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Asus Tinker Board is a DIY mini PC that takes aim at Raspberry Pi

For makers, educators and IoT designers, this little board promises a lot more performance than its competitor.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
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Joshua Goldman
2 min read
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Asus

Raspberry Pi has made a name for itself among makers, developers and students for its tiny $35 Raspberry Pi 3 computer. Asus thinks it can do better, though.

The Taiwanese tech company known for its PCs and components is now selling the Tinker Board, an open-source system ready to run anything you want to build around it -- from home automation to a drone to a video game emulator to a media box.

Like the Raspberry Pi 3, the Tinker Board is basically an entire PC -- motherboard, CPU, GPU, system memory and more -- all in one package. Based around a Rockchip RK3388 SoC quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A17 CPU, Asus is claiming the board will have twice the performance of the Pi 3, which is now nearly a year old.

Other specs include:

    • 2GB dual-channel LPDDR3 memory
    • Gigabit LAN and Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR connectivity
    • 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
    • Four USB 2.0 ports
    • 40-pin internal header with 28 GPIO pins
    • Contact points for PWM and S/PDIF signals
    • 3.5mm audio jack connection
    • CSI port for camera connection
    • DSI port supporting HD resolution
    • HDMI 2.0 port with 4K-resolution support
    • MicroSD port supporting UHS-I card speed
    • Supports Debian OS with Kodi
    • 5V/2A Micro-USB power supply (not included)

      It is just the board and what's on it, however, so you'll have to supply your own microSD card for storage, a Micro-USB power supply, keyboard, mouse and display.

      French site MiniMachines first learned of the board at CES 2017, but it is now available in the UK for £55, which converts to approximately $70 or AU$90. That's about twice the cost of a Raspberry Pi 3, which for some will defeat the entire low-cost purpose of the platform.