The Raspberry Pi is getting a new competitor. Taiwanese electronic company Asus recently revealed the aptly named Tinker Board. Despite being a bit more expensive, the Asus mini PC packs some major upgrades compared to its Raspberry Pi rival.
The Asus Tinker Board is currently available in the United Kingdom and Europe. The mini PC starts at around $57. As a point of comparison, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which is considered as a top-end model, usually sells for around $40.
Despite its rather luxurious price tag, the Asus Tinker Board packs some major feature that its Raspberry Pi rival does not have. For one, the Asus Tinker Board have 4K video support, including H.265 coding. The mini PC packs a Rockchip RK3288 chipset with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz and a Mali T764 graphics processing unit, according to The Verge.
For those who are planning to tinker with the Tinker Board and use it as a media center, it is important to note that the device does not support 4K streaming.
Aside from 4K support, the Tinker Board also supports 192kHz audio. The mini PC is packed with 2GB of memory and a microSD port for storage expansion. It supports Bluetooth 4.0, and also has four USB 2.0 ports. It has an HDMI port, a gigabit Ethernet port, and Wi-Fi connectivity.
For hobbyists and enthusiasts, the Asus Tinker Board has a 40-pin internal header with 28 GPIO pins, a DSI port, and a CSI port for camera.
Regarding software, the Asus Tinker Board supports Debian Linux and Kodi, according to PC World. Additionally, just like the Raspberry Pi, users have to load the operating system on the SD card. Moreover, just like the Raspberry Pi, the Tinker Board requires a five volt, two amp power supply.
Asus has yet to confirm whether the Tinker Board will be released in the United States or in other regions as well.