$10 ROCK Pi S is an Impressive Tiny SBC Powered By Rockchip

ROCK Pi S

After previously reviewing Radxa Rock Pi 4 SBC that is powered by Rockchip RK3399, the company launched a new small form factor board called Rock Pi S expected to be sold starting at a retail price of $9.90 (excluding shipping fee), targeting hardware specifications designed for low-end IoT and DIY applications. The Rock Pi S comes in two variants: 256/512MB RAM with optional to up to 1GB of RAM with customized design. That said, both boards run under an Arm Cortex-A35 processor equipped with built-in VAD (Voice Activity Detector).

Interfaces that can be found in this SBC are Micro-SD Slot, 1x USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi with external antenna (On-board IPX Socket), 26-pin Pi GPIO header with extensive audio interfaces include I2S, PCM, TDM, PDM, SPDIF, and HDMI ARC.

Additional separated 26-pin voice/audio header was included on the SBC. It can be very practical for projects involving smart voice applications. Radxa team also decided to implement an OTG Type-C interface instead of the typical Micro-USB Type and choose a 100Mbps Ethernet instead of a Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps), that is considered to be more commonly used in New SBCs.

PoE (Power over Ethernet)

The Ethernet port is expected to have optional Poe (Power over Ethernet) support which passes electric power along with data on twisted pair Ethernet cabling. This allows a single cable to provide both data connection and electrical power to devices such as wireless access, but to make use of this feature you will need to buy a Poe HAT expansion board.

ROCK Pi S

Rock Pi S board specifications:

1. SoC – Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor with built-in VAD (Voice Activity Detector).
2. System Memory – 256/512MB RAM
3. Storage – MicroSD card for OS storage media, optional 1/2/4/8Gbit onboard
4. NAND storage for cost-saving (No information).
5. USB – 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-C port, 1x USB 2.0 host type-A port
6. Expansion – 26-pin Pi GPIO header, 26-pin voice/audio header
7. Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port
8. Dimensions – 3.8 x 3.8 cm

Connectivity:

• 100Mbps Ethernet with optional PoE (additional HAT required)802.11 b/g/n.
• WiFi 4 + Bluetooth 4.0 (via RTL8723BS) with external antenna.

ROCK Pi S | Front View