Pi-sized SBCs run Linux on RK3328 and Allwinner H3
Apr 19, 2021 — by Eric Brown 10,330 views[Updated: April 21] — SmartBoardHome has announced two 85 x 56mm SBCs that run Linux: a “Pi-R2S3328-B” with an RK3328 and dual GbE ports and a “Pi-PC-H3 PK” with an Allwinner H3, HDMI, CSI, LAN, 2x USB, WiFi, and 40-pin GPIO.
Shenzhen-based embedded computing vendor Shenzhen Pumpb Techical Co., Ltd has made us aware of its SmartBoardHome unit/brand. The 10-year old company, which is associated with “brother company” Xihai Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd, sent us a notice about several new products, two of which run Linux: a “Smart Route Board Dual 1000M Ethernet Port 1GB DDR4 OpenWrt Pi-R2S3328-B” with a quad -A53 Rockchip RK3328 and a “Single Board Computer Mini PC embedded computer H3 Quad-Core micro circuit board Pi-PC-H3 PK Raspberry Pi.”


Pi-R2S3328-B (left) and Pi-PC-H3 PK
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As with a growing number of products these days, especially those coming from China, the product names are fluid and designed for search engines rather than easy recollection. We have gone from “no-name” boards to “too many names” boards.

Cherry Pi PC V7
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[Update: In fact, we have found some more names to the list. Following our report, CNXSoft did its own story on the Smart Router Board and noticed the name “CherrryPi_RK3328_router” on the back on the board, suggesting it might be related to the Cherry Pi project. We then noticed that the back of the Pi-PC-H3 PK reads “CherryPi-PC v7.3.” Indeed, the board appears to be identical to a Cherry Pi PC v7 SBC from Shenzhen LC Technology that we covered in February. To confuse matters further, the Cherry Pi PC is a close copy of Shenzhen Xunlong’s Orange Pi PC, which is a psuedo-clone of the Raspberry Pi 2. The Pi-R2S3328-B or CherrryPi_RK3328_router board have yet to appear on the Cherry Pi website or elsewhere — unless of course they are under different names.]
There is no indication these are open-spec, community backed boards. Other Linux-ready SBCs listed as “new” on the SmartBoardHome website include (with abbreviated names) the Allwinner H6-based Pi-H61 and Allwinner V3-powered PC-V3S. The company also offers some ESP8266 and STM32 boards and smart home products.
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[Update: The Pi-H61 is the same as the CherryPi PC H6 and the PC-V3S CherryPi-PC-V3S.]
Pi-R2S3328-B
The 85 x 56mm Pi-R2S3328-B Smart Route Board joins two other RK3328-based mini-router SBCs with 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports: the 60 x 60mm NanoPi R2S and 57 x 56mm Orange Pi R1 Plus. The RK3328-based Rock Pi E, meanwhile, has GbE and 10/100 ports. These are three of the six RK3328 models in our January catalog of 150 Linux hacker boards.


Pi-R2S3328-B (left) and detail views
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The Pi-R2S3328-B ships with 1GB DDR4 and a microSD slot. Other features include USB 2.0 host and power-only USB Type-C ports. FriendlyElec’s OpenWrt based FriendlyWrt is the featured distribution.
Specifications listed for the Pi-R2S3328-B include:
- Processor — Rockchip RK3328 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.4GHz); ARM Mali-450 MP2 GPU
- Memory/storage:
- 1GB DDR4 (dual 512MB)
- MicroSD slot for up to 128GB
- Networking — 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports (1x via USB 3.0)
- Other I/O:
- USB 2.0 host port
- USB Type-C port for 5V/2A input
- Serial debug interface
- Other features — 3x LEDs; user key
- Power — 5V via Type-C
- Dimensions — 85 x 56mm
- Weight — 52 g
- Operating systems — OpenWrt, FriendlyWrt; Ubuntu, Debian, etc.
Pi-PC-H3 PK
The Pi-PC-H3 PK joins an even longer list of Allwinner H3-powered boards in our SBC catalog, most of which are NanoPi (i.e. NanoPi M1 Plus) or Orange Pi models Orange Pi PC). Like those boards, the Pi-PC-H3 PK is equipped with a 40-pin GPIO connector with Raspberry Pi HAT compatibility. [Update: As noted above, the Pi-PC-H3 PK is a rebranded version of the Cherry Pi PC.]


Pi-PC-H3 PK detail views (left) and 40-pin pinout
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The Pi-PC-H3 PK ships with up to 1GB DDR3, 8GB eMMC, and a microSD slot. You also get a 10/100 LAN port and 2.4GHz WiFi.
Media features include HDMI, CVBS, MIPI-CSI, and a mic. There are also 2x USB 2.0 ports, a Type-C port for power, and UART and IR. Ubuntu, Debian, and ye old Android 4.4 are the listed OSes.
Specifications listed for the Pi-PC-H3 PK include:
- Processor — Allwinner H3 (4x Cortex-A7 @ 1.2GHz); Arm Mali-400 MP2 GPU @600MHz; 256KB L1, 1MB L2 cache
- Memory/storage:
- 512MB or 1GB DDR3 SDRAM
- 8GB eMMC
- MicroSD slot at up to 64GB
- Networking:
- 10/100 Ethernet port
- 2.4GHz WiFi (RTL8189) with IPEX antenna
- Media I/O:
- HDMI port with audio
- 3.5mm CVBS A/V output
- MIPI-CSI FPC camera connector
- Onboard mic
- Other I/O:
- 2x USB 2.0 host ports
- USB Type-C port for power input
- UART header
- 40-pin, RPi compatible GPIO connector
- Other features — IR receiver; LED
- Power — 5V input via USB Type–C; power and reset buttons
- Dimensions — 85 x 56mm
- Weight — 55 g
- Operating system — Ubuntu; Debian; Android 4.4
Further information
No pricing or availability information was provided for the Pi-R2S3328-B or Pi-PC-H3 PK. More information may be found in SmartBoardHome’s Pi-R2S3328-B and Pi-PC-H3 PK product pages.
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