The Raspberry Pi takes the essence of Arduino and takes it to a new level. This SBC (Single Board Computer) has been and is very popular, but due to the pandemic, it has become somewhat inaccessible. The price has doubled, passing the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB of RAM from costing about 100 euros to around 200 euros.
This is this real alternative to the Raspberry Pi
This Cool Pi has surprised us quite a bit, since it uses a very good processor and has much more RAM. As if that were not enough, this system has support for 8K video and better connectivity. A much more powerful alternative, as we will see below.
Let’s start with the processor, which uses a Rockchip RK3588S based on the ARM big.LITTLE architecture. This processor has 4 Cortex-A76 cores (up to 2.4 GHz) and 4 Cortex-A55 cores (up to 1.8 GHz). This processor includes graphics ARM Mali-G61o that offer support 8K video.
This processor is complemented with 16 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64 GB of eMMC memory. The weakest point is in the storage, but we can install a TF memory card, a USB memory and even an SSD through a USB port.
Another of the great strengths of this solution is in connectivity. It has two USB 3.0 ports and another two USB 2.0 ports, as well as a connector mini DisplayPort @ 4K and a microHDMI@8K, as well as an Ethernet port. If you are missing something, it has a connector for audio output, GPIO connectors, and MIPI-DSI and MIPI-CSI connectors. Do you want wireless connectivity? calm down, bear WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0.
We are talking about a brutal system that has 8K video output and also offers support for AI. Positioning itself as a great alternative to the Raspberry Pi
Is it really that good?
We can say that this SBC is an alternative to the Raspberry Pi 4, but we really want to prove it. So we leave you a comparative table between both compact computers on a single board.
| Cool Pi Rockchip RK3588S | Raspberry Pi 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Rockchip RK3588S -> 4 Cortex-A76 cores (up to 2.4 GHz) and 4 Cortex-A55 cores (up to 1.8 GHz) | Broadcom BCM2711 -> Quad core Cortex-A72 @ 1.8 GHz |
| GPUs | ARM Mali-G61o | VideoCore VI @ 500 MHz |
| Maximum supported resolution | up to 8K | up to 4K |
| RAM | Up to 16GB LPDDR4 | Up to 8 GB LPDDR |
| Storage | Up to 64GB eMMC | It does not have onboard memory, it is added via micro-SD card reader |
| connectivity | – 2x USB 3.0 – 2x USB 2.0 – 1x Ethernet – 1x micro HDMI 2.0 @ 8K – 1x mini DisplayPort 1.2 @ 4K – TF card reader – MIPI-DSI (video connector) – MIPI-CSI (camera connector) – GPIO ports (40 connectors) |
– 2x USB 3.0 – 2x USB 2.0 – 1x Ethernet – 2x micro HDMI 2@ 4K – 1x DisplayPort 1.2 @ 4K – Micro SD card reader – MIPI-DSI (video connector) – MIPI-CSI (Camera Connector) – GPIO ports (40 connectors) |
| wireless connectivity | Wi-Fi 5 & Bluetooth 5 | Wi-Fi 5 & Bluetooth 5 |
| heatsink | Includes complete heatsink with fan | Heatsink and fan are optional |
Both cost approximately the same and it becomes evident, in the comparison, that the Cool Pi is better. The most powerful model has more RAM, better (video) connectivity and also includes AI.
It is becoming urgent for the Raspberry Pi 5 to arrive and, furthermore, for the Pi 4 to return to its original price. Currently, it is more than double its starting price on Amazon, which makes it inaccessible. For that price there are plenty of Mini PCs with the same amount of RAM, but a better processor and more storage.
