Allwinner H6 is a processor designed for 4K HDR set-top boxes such as Zidoo H6 Pro, but with USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and PCIe interfaces, the processor is also a good candidate for ARM development boards where you need fast I/Os.

I was expecting Orange Pi 3 Plus as the first board based on the processor, but instead Shenzhen Xunlong has just launched a cheaper Orange Pi One Plus version that sells for $19.99 plus shipping.

Orange Pi One Plus specifications:

SoC – Allwinner H6 V200 quad core Cortex A53 processor with Arm Mali-T720MP2 GPU

System Memory – 1 GB LPDDR3

Storage – micro SD card slot up to 32GB

Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR, HDCP, CEC

Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (via Realtek RTL8211 transceiver)

USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB OTG port

Expansion – 26-pin header (but no detailed info available yet)

Debugging – 3-pin serial console header

Misc – Power & status LEDs, power button, IR receiver

Power Supply – 5V/2A via power barrel jack, or micro USB port; AXP805 PMIC

Dimensions – 68 x 48 mm

Weight – 50 grams

The board only supports Android 7.0 for now, with Linux images (Ubuntu and Debian) under testing. Bear in mind that Allwinner H6 is relatively new, and Orange Pi One Plus is the first low cost Linux development board to be launched with the target, so I’d expect some difficulties at first. Everything will likely have to be based on legacy kernel (Linux 3.10), and some features like 3D graphics acceleration may not work in Linux, but hopefully better support will eventually come through the work of linux-sunxi (u-boot/kernel), and Armbian (integration with Ubuntu/Debian) communities.

This first board is a bit of a disappointment, as beside Gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI 2.0a, it does not really leverage the nice features found in Allwinner H6 processor. I’m especially surprised by the USB 2.0 connector since USB 3.0 would have been nearly free to add as it’s supported by H6 SoC. But I’m told that Orange Pi Lite2 will come with USB 3.0 later next month. However, since it is based on Orange Pi Lite design, then the board will use WiFi, and Gigabit Ethernet will not be present. So we may have to wait for Orange Pi 3 Plus to get a more features-packed H6 board with GbE, USB 3.0, and PCIe interfaces.

Another interesting part of Orange Pi One Plus board is the DDR3 chip: Allwinner AW52A8G32. So it looks like Allwinner has entered the RAM business, or they re-branded the chip from some other company.