Best alternative of Raspberry Pi 4, Rock64 Pi : Specification, Price, pros, cons, buy in India.

Complete information of Rock64 Pi

The most recent Pine64 single-board PC is known as the Rock64 and is surely ending up being an extreme contender, beats the Raspberry Pi both as far as cost and execution. At its heart is a 1.5GHz Rockchip RK3328 64-bit quad-center A53 processor complete with Mali-450 MP2 GPU. It ships in three arrangements offering 1GB ($25), 2GB ($35), and 4GB ($45) of 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM.

The credit card-sized Rock64 Media Board is a single-board computer (SBC), with just one circuit board on a small frame from the company Pine64. This is an open-spec project with full schematics and community support. Images are available for an up-to-date Android 7.1 plus Debian and Yocto Linux, with more to come.

Specifications

Processor

• Rockchip RK3328 (4x Cortex-A53 cores @ up to 1.5GHz)

GPU

• ARM Mali-450MP2 Dual-core GPU, OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0, OpenVG1.1

Memory

• LPDDR3 RAM Memory Variants: 1GB, 2GB and 4GB.

Storage

• microSD — bootable, support SDHC and SDXC, storage up to 256GB
• eMMC — bootable (optional eMMC Module)
• 128Mbit (16MB) on-board SPI flash memory (empty by default) — bootable?
• 1 USB3.0 Dedicated Host port
• 2 USB2.0 Dedicated Host port (top one is USB-OTG)

Network

• 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with Bluetooth 4.0 (optional USB dongle)

Audio

• 3.5mm A/V Jack (Composite Video Output and RCA Stereo support using conversion cable)

Video

• Digital Video output up to 4K@60Hz
• 4K HDR @ 60fps
• H.264/AVC Base/Main/High/High10 profile @ level 5.1; up to 4Kx2K @ 60fps
• H.265/HEVC Main/Main10 profile @ level 5.1 High-tier; up to 4Kx2K @ 60fps
• VP9, up to 4Kx2K @ 60fps
• MPEG-1, ISO/IEC 11172–2, up to 1080P @ 60fps
• MPEG-2, ISO/IEC 13818–2, SP@ML, MP@HL, up to 1080P @ 60fps
• MPEG-4, ISO/IEC 14496–2, SP@L0–3, ASP@L0–5, up to 1080P @ 60fps
• VC-1, SP@ML, MP@HL, AP@L0–3, up to 1080P @ 60fps
• MVC is supported based on H.264 or H.265, up to 1080P @ 60fps

Other I/O

• HDMI 2.0 port for up to 4K @ 60fps HDR output
• IR R/X Port
• Real Time Clock Port (RTC)
• Power Over Ethernet (POE) (when using optional HAT module)
• 2x 20-pin “Pi2″ GPIO header
• 2x 11-pin “Pi P5+” GPIO header

Power

• 5VDC @ 2.5A with 3.5mm barrel jack; power, reset, and recovery buttons

Operating Systems

• Android 7.1, Debian, and Yocto images

Pros and Cons.

Pros :

Software :

• Compatible with several software programs, including Linux and Android programs.

Ports :

• As this board comes with many ports, it can be used for as many different tasks.
• An onboard eMMC port as well as a micro SD card slot, a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a one USB 3.0 port. The SBC also is equipped with an AV port, and an IR R/X port and pin header blocks (40 and 22).

Cons :

• Although the Rockchip RK3328 ARM is not very high-quality, according to some users.
• Lack of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity: You have to purchase separate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules for the Rock64.

Computing Power :

• The Rock64 only offers up to 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, while the Raspberry Pi 4 has up to 8 GB of DDR4 RAM.
• For some context, DDR3 memory is generally considered outdated in today’s world, as older model iPhones (like the 7 in 2016) use DDR4 RAM.

References :

1. https://all3dp.com/2/rock64-media-board-review-specs/
2. https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/ROCK64
3. http://linuxgizmos.com/open-spec-rpi-style-sbc-features-new-rockchip-rk3328/
4. http://linuxgizmos.com/open-spec-rpi-style-sbc-features-new-rockchip-rk3328/