[Updated: Sept. 1] — Shenzhen Xunlong tipped a $15 “Orange Pi PC” SBC with a 1.6GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 SoC, Pi-compatible expansion, HDMI, 100Mbit Ethernet, quad USB, and more.



Late last year, Shenzhen Xunlong Software introduced a pair of open-spec, Linux- and Android-ready “Orange Pi” single board computers that copied many Raspberry Pi features. The $49 Orange Pi and $40 Orange Pi Mini were based on Allwinner’s A20 SoC, featuring a dual-core, 1GHz Cortex-A7 CPU and PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU. They were soon followed by a set of three gen-2 Orange Pi SBCs built with Allwinner’s H3 SoC, which integrates four 1.6GHz Cortex-A7 CPU cores along with a Mali-400 MP2 GPU.

The gen-2 quad-core Orange Pi SBC series began with a longish (108 x 60mm) $59 Orange Pi Plus. Next, came a pair of slightly shorter (93 x 60mm) Orange Pi 2 SBCs, which mimicked the second generation, quad-core Raspberry Pi 2 Model B that the Raspberry Foundation launched in February.







Orange Pi PC top (left) and bottom views

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Another view of the Orange Pi PC

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Left to right: Orange Pi, Orange Pi Plus, Orange Pi 2, Orange Pi PC

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Orange Pi PC (left) compared to Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

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Orange Pi PC details: top (left) and bottom

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This week saw the arrival of yet another gen-2 Orange Pi SBC based on Allwinner’s quad-core H3 SoC. The new “Orange Pi PC” comes with 1mm of the Raspberry Pi 2’s size, matches its features in most respects (see details below), and is selling for the amazingly low price of $15 (plus a modest shipping charge).Despite the presence of “Pi” in their names, the Orange Pi SBCs are not designed to be exact, drop-in replacements for Raspberry Pi SBCs . In fact, Shenzhen Xunlong makes no claim of Pi compatibility other than the similarity of the boards’ 26- or 40-pin expansion buses to the corresponding RPi interfaces.Each Orange Pi model has a unique board layout and set of I/O ports, and each offers varying degrees of similarity to the Raspberry Pi. In particular, the original Pi implemented the original RPi’s 26-pin style expansion, whereas the Orange Pi Mini, Pi Plus, Pi 2, and Pi PC all provide Raspberry Pi B+-like 40-pin expansion.At 85 x 55mm, the Orange Pi PC closely matches the Raspberry Pi 2’s 85 x 56mm footprint. Additionally, as suggested by the pair of photos above, the Pi PC appears to have most of its 40-pin bus and coastline I/O ports in locations that match those of the RPi 2, although its single — rather than dual — USB connector at the top of the right edge clearly differs from the RPi 2’s arrangement. The images below show the locations of the Orange Pi PC’s I/O ports and other key features.

The table below compares the key features of the four Orange PI family SBCs to each other, as well as to the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. A detailed list of the Orange PI PC’s features and specifications appears farther below.

Comparison of key specifications

Orange Pi Orange Pi Plus Orange Pi 2 Orange Pi PC Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Processor AllWinner A20 Allwinner H3 Allwinner H3 Allwinner H3 Broadcom BCM2836 CPU cores 4x Cortex-A7 @ 1GHz 4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.6GHz 4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.6GHz 4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.6GHz 4x Cortex-A7 @ 900MHz GPU PowerVR SGX544MP2 ARM Mali-400 MP2 ARM Mali-400 MP2 ARM Mali-400 MP2 Broadcom VideoCore IV RAM 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB Storage microSD, SATA 2.0 microSD, SATA 2.0, 8GB eMMC microSD microSD microSD Wireless WiFi WiFI WiFi — — Ethernet Gigabit Gigabit 10/100 10/100 10/100 A/V I/O HDMI, composite, LVDS, VGA HDMI, composite HDMI, composite HDMI, composite HDMI, composite Camera CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI USB ports 4x USB 2.0; 1x USB OTG 4x USB 2.0; 1x USB OTG 4x USB 2.0; 1x USB OTG 3x USB 2.0; 1x USB OTG 4x USB 2.0 Power +5V via micro-USB or barrel jack +5V via micro-USB or barrel jack +5V via barrel jack +5V via barrel jack +5V via micro-USB Expansion 26-pin Pi-style; 18-pin 40-pin Pi-style 40-pin Pi-style 40-pin Pi-style 40-pin Dimensions 112 x 60mm 112 x 60mm 93 x 60mm 85 x 55mm 85 x 56mm Price (less shipping) $49 $59 $30 $15 $35

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Summary of Orange Pi PC specs

Specifications listed for the Orange Pi PC include:

Processor — Allwinner H3 (4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.6GHz); ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU @600MHz; 256KB L1, 1MB L2 cache

Memory — 1GB DDR3 SDRAM

Storage — microSD slot (up to 64GB)

Networking — 10/100Mbit Ethernet (RJ45)

Multimedia: HDMI output — supports HDCP, CEC, 30 function, and integrated CVBS (allows simultaneous output of HDMI and CVBS) A/V output on 3.5 mm jack Mic input Camera interface — CSI input supports 8-bit YUV422 CMOS sensor interface, CCIR656 protocol for NTSC and PAL, SM pixel camera sensor, and video capture at up to [email protected]

Other I/O: 3x USB 2.0 Host ports 1x USB 2.0 OTG port (does not support DC power input) GPIO connector with 3x GPIO lines Debug UART header (TTL level) IR receiver

Expansion — 40-pin header compatible with Raspberry Pi B

Other features — power & status LEDs; power button

Power — DC barrel jack; +5V @ 2A (max.)

Dimensions — 85 x 55mm

Weight — 38gm

Supported OSes — Android, Lubuntu, Debian, Rasberry Pi Image



Further information

The Orange Pi PC can be pre-ordered at AliExpress for $15.00 plus shipping (currently about $3.50 for delivery to the U.S.). Further details are available at OrangePi.org’s Orange Pi PC page. Comprehensive technical documentation and OS image downloads will eventually be available at OrangePi.org’s downloads page.

