FriendlyElec Releases the RK3399-Based NanoPi Neo4 SBC

FriendlyElec is known for their Rockchip RK3399-based development boards, including the popular NanoPC-T4 and NanoPi M4, and while they are an excellent alternative to the Raspberry Pi, they roll on the expensive side ($109 and $65, respectively). The Arm board design and development company has now added another RK3399-based SBC to their lineup with their new NanoPi Neo4.

FriendlyElec offers six cores on the NanoPi Neo4 with a big.LITTLE 64-bit dual-core Cortex-A72 and a quad-core Cortex-A53. The rest of the hardware consists of a Mali-T864 GPU, 1Gb of DDR3 RAM, eMMC module socket/micro SD card slot for storage, HDMI, and USB 2.0/3.0/Type-C ports.

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and Ethernet, as well as a host of GPIO with a 40-pin header (2X 3V I2C, 3V UART/SPI, SPDIF, 2X PCIe, PWM), and a pair of 8-pin headers with 8ch I2S, debug UART, and USB 2.0. You will also find a power LED, user LED, a 2-pin header for RTC battery, and a 5V/3A power supply (via USB-C port, RK808-D PMIC).

As far as operating systems go, the NanoPi Neo4 runs all things Android and Linux — Android 7.1.2/8.1 (eMMC module required), Lubuntu 16.04, FriendlyCore 18.04, FriendlyDesktop 18.04, Armbian (3rd), Linux-4.4-LTS, and U-boot-2014.10. The SBC is currently on sale for $45, along with a host of accessories, like an aluminum heat-sink (probably necessary as the processors can run a little hot depending on the application), a 16Gb eMMC module, a 13.2MP MIPI camera module, USB cable, and power/plug adapters.