ASUS Launches ‘Tinker Board’, Its Raspberry Pi Competitor With 4K Support

It doesn’t matter if you want a computer the size of a card, a thumb drive or dice box — there’s a manufacturer out there that has you covered. You can now count ASUS in that mix, with the launch of its “Tinker Board”, a Cortex-powered mini-machine aimed at the Raspberry Pi crowd.

At first glance, it looks like any other card computer… you could even mistake it for a Raspberry Pi. You can clearly see the USB, HDMI and Ethernet ports, along with the CPU — a quad-core ARM Cortex-A17.

What sets it apart are its capabilities. The hardware is advertised as supporting 4K, while the Ethernet is Gigabit (compared to the Pi’s 100Mb/s). This might be enough to sway Pi enthusiasts with a taste for compact home theatre boxes.

Here are the full specifications (via CPC):

  • Quad core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A17 CPU
  • 2GB Dual channel LPDDR3 memory
  • Gigabit LAN and Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR connectivity
  • 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
  • 4x USB 2.0 ports
  • 40-pin Internal header with 28 GPIO pins
  • Contact points for PWM and S/PDIF signals
  • 1x 3.5mm Audio jack connection
  • CSI port for camera connection
  • DSI port supporting HD resolution
  • 1x HDMI 2.0 port to support 4K resolution
  • Micro SD port supports UHS-I
  • Supports Debian OS with KODI
  • Power supply: 5V/ 2A Micro USB (not included)

Unfortunately, while the board is available in Europe and the UK, there doesn’t appear to be a local distributor. On top of this, you’ll need to jump through some hoops if you want to get it shipped here.

It’s also dearer than the Pi at £45 ($73), so depending on what you use it for, there might be better options, such as the various Allwinner-powered gadgets you can get these days. Still, you have to start somewhere and this looks like a decent offering from ASUS.

[CPC, via Liliputing]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.