Embedded Computers

NanoPi 2 Fire Review: A Raspberry Pi 2 Competitor

August 1, 2016

NanoPi 2 Fire Board Review

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NanoPi 2 Fire Review: A Raspberry Pi 2 Competitor

The NanoPi 2 Fire is a high-performance ARM Board for Hobbyists, Makers, and Hackers for IoT projects, developed by FriendlyARM company. It features Samsung’s Cortex-A9 Quad-Core S5P4418 1. 4GHz SoC and 1G 32bit DDR3 RAM. It has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port. You can load Android and Debian system images from a TF card. The board integrates both HDMI and LCD interfaces along with 40 pin GPIO pin header, compatible with Raspberry Pi’s external GPIO modules including Arduino’s shield boards.

The board is very compact in size measuring 75 x 40 mm and it’s a lot cheaper and with a faster processor compared to the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. The being said, The NanoPi 2 Fire is currently sold for $28 (Excluding shipping). For more detailed information you are welcome to visit the FirendlyARM website (Link posted below).

Buy It Now on FriendlyElec Website

NanoPi 2 Fire | Back View

NanoPi 2 Fire Review Focus:

Product Introduction
Specifications
Product Package
Hardware platform
Power usage
CPU Temperature
Software
Video Review
Final Words
Pros / Cons

Item	Details
Processor	Samsung S5P4418 Quad-Core Cortex-A9, 400Mhz ~ 1.4GHz
PMU Power Management	AXP228, support software power-off, sleep, and makeup functions
System Memory	1GB 32bit DDR3 RAM
Connectivity	Gbps Ethernet Port (RTL8211E)
USB	1 x USB Host 2.0 Type A, 1 x Micro USB for data transmission and power input
Storage	1 x Micro SD Slot
LCD	0.5 mm pitch 45 pin FPC seat, full color TFT LCD(RGB:8-8-8)
HDMI	1 x HDMI 1.4A Type A, 1080P
Camera	0.5 mm pitch 24 pin DVP FPC seat
GPIO	40 pin, 2.54 mm pitch pin header compatible with Raspberry Pi 2’s GPIO pin header
OTG	1 x Micro USB for power input
Debug Serial Port	2.54 mm pitch 4 pin header
User Key	K1(power key), Reset
PCB Dimension	75 x 40 mm, Six-layers PCB
Power:	DC 5V/2A
OS/Software	u-boot, Android 5.1, Debian Jessie 8

Optional Accessories

FirendlyARM offers few optional accessories for their NanoPi M3 that are not included in the default package that only contains the development board. The White 3D Printed Housing (Case) comes in handy if you need to mount the unit with a set of 4 screws. My experience in assembling the two parts of the case wasn’t so great to say the least. The upper part where the processor sockets are located was smaller in dimensions which made it almost impossible to close the two parts together, even with provided screws and excessive force the parts didn’t fit well.

NanoPi 2 Fire 3D Printed Housing

Reset
USB Host
LCD
Power
Camera
TF Card (Back)
Micro USB
Debug UART
AXP228
1GB RAM
GPIO
SP4418
RTL8211E
HDMI
10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet

Hardware Platform

The NanoPi 2 Fire Hardware is powered with a Quad-core 5P4418 32 bit Samsung Cortex-A9 Processor. FirendlyARM redesigned the board with onboard Gigabit Ethernet port at the expense of the onboard WiFi Chip, making the product more cost-effective vs. the previous Nano Pi2 model.

Due to the compact size of this board, only 40 x 75 mm unit doesn’t have a built-in WiFi module and comes with only one USB V2.0 Host that could be a bit limiting if you are not using a mini USB Hub. If you still need WiFi support you can do it by buying a USB WiFi Adapter and installing provided vendor drivers.

The Board comes with AXP228 PMU advanced power software power-off, sleep, and wake-up features. Although in normal standard operation (depending on CPU load) Processor heats up but still works well it’s very recommended investing few dollars and buying an aluminum/copper heat-sink.

NanoPi 2 Fire | Full View

NanoPi 2 Fire dimensions | 40 x 75 mm

CPU Temperature

On moderate usage, depending on the CPU workload. I was still able to run and operate an Ubuntu MATE system without any crashes at relatively high temperatures ranging between ~72 – 85C.

Software

You can find few Linux distributions for the NanoPI 2 Fire such as Kali Linux, Ubuntu MATE, and Arabian Linux at FriendlyARM Wiki pages. From my personal impression, FirendlyARM has much to improve and offer wider image support for more Operating systems.

NanoPi 2 Fire Hands-on Review

Final Words

excluding my bad experience dealing in trying to assemble the 3D printed housing (case) parts, the NanoPi 2 Fireboard performed well and stable. Software support was less great and needs further improvements, but the good news is that FriendlyARM is currently working on developing new images such as Arabian Linux distribution and maybe others. The bottom line, if you are looking for a very compact board for running Linux distributions, then this product does the job well for a retail price of $23 (including shipping).

Pros / Cons

Pros