Tag Archives: Orange Pi

Orange Pi 2G-IoT Challenges the Raspberry Pi

If you are looking for an alternative for the ubiquitous Raspberry Pi (RBPi) or one of its siblings, give the Orange Pi 2G-IoT a second look. The Shenzhen-based maker of the Orange Pi developer board has made this one to rival the RBPiZW, the RBPi Zero W.

The Orange Pi 2G-IoT is a new design for a single board computer, available for sale of AliExpress. The device can run Android, Debian, Ubuntu, or Raspbian. It gives builders a 2G antenna to run applications for the Internet of Things, and that is where it gets the IoT in the name, while offering wireless LAN and Bluetooth for the same price as that of the RBPiWZ.

Featuring a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A5 processor running at 32 bits, the Orange Pi 2G-IoT has a 256 MB RAM, and GC860, a Vivante graphics processor. The board supports 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and 40-pin GPIO connector that matches the RBPi GPIO layout. Additional features include audio and video outputs and inputs, and USB 2.0 ports. There is a slot where you can insert a SIM card, while the 2G antenna supports GPRS/GSM data connections. The only two points of difference with the RBPiZW is it has double the RAM, that is 512 MB, while the Orange Pi 2G-IoT has 500 MB of on-board NAND flash to go along with the SD card slot.

With the Orange Pi 2G-IoT, you do not get a Display port, HDMI port or a VGA port. However, an LCD connector is present, where you can connect an external screen.

However, as the Orange Pi 2G-IoT is still new in the market, anyone who plans to use these devices must proceed with caution on two points. One, check if there is software support for the devices. The RBPiZW is a known entity and has a huge array of operating systems and software to run on it.

Second, those buying the board should check if there are carriers still supporting 2G. For instance, in the US, AT&T and many other carriers have killed off their 2G network, and many are planning to do so very soon. The situation is very similar in the UK. However, there are still some in other parts of the world who continue to support 2G and may do so for years to come.

These ultra-small single board computers offer a lot of options, the list continuing to grow at the lowest prices. After considering the shipping costs, we can call these the sub-$20 boards. This includes the RBPIZW that has the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Orange Pi Zero, and now the Orange Pi 2G-IoT.

Even with all the impressive features at below $10, especially the addition of GPRS/GSM, the Orange Pi 2G-IoT is not likely to kill the sales of RBPiZW. This is mainly because of the community support the RBPiZW currently enjoys. Of course, the Orange Pis are great little computers, but if you run into a problem with them, you are likely to find less support online, as compared to what you can expect from the huge online community supporting RBPiZW.

Orange Pi Prime – Another Rival for the Raspberry Pi 3

There is another Orange Pi among the branches of the highly productive Orange Pi tree belonging to Shenzhen Xunlong. This is the Orange Pi Prime—another rival to the most popular Raspberry Pi 3 (RBPi3). According to the year-end Linux hacker SBC roundup, half a dozen individual Orange Pi models were already existing, and if all the new variants are to be included, that number almost doubles. Proceeding at this rate, the company’s engineers will have checked out almost all possible combinations possible with size, RAM, I/O, and hacker board layout for an Allwinner processor.

Similar to the recent releases of Orange Pi Win and its sibling, the Orange Pi Win Plus, which are built on the quad-core, Cortex-A53 Allwinner SoC, the $30 Orange Pi Prime is also a fully open source SBC. In addition, similar to the more minimalistic Orange Pi PC 2 and its sibling the Orange Pi Plus H5, the Prime tab means they are using the newer SoC, the Allwinner H5. However, compared to the Allwinner A64 of the Win boards, the Orange Pi Prime has the more powerful Mali-450 MP2 graphics processor. The H5 processors typically run at clocks of 1.2 GHz.

Whenever a Linux capable hacker board surfaces in the market, people refer to it as an RBPi competitor, which could be erroneous—considering their features, size, and prices vary considerably. However, in the case of the Orange Pi Win and the Orange Pi Prime boards, including some boards such as the Odroid-C2 and NanoPi A64, the comparison with the RBPi3 is downright correct, given the close approximation of their feature set, performance, and price. Even their 40-pin expansion connector is pin compatible to that of the RBPi3.

The Orange Pi Prime is very similar to the Orange Pi Win board. Both have the generous 2 GB RAM, same as that available on the Odroid-C2. Also, just as the Orange Pi Win does, the Prime too has a micro SD card slot, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a GbE port, HDMI port, AV, microphone inputs, MIPI-CSI, and a 3.5 mm audio output.

Apart from the above, there are other common features as well. These include the 40-pin connector, debug, GPIO, IR interface, and an operating temperature range of -10 to 65°C. The Prime has a footprint of 98 x 60 mm, which is only slightly larger than the 93 x 60 mm footprint of the Win. Among the differences with the Win, the Prime has only three USB 2.0 host ports, and does not have a battery connector, optional eMMC, or PMIC.

Unlike the Win boards, the Prime will not be supporting Windows 10 IoT in the future. The Linux distributions for the Prime are also somewhat different. They include Android 4.4, Ubuntu Desktop, Debian Desktop, and Arch Server.

The hardware specifications for the Orange Pi Prime include the Allwinner H5 processor, which is a 4x Cortex-A53 and an ARM Mali-450 MP2 GPU. The board runs on a 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM, has 2 MB NOR flash memory, and a micro SD slot with up to a maximum capacity of 64 GB.