TL;DR
We have recently witnessed the exciting launch of a diverse range of SBC router-type products, featuring cutting-edge 1GbE and 2.5GbE ports.
- iKOOLCORE R1 Review, Specifications, Features, and Price.
- Maybe you missed it? Orange Pi 4 LTS
iKOOLCORE R1
We have recently witnessed the exciting launch of a diverse range of SBC router-type products, featuring cutting-edge 1GbE and 2.5GbE ports. Now, a new company offers a mini pc under the name iKOOLCORE R1, which provides an appealing external look and good specifications. This compact computer device is a cube-shaped marvel, measuring a mere 75 x 75 x 48 mm (2.9″ x 2.9″ x 1.9″). Powered by an Intel Jasper Lake CPU with up to 16 GB of RAM and for extra storage space, option using the PCIe 3.0 SSD slot.
iKOOLCORE R1 (A Quick Peek )
Applications (Usage)
As mentioned, the iKOOLCORE R1 is very small and can slip into a pocket or bag or easily be placed on a small desk or behind a display. The hardware is strong enough to function as a mini multimedia center device, surfing the web and running the Microsoft office suite.
Hardware
Available in two configurations. With an Intel Celeron N5105 or Pentium Silver N6005 processor. The board has an HDMI 2.0 port with support for 4K/60 Hz video output, a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and a microSD card reader.
The Intel i226-V Ethernet controller drives four 2.5GbE ports, and an onboard M.2 2242 slot for solid-state storage is also included. The models with 8GB of RAM ship with LPDDR4-4233 storage, while 16GB models have LPDDR4-2933 memory.
Upgradable
Based on the company photos, the iKOOLCORE R1 comprises two boards. The main intel board comes with one 1Gbps ethernet port and a second expansion board with three 2.5Gbps ethernet ports. This design is wise because, in the future, you can likely upgrade the expansion board to one that supports 10Gbps LAN ports.
Active Cooling
Opposite to the common passive cooling approach, the iKOOLCORE team decided to use a heat sink with a fan, or what’s also called an active cooling solution (HSF), to cool down the integrated circuit. According to the company product videos and photos, the company uses a shielded fan combined with a copper heatsink, a good conductor of heat, to efficiently observe the heat mounted inside a metal-made case. The components on a tiny board get hot, so this design is a good choice.
iKOOLCORE R1 Teardown
Software
Based on intel X86 Architecture, The iKOOLCORE R1 runs Windows 10/11 OS and can run dedicated routing systems like OpenWRT and Linux distributions such as Ubuntu 22. xx.
Price and Availability
The iKOOLCORE R1 is now available in China with a starting price of 999 CNY (~ $143) for a basic entry-level model packed with an Intel Celeron N5105 CPU and 8GB of RAM without internal storage. The product will launch globally, probably at the start of 2023, and we will update this article as soon as we get fresh and exciting news about it. In the meanwhile, you can get updates by joining their Telegram Group.
| Model | Configuration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Basic barebones | N5105/N6005 Processor +8GB+No NVMe hard disk | ￥999.00 ($143.24) |
| Beginner Edition | N5105/N6005 Processor +8GB+128GB NVMe hard disk | ￥1199 ($171.91) |
| AIO high version | N5105/N6005 Processor+16GB+512GB NVMe hard disk | ￥1799 ($257.94) |