2020) thanks to a generous and kind staff member at Seeed Studio website, they have good deals in its online store.
I’m very happy with this tiny board and I’ll recommend it to anyone who want to learn and want to enter in this fascinating world of Linux and Single Board Computers.
Note: be aware that this review is about the 512 MB RAM version which include Bluetooth and WiFi, the 256 MB RAM version doesn’t include Bluetooth nor WiFi.
Check Seeed Studio Online StoreWant to know even more about it? Doubts? Leave a comment.
OMG awesome board, seeing your post just bring a couple of projects into my head, thanks for sharing!