Just a minute in and i have to thank you for the video, Christopher! This is a great step in the right direction, that actually a manufacturer managed it to supply a heat-sink by standard (fulfilling specs and making it useful out of the box) with its product. A wonderful day for Santa Claus:)
Great comment. Mini-PCs are the same way, not dealing with the heat situation adequately. (except Pepper Jobs mini-PC, it's very well engineered. I'm not connected to Pepper Jobs in any way). Maybe Odroid is starting a trend !
You all prolly dont give a damn but does any of you know of a way to get back into an instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my account password. I love any tricks you can give me.
@Zane Kase I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
given the fact that most pc builder/users/enthusiasts use common off the shelf cards,drives,motherboards in huge cases et al,this channel has opened my eyes to a whole new dimension.i'm amazed just how small these scb's are and their capabilities.needless to say,now i am aware of such an interesting format of computing,i'll be keeping a close eye on future developments......keep the videos coming,very very,informative.subscribed.
Cracking video. I love the XU4 but this looks like my next SBC purchase, shame it wont come in time for Christmas. Absolutely love the depth you go in to regarding the board whilst not overloading the viewer with the unnecessary
It's amazing the different approaches to single board computer development. Reminds me of the vast differences of the early home computer market. Looking forward to your next video!
I must say I really appreciate the quality of your reviews. The depth of the information that you provide about the products you review is perfect for me. There is so much to learn about these things and I find your information gets to the point quickly and efficiently. So Thank you for your good work.
I have one of these for a project that never ended up happening. It's generally capable as a 1080 media player or used as a light web browser if you want to get your kid a computer but don't want something too expensive. I do think that a lack of built in wifi is a missed opportunity, but you can use a wifi dongle on the micro USB port through a OTG adapter, so you're not loosing any of the USB 3 ports at least. Also, the giant passive heatsink is nice, especially if using the n2 as a streaming/media device.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
@@slappymcphee Thanks for that info about industrial applications and national restrictions/certifications. The passive heat sink and unique 2-piece housing makes this product viable in mobile situations (backpack/bicycle/vehicle) and HAM radio field ops. Again. Thanks for the info. BTW: I always view EC's vids, like and save them for quick playback. A great source of info in its self but also from commenters, like yourself. Greetings from NH.......
@@slappymcphee I agree. For single board computes, I look for boards without wifi so that I can have the option of having it or not. Lots of applications where you wouldn't want to have a radio onboard.
I've been using N2 for the past 6 weeks or so as my main multimedia center and I'm pretty happy with it. It's running Coreelec and it's capable of 4K H265 without a flaw. Uses barely 800MB out of 4G. I also got DVBSky T330 DVB-T2 dongle and it works out of the box.
One differentiating feature of this board from Raspberry Pie series is that it has built-in EMMC memory socket and comes with 8-128 GB flash storage option. Perfect for developing Android phone-like device and application. EMMC is much faster and reliable than SD flash memory card of R.P. I hope that future R.P. will include EMMC socket, too.
@@youcantata either way, whenever RPi foundation faces questions as to why they didn't include x, y or z, their answer seems to always be "because we want to keep RPi low cost".
Ickam Ashenvale Which is pure BS, because they sell licensed Broadcom closed source processors. Had they used a similar (low spec) ARM processor from any other vendor, they could’ve saved at least $5 per board.
I like how discreetly and prudently you promote this manufacturers, always aimed towards the purpose of your channel. Great video as always 👍 Blessings...
Very interesting. Seems so powerful, and a very decent price as well. I am a little disappointed with my RPi 4, and for virtually the same price, could have purchased this. Thanks for the review.
Great SBC review. Interesting board layout, short of some features I believe. M.2 slot and of course WIFi and Bluetooth. The case appears to be very easy to setup. Overall a good SBC for someone looking for a Raspberry Pi alternative. Thank Chris. Footnote. Good to see your wonderful website making an entrance. 👍 I highly recommend folks to have a look. Lots of very valuable information for everyone.
Too bad, but somehow Hardkernel keeps on ignoring M.2 on its SBCs. Cause eMMC is so expensive! That's why I tend to choose its Chinese counterparts like RockPi or Pine. Another issue with Hardkernel is its VERY expensive delivery though very fast. But it's $25 with no democratic options available...
If you are interested in M.2 connectivity, I would like to recommend either the Khadas EDGE-V (RK3399) or VIM3 (Amlogic A311D - x4 2.2Ghz Cortex A73, x2 1.8Ghz Cortex A53). These are very full featured SBCs, with multiple dtb's and great support. Their M.2 extender board has a well reinforced ribbon cable. Although they are not standard Raspberry Pi form factors, they have more features (like on board PWM cooling, NPU, IR, accelerometer, etc), yet just as small. Personally, I prefer the connectors along one side.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
The UK 3 pin plug is a beautiful piece of engineering, the earth pin opens the doors on the wall socket for the live and negative terminal pins, making it much safer for little curious fingers
And the pins are made from solid brass with a substantial cross-section capable of carrying considerably more than their maximum rated current of 13 amps.
@@ExplainingComputers Sorry about that. Shows how much out of the loop I have become. My apologies, mate. Subscribed so now I will never miss an episode.
for its money i think its good value. no bt or wifi could be a problem in the field. its nice to see that you can choose the emmc rather than it being soldered to the board. a nice SBC@@@kim@@@
I also really like the N2. I chose Ubuntu Mate and Apache as a webserver for my public weather station and there‘s no difference in performance compared to my Synology Diskstation (of course only for the performance of the webserver, but that is, what it‘s all about).
Thanks for another great review! You are making it much easier to figure out which SBC will work best for my planned media box. I think this might be the one, too bad about no WiFi.
@@ExplainingComputers did it really?! Wow, I only just noticed. I suppose it's a relatively small change, and after seeing something for the 50th time one tends to stop noticing it...
Lovely video Chris thank you. If it wasn't for you i wouldn't have heard about SBC's. One day imma get one i am. I bought a 72 hour powerbank today so playing with the idea of portability. Gonna get another one tomorrow i'm so impressed. Sainsbury's £28 / Duracell. I've got two Bluetooth transmit/receivers units so i think i'll be using them for those as my earbuds, although they last all day i've grown out of the novelty, so with these powerbanks i'm hoping to get a full weeks' useage before needing a recharge, and because they output and input to devices using the 2.5 jack i can use them for anything without any configuration. Anyway, that's my day - oh i also ordered a Fire Tablet HD 8 inch from Amazon - cheers all.
I haven't been lucky enough to visit there. I know it is very hard keeping up with time around the world in different countries! It is good to see Sir Chris bring all of us together! I wish you he best there Sir.
Ah, a very nice video. I will need to look into these as a Pi alternative, for sure. Trying to build a small music server, and this might suit it better than the Pi. Good work, Sir!
Great video as usual! I think your price comparison should consider the fact that the n2 comes with passive cooling whereas the 4b does not. Wifi is not a deal breaker for me since it's built into my router but I do agree that it should have been included especially since the board is bigger. A bottom heat sink, 12 volt barrel jack, and analog I/O make it an attractive possibility for home automation. Sadly however, the odroid has nothing like the user community of the raspberry Pi.
I prefer the 4 USB 3 ports over built-in wifi anyways. Wifi always takes one of the USB ports due to the SoCs not having wifi on the chip. I rather get my own better wifi dongle and have more ports for hard drives if I'm doing a NAS setup. Since wifi uses less bandwith than a hard drive, I have the option to connect it through a USB hub with the keyboard and mouse.
At least you get it. They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
It's usually very easy to install google services on an Odroid. I have a c2 hooked up to a projector and I find it to be a very apt smart tv replacement. I wish I could update to a newer Android version without a re-flashing of the emmc, but so far I've not found a way to do it.
Even though I was looking for a linux phone, this presentation made me interested in the odroid n2. It has the USB-OTG port, so with a hub, it can fit wifi and a umts stick and keyboard and mouse or touch screen, while leaving the USB-3 ports availabe. So it's not that big of a drawback. It's more flexible, than a part, that is integrated in the SoC. And people, who have no need for it, don't have to pay for it. Also people with privacy concerns can simply unplug the wifi or use a hub with physical switches. Now I see, that it can output composite video. This makes it a candidate for retro gaming and emulation of older devices. But for me, a LCD screen, that connects to the GPIO, would be ideal. I could turn this into a handheld device with some 3d printed parts and a battery pack and some power management stuff. And I could still use it like a desktop device, wherever I find a screen, keyboard and mouse.
I'm finding it a bit difficult (here in the states) to find an Odroid N2 with the accessory pack like this one, but I'm still searching. If I were to wander away from the RPi boards, this Odroid looks like fun to play with. Thanks for another great video Chris.
@@lanefu & ExplainingComputers Thanks for the info. I did find that Hardkernel was out of stock but that's probably because of the holidays. I'll order my kit in the first quarter of next year. I still don't have a RPi 4 yet either, but my birthday's coming. :-D
Yes, nice little sbc. I had one but had to return it as it had a problem with the video circuitry-glitching in the display output. Maybe I’ll get another one sometime
Very good review. It can help one decide if this board is worth the investment. Reflection upon a small comment about the slow responsiveness of Manjaro on Raspberry PI (4?): I also had a problem of it eating up too much resources (memory, processor). Then, I swapped out the default window manager to LXDE and since then, there is no problem at all. Looks and feels even better than Raspbian.
KDE is way better looking and way more customizable (on my laptop, I made it look and feel exactly like Mac OS X, for example), but, probably, on a SBC, KDE is just a waste of pretty limited resources.
@@user-xr3rb6pn9m You are absolutely right: if you have a decent laptop or desktop, KDE can be an excellent choice. On cheap SBC and old hardware, however, you need something as lightweight as possible.
I think a big reason for no WiFi is to save on cost and resources that not everyone would use. Another aspect is, if the WiFi chip fails or the driver gets deprecated for the chip then you have big problems. I bought a odroid WiFi module 3 for example and it was hit and miss. It would work and then it would bog the internet experience and even frequently drop connection. That was because of a bad driver that Ubuntu decided to use. It worked on the Android Os. After finding a repaired driver on gethub for the realtec WiFi chip then it worked. Oddly enough it would also hang and drop on a i386 desktop Linux Mint install without the same kind of patch. So in short not including a WiFi chip onboard makes WiFi repair much easier. The one thing about the odroid Arm boards I get annoyed by, is no effort to provide monitor overscan correction except on the Android OS they offer. At this point I think the Aaeon Kuri Pi is still a better value for me anyway.
Hello Chris. Nice overview as always. The stock version of Android is rough. You should check out SlashTV. It is developed by one of my senior engineers at The Retro Arena. He owns TechToyTinker and has developed SlashTV for several boards. I don't think you will be disappointed. Also we have a Retrogaming base build of TheRA for the board that runs quite well. It is similar to Retropie.
Such a miss opportunity for such a powerful development board to not have BLE and WIFI built-in . Overall this is seem to be my next board for some projects and testing my own OS on it . Thank you for this nice review
As you so aptly pointed out, no onboard wifi is weird, maybe even cheap. I do love the idea of the heatsink serving as a base for the board. Problem is, heat rises, so I wonder how efficient it really is as a passive cooling solution. Cheers.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
Hi Christopher. A good overview of the N2. I had never tried Android on it. I don't like Android. Good I've now seen it once :) I do use CoreElec often on it. Works great on 4k with 4k video files. You can adjust the look in Ubuntu Mate. But it is indeed sometimes hard to find. The video playback is good at 1080p display resolution in Linux. But since it's doing it with the CPU it can't do it as well at a higher display resolution. For that VPU drivers are needed. The NanoPi M4 has VPU drivers(for default kernel), but more important is that it now also has GPU drivers in mainine Linux. Only up to OpenGL 2.1 now, but it will improve to OpenGL 3.1 later. I wrote a script to install all the needed drivers to make it easily work on Armbian images. And also made a video about it. I'm very happy to see a recent board having this. Now we need to get the VPU driver also to work in mainline, then the RK3399s have a perfect image. The Odroid N2 doesn't have VPU drivers, no GPU drivers and no X11 drivers for Linux. The Odroid C2 and XU4 do have that what makes those a lot better for gaming in Linux. But the CPU makes up a lot. I use the N2 to do video editing. And it even edits up to 1440p videos(at 1080p display res), best with 1080p videos. The VIM3 is again better with 1440p videos, but mine only has 2GB ram what makes it too difficult to edit longer videos at those resolutions. The N2 and VIM3 are only useful for those who need CPU performance. For other tasks other boards are better. But none other can match these at CPU performance. I now also have bought a TV-box. It was cheap, with the Amlogic S905X3 SoC, 4GB lpddr4 and 64GB eMMC. That for 30euro delivered. Armbian now runs great on it. But it's amazing as TV box with my 4K display. This can handle the 4k60fps youtube videos of these days at 4K display resolution. I don't know how they can sell it at that price, with 2.4/5Ghz wifi and BT. The SoC is a A55 quad core at 1.91Ghz. So it outperforms the RPi4 at its default clocks, while it doesn't need extra cooling like the RPi4. Have a great evening Christopher. It was great seeing your video about it, good honest review. Greetings.
Looks pretty good. I won't get one, because I'm swimming in computer stuff at the moment. Looks a more capable board than the Pi4 at only 50% more, so maybe good as a sub-desktop, perhaps? There so much stuff coming out that maybe we need a year-end roundup of our options. Something simple, like a category for sub-desktop, another for low-end electronics, and perhaps another for best overall.
Thank you Chris, a very good summary. Manjaro certainly runs better on it than a RasPi4! I think having the hot chips on the bottom of a SBC is far better for cooling when users need to add HATs, so I really like this design, despite it's larger size. In view of the poor state of Android at this time, it would be interesting to know what proportion of buyers run it? This is particularly the case as I understand Hardkernel saw their early boards being used primarily for Android development work.
I think Chris didn't know how to work a recent version of Android. He certainly never opened the app drawer in the video. I expect everything he said was missing was in fact in the app drawer.
Personally, I think the 240v British plugs are better than what we have here in North America. Here, small portable stoves and ovens can be a real hassle, blowing breakers, etc, as the maximum output of a circuit is usually around 1800 watts.
Max load per socket is 13 A @ 240 V (3120 W) in the UK. Domestic UK wiring is usually a ring configuration with 32 A limit per circuit. Crucially, this means you can boil water in a 3 kW electric kettle quickly for making tea. ;-)
So finally everything that you wanted from your SBC since the Raspi is here. USB3, Gigabit ethernet, some decent CPU power.... Except that i can't see the niche anymore that the N2 wants to fit, especially not with the price tag of the 4GB model. Media Player? RPi 4 is cheaper, good enough, has better community support is and more convinient. Low power Desktop? Intel NUCs and the like are roughly the same price and more convinient because x86. Home server/NAS? No Sata/NVMe , only USB 3. Applications where you can justify the price for that much CPU power and the USB3 ports in an automation applications are rare. Unless there is no good use for the GPIO ports there's hardly a compelling reason to choose it over either a *really* cheap SBC like a RPi Zero or go for a cheap x86 (Celeron) board with a soldered CPU at the same price.
A great SBC, and a great demonstration that you've given us ! Any findings yet about heat ? Does the heat sink need plenty of ventilation - or indeed the cooling fan to be fitted ? Thanks !
The heat sink only got slightly warm during my tests -- and the board ran for many hours off camera while shooting. I imagine the sheer size of metal here helps greatly.
@@ExplainingComputers Many thanks for that confirmation ! Probably what I should have anticipated, with Odroid being aimed more at the professional market than some other SBCs. But it's great to have your findings on that issue which invariably interests many of us - and provided by yourself at lightning speed too - thank you and happy filming in the week to come !
It should be easy to solve that problem with the small mouse cursors. The DE just has a folder filled with pictures (one for each icon) which get loaded on a certain position on your monitor. All you need to do is replace those files. Make the pictures larger or put other pictures there, as long as the names of the files in that folder are the same those pictures should get loaded. Christopher, if you want to up your Linux-game then look at Chris Titus Tech his video on Awesome, just type "awesome" on his channel and you will find it.
Hey - currently a systems engineer and wondering if you need help with any projects you currently have. In the US annoyingly, but everything you've done with SBCs is awesome - wondering if you're doing any virtualization / cloud projects soon - like clustering any SBCs with a SAN and making a mini-cloud. Awesome videos - huge fan!
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs. There is a big difference between the markets for a Raspberry Pi and Odroid products.
Unfortunately, it looks to be a single USB3 bus with a hub to provide four ports. It would be nice if it was more, but that is a limitation of the SoC's design.
I like watching videos on the latest SBC's but I haven't found a place in my life for them that isn't filled better by their more powerful and expandable full-sized ATX, etc. brothers or a laptop which includes everything you need (screen, interfaces, etc.).
I'm wondering which SBC niche this one fits into? Maybe a round up video of the latest reviewed devices and where they are best utilized for price and performance?
Hello 👋🏻 Powerful small piece of machine. 👌🏻 It has no WiFi but still powerful and with excellent performance. Enjoying EC videos, still abroad, but recovering from 5 days without internet. Painful experience. 😆
Hi Elvira. Five days without the Internet! :) Wow! I did 37 hours when I went to Wales recently, and found that hard. You had an online detox! :) But I guess it will be worth for those transhumans in the future who have WiFi implants and cloud-augmented brains. How such individuals will suffer when offline.
My Sunday morning breakfast just got better. Cheers from Wisconsin.
Greetings!
Why do british people eat too much bacon? when do beans star being used in breakfast?
@@ExplainingComputers any chance of a new review on the Odroid N2+ ?
I love this channel so much it is taught me so so much about computers
Just a minute in and i have to thank you for the video, Christopher!
This is a great step in the right direction, that actually a manufacturer managed it to supply a heat-sink by standard (fulfilling specs and making it useful out of the box) with its product.
A wonderful day for Santa Claus:)
Great comment. Mini-PCs are the same way, not dealing with the heat situation adequately. (except Pepper Jobs mini-PC, it's very well engineered. I'm not connected to Pepper Jobs in any way). Maybe Odroid is starting a trend !
You all prolly dont give a damn but does any of you know of a way to get back into an instagram account??
I was dumb forgot my account password. I love any tricks you can give me.
@Lennon Darren instablaster ;)
@Zane Kase I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now.
I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Zane Kase it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D
Thank you so much, you really help me out :D
Yay!! It's EC Sunday!!!
(Welcome to another video...) lights up the mood.
This channel does great service in popularizing the SB Computers.
Love this channel. The videos are really classy, and a pleasure to watch. I dont know why, but the unboxing speeding part is so satisfying to watch
Oh joy, mister scissors is back!
He cut Mrs Scissors out of his life.
@@triestelondon Yes, it is a pity there are no female tools on this channel. The gender balance needs to be improved, IMHO.
@@cdl0 Chris is shy to put on screen his hard-ass super rock'n'roll girlfriend 'couse envy nerds would leave the channel :)
I was expecting "Stanley the Knife!"
@@pweddy1 Maybe Stanley the Knife is not into crinkly-crinkly packaging.
This is the only channel that does so good unboxings & reviews on small pc's like this.
given the fact that most pc builder/users/enthusiasts use common off the shelf cards,drives,motherboards in huge cases et al,this channel has opened my eyes to a whole new dimension.i'm amazed just how small these scb's are and their capabilities.needless to say,now i am aware of such an interesting format of computing,i'll be keeping a close eye on future developments......keep the videos coming,very very,informative.subscribed.
Welcome aboard! :)
Cracking video. I love the XU4 but this looks like my next SBC purchase, shame it wont come in time for Christmas. Absolutely love the depth you go in to regarding the board whilst not overloading the viewer with the unnecessary
It's amazing the different approaches to single board computer development. Reminds me of the vast differences of the early home computer market. Looking forward to your next video!
Altair 8800...
I must say I really appreciate the quality of your reviews. The depth of the information that you provide about the products you review is perfect for me. There is so much to learn about these things and I find your information gets to the point quickly and efficiently. So Thank you for your good work.
I have one of these for a project that never ended up happening.
It's generally capable as a 1080 media player or used as a light web browser if you want to get your kid a computer but don't want something too expensive.
I do think that a lack of built in wifi is a missed opportunity, but you can use a wifi dongle on the micro USB port through a OTG adapter, so you're not loosing any of the USB 3 ports at least.
Also, the giant passive heatsink is nice, especially if using the n2 as a streaming/media device.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
@@slappymcphee
Thanks for that info about industrial applications and national restrictions/certifications.
The passive heat sink and unique 2-piece housing makes this product viable in mobile situations (backpack/bicycle/vehicle) and HAM radio field ops.
Again. Thanks for the info.
BTW: I always view EC's vids, like and save them for quick playback. A great source of info in its self but also from commenters, like yourself.
Greetings from NH.......
@@slappymcphee I agree. For single board computes, I look for boards without wifi so that I can have the option of having it or not. Lots of applications where you wouldn't want to have a radio onboard.
I've been using N2 for the past 6 weeks or so as my main multimedia center and I'm pretty happy with it. It's running Coreelec and it's capable of 4K H265 without a flaw. Uses barely 800MB out of 4G. I also got DVBSky T330 DVB-T2 dongle and it works out of the box.
I just ordered one of these. I love the videos and the detail work you put into them!
One point solution for every single board computer is explaining computers. Keep it up Sir👍👍👍👍
Thanks.
@@ExplainingComputers my pleasure 😇
Hi Chris,many thanks for new video Odroid N2. It's a great sbc for little price. Happy Holidays from Naples (Italy)
One differentiating feature of this board from Raspberry Pie series is that it has built-in EMMC memory socket and comes with 8-128 GB flash storage option. Perfect for developing Android phone-like device and application. EMMC is much faster and reliable than SD flash memory card of R.P. I hope that future R.P. will include EMMC socket, too.
I imagine that would bump up the price of RPi considerably
@@marekmackiewicz2854 EMMC memory may be optional. Just having empty socket is not expensive in cost.
@@youcantata either way, whenever RPi foundation faces questions as to why they didn't include x, y or z, their answer seems to always be "because we want to keep RPi low cost".
Ickam Ashenvale Which is pure BS, because they sell licensed Broadcom closed source processors. Had they used a similar (low spec) ARM processor from any other vendor, they could’ve saved at least $5 per board.
Because of your videos I have learnt a lot about SBC's thank you sir
Thanks for watching.
Thanks for a great, complete and informative video! Well done!
I like how discreetly and prudently you promote this manufacturers, always aimed towards the purpose of your channel. Great video as always 👍 Blessings...
Very interesting. Seems so powerful, and a very decent price as well. I am a little disappointed with my RPi 4, and for virtually the same price, could have purchased this. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for this review! I've watched a couple of your videos and they are quite helpful. This one convinced me to buy an odroid n2!
Enjoy your new SBC. :)
Nice case structure. I hope you are having a good Sunday, thanks for the video.
Thanks for yet another well done and informative video Chris!
Love to see Another SBC Video.
Like Always Loves Your Work.😄
Some very interesting SBCs today, thanks for the video!
I got an Odroid N2 4GB with CoreElec hooked up to my Samsung Q6F 65" 4K TV and I love it, handles everything I've thrown on it so far.
Does HDR work?
@@kurtcobain14580 Works perfectly
Mr. Scissors...... A cut above the rest. ;)
I think the strongest part of odroid is the capabilities it has on OpenGL / WebGL. I haven't seen any other SBC running the GL platform so fast.
Great desktop zoom shown on my phone, i love this channel.
Great SBC review. Interesting board layout, short of some features I believe. M.2 slot and of course WIFi and Bluetooth. The case appears to be very easy to setup. Overall a good SBC for someone looking for a Raspberry Pi alternative. Thank Chris.
Footnote. Good to see your wonderful website making an entrance. 👍 I highly recommend folks to have a look. Lots of very valuable information for everyone.
Thanks Dale.
Seems calling this version "M2" may be a case of sneaky marketing? My first thought was that it had an m.2 slot. Silly me! It's "N" 2.
Too bad, but somehow Hardkernel keeps on ignoring M.2 on its SBCs. Cause eMMC is so expensive! That's why I tend to choose its Chinese counterparts like RockPi or Pine. Another issue with Hardkernel is its VERY expensive delivery though very fast. But it's $25 with no democratic options available...
If you are interested in M.2 connectivity, I would like to recommend either the Khadas EDGE-V (RK3399) or VIM3 (Amlogic A311D - x4 2.2Ghz Cortex A73, x2 1.8Ghz Cortex A53). These are very full featured SBCs, with multiple dtb's and great support. Their M.2 extender board has a well reinforced ribbon cable. Although they are not standard Raspberry Pi form factors, they have more features (like on board PWM cooling, NPU, IR, accelerometer, etc), yet just as small. Personally, I prefer the connectors along one side.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
The UK 3 pin plug is a beautiful piece of engineering, the earth pin opens the doors on the wall socket for the live and negative terminal pins, making it much safer for little curious fingers
And the pins are made from solid brass with a substantial cross-section capable of carrying considerably more than their maximum rated current of 13 amps.
Great video as always. Welcome back. Cheers mate ~ Scott from New Mexico
Thanks for this. But what do you mean "welcome back"? I've posted a video every Sunday since December 2015. :)
@@ExplainingComputers Sorry about that. Shows how much out of the loop I have become. My apologies, mate. Subscribed so now I will never miss an episode.
@@scottcupp8129 No problem -- thanks for subscribing. :)
for its money i think its good value. no bt or wifi could be a problem in the field. its nice to see that you can choose the emmc rather than it being soldered to the board. a nice SBC@@@kim@@@
I also really like the N2. I chose Ubuntu Mate and Apache as a webserver for my public weather station and there‘s no difference in performance compared to my Synology Diskstation (of course only for the performance of the webserver, but that is, what it‘s all about).
Thanks for another great review! You are making it much easier to figure out which SBC will work best for my planned media box.
I think this might be the one, too bad about no WiFi.
Do wait also for my VIM3 review on December 29. :)
Nice.
Thanks!
Nice new intro! I like the references to other videos
Thanks. The intro changed in July! :)
@@ExplainingComputers did it really?! Wow, I only just noticed. I suppose it's a relatively small change, and after seeing something for the 50th time one tends to stop noticing it...
Lovely video Chris thank you. If it wasn't for you i wouldn't have heard about SBC's. One day imma get one i am. I bought a 72 hour powerbank today so playing with the idea of portability. Gonna get another one tomorrow i'm so impressed. Sainsbury's £28 / Duracell. I've got two Bluetooth transmit/receivers units so i think i'll be using them for those as my earbuds, although they last all day i've grown out of the novelty, so with these powerbanks i'm hoping to get a full weeks' useage before needing a recharge, and because they output and input to devices using the 2.5 jack i can use them for anything without any configuration. Anyway, that's my day - oh i also ordered a Fire Tablet HD 8 inch from Amazon - cheers all.
I looked at the very same Duracell power bands in Sainsburys yesterday -- they look very good, with a power switch if I saw it correctly?
I was waiting for sunday,we are in Asia therefore i was expecting it to come late day or in night 😊
Where in Asia?
@@smartassist9700 Pakistan
I haven't been lucky enough to visit there. I know it is very hard keeping up with time around the world in different countries! It is good to see Sir Chris bring all of us together! I wish you he best there Sir.
Finally... a SBC that can play 1080P
Unboxing is always a magical moment!
I Just Wanted You To Know...You Are Appreciated.
Thanks.
Ah, a very nice video. I will need to look into these as a Pi alternative, for sure. Trying to build a small music server, and this might suit it better than the Pi. Good work, Sir!
I'm always enjoying your videos! :)
Really awesome. :)
Great video as usual! I think your price comparison should consider the fact that the n2 comes with passive cooling whereas the 4b does not. Wifi is not a deal breaker for me since it's built into my router but I do agree that it should have been included especially since the board is bigger. A bottom heat sink, 12 volt barrel jack, and analog I/O make it an attractive possibility for home automation. Sadly however, the odroid has nothing like the user community of the raspberry Pi.
Interesting SBC. Thanks for sharing this video!
Another great video as always.
Your explanation is absolutely superb.....................
Thanks a lot 😊
I prefer the 4 USB 3 ports over built-in wifi anyways. Wifi always takes one of the USB ports due to the SoCs not having wifi on the chip. I rather get my own better wifi dongle and have more ports for hard drives if I'm doing a NAS setup. Since wifi uses less bandwith than a hard drive, I have the option to connect it through a USB hub with the keyboard and mouse.
At least you get it. They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
Look forward to EC Sunday mornings. I was hoping you would try ElementaryOS or True OS on the Odroid N2. A nice complement to their great SBC line-up.
Ah another EC Video! Sunday is Saved! :-) Thanks alot!
Very good review and demonstration.
It's usually very easy to install google services on an Odroid. I have a c2 hooked up to a projector and I find it to be a very apt smart tv replacement. I wish I could update to a newer Android version without a re-flashing of the emmc, but so far I've not found a way to do it.
Even though I was looking for a linux phone, this presentation made me interested in the odroid n2.
It has the USB-OTG port, so with a hub, it can fit wifi and a umts stick and keyboard and mouse or touch screen, while leaving the USB-3 ports availabe. So it's not that big of a drawback. It's more flexible, than a part, that is integrated in the SoC. And people, who have no need for it, don't have to pay for it. Also people with privacy concerns can simply unplug the wifi or use a hub with physical switches.
Now I see, that it can output composite video. This makes it a candidate for retro gaming and emulation of older devices.
But for me, a LCD screen, that connects to the GPIO, would be ideal. I could turn this into a handheld device with some 3d printed parts and a battery pack and some power management stuff. And I could still use it like a desktop device, wherever I find a screen, keyboard and mouse.
It looks to be a very nice SBC but it leaves me with the feeling that it has not been finished. More R&D may be needed.
I would love to see you put more of these lovely computers to use in some home IoT configuration, maybe some content for future vids? :)
Noted. :)
@@ExplainingComputers :D
I'm finding it a bit difficult (here in the states) to find an Odroid N2 with the accessory pack like this one, but I'm still searching. If I were to wander away from the RPi boards, this Odroid looks like fun to play with. Thanks for another great video Chris.
Yes. Ameridroid seem to stock them -- ameridroid.com/products/odroid-n2 -- but you would need to get the eMMC and case as extras.
I just order directly from hardkernel. They ship with DHL. Stuff shows up in less than a week usually
@@lanefu & ExplainingComputers
Thanks for the info. I did find that Hardkernel was out of stock but that's probably because of the holidays. I'll order my kit in the first quarter of next year. I still don't have a RPi 4 yet either, but my birthday's coming. :-D
Thank-you for the review!
Yes, nice little sbc. I had one but had to return it as it had a problem with the video circuitry-glitching in the display output. Maybe I’ll get another one sometime
Very good review. It can help one decide if this board is worth the investment.
Reflection upon a small comment about the slow responsiveness of Manjaro on Raspberry PI (4?): I also had a problem of it eating up too much resources (memory, processor). Then, I swapped out the default window manager to LXDE and since then, there is no problem at all. Looks and feels even better than Raspbian.
Thanks for this. LXDE is far lighter than KDE Plasma, which is why it will run better. I really must try it on a Pi. :)
KDE is way better looking and way more customizable (on my laptop, I made it look and feel exactly like Mac OS X, for example), but, probably, on a SBC, KDE is just a waste of pretty limited resources.
@@user-xr3rb6pn9m You are absolutely right: if you have a decent laptop or desktop, KDE can be an excellent choice. On cheap SBC and old hardware, however, you need something as lightweight as possible.
Sunday morning, and a cup of coffee. Life is good.
P.S.: Thank you for trying Manjaro with KDE on it! My favorite distro and desktop.
ok this is the best video in my life
I think a big reason for no WiFi is to save on cost and resources that not everyone would use. Another aspect is, if the WiFi chip fails or the driver gets deprecated for the chip then you have big problems. I bought a odroid WiFi module 3 for example and it was hit and miss. It would work and then it would bog the internet experience and even frequently drop connection. That was because of a bad driver that Ubuntu decided to use. It worked on the Android Os. After finding a repaired driver on gethub for the realtec WiFi chip then it worked. Oddly enough it would also hang and drop on a i386 desktop Linux Mint install without the same kind of patch. So in short not including a WiFi chip onboard makes WiFi repair much easier.
The one thing about the odroid Arm boards I get annoyed by, is no effort to provide monitor overscan correction except on the Android OS they offer. At this point I think the Aaeon Kuri Pi is still a better value for me anyway.
Agreed -- and it also saves them getting wireless certifications . . .
Thank you again Christopher! (I already have a pi cluster and an elegoo with sensors to play with....and am now wanting a Jetson for its GPU! YOU! :0)
Something like this would probably run Solus OS very well.
Hello Chris. Nice overview as always. The stock version of Android is rough. You should check out SlashTV. It is developed by one of my senior engineers at The Retro Arena. He owns TechToyTinker and has developed SlashTV for several boards. I don't think you will be disappointed. Also we have a Retrogaming base build of TheRA for the board that runs quite well. It is similar to Retropie.
Such a miss opportunity for such a powerful development board to not have BLE and WIFI built-in .
Overall this is seem to be my next board for some projects and testing my own OS on it .
Thank you for this nice review
As you so aptly pointed out, no onboard wifi is weird, maybe even cheap. I do love the idea of the heatsink serving as a base for the board. Problem is, heat rises, so I wonder how efficient it really is as a passive cooling solution. Cheers.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs.
Hi Christopher. A good overview of the N2. I had never tried Android on it. I don't like Android. Good I've now seen it once :) I do use CoreElec often on it. Works great on 4k with 4k video files.
You can adjust the look in Ubuntu Mate. But it is indeed sometimes hard to find. The video playback is good at 1080p display resolution in Linux. But since it's doing it with the CPU it can't do it as well at a higher display resolution. For that VPU drivers are needed.
The NanoPi M4 has VPU drivers(for default kernel), but more important is that it now also has GPU drivers in mainine Linux. Only up to OpenGL 2.1 now, but it will improve to OpenGL 3.1 later. I wrote a script to install all the needed drivers to make it easily work on Armbian images. And also made a video about it. I'm very happy to see a recent board having this. Now we need to get the VPU driver also to work in mainline, then the RK3399s have a perfect image.
The Odroid N2 doesn't have VPU drivers, no GPU drivers and no X11 drivers for Linux. The Odroid C2 and XU4 do have that what makes those a lot better for gaming in Linux. But the CPU makes up a lot. I use the N2 to do video editing. And it even edits up to 1440p videos(at 1080p display res), best with 1080p videos. The VIM3 is again better with 1440p videos, but mine only has 2GB ram what makes it too difficult to edit longer videos at those resolutions. The N2 and VIM3 are only useful for those who need CPU performance. For other tasks other boards are better. But none other can match these at CPU performance.
I now also have bought a TV-box. It was cheap, with the Amlogic S905X3 SoC, 4GB lpddr4 and 64GB eMMC. That for 30euro delivered. Armbian now runs great on it. But it's amazing as TV box with my 4K display. This can handle the 4k60fps youtube videos of these days at 4K display resolution. I don't know how they can sell it at that price, with 2.4/5Ghz wifi and BT. The SoC is a A55 quad core at 1.91Ghz. So it outperforms the RPi4 at its default clocks, while it doesn't need extra cooling like the RPi4.
Have a great evening Christopher. It was great seeing your video about it, good honest review.
Greetings.
Hi Nico. Always good to hear of your experiences here. 30 euros for that TV box is amazing.
The stock Android does leave a lot to be desired. Look for SlashTV. It is superior.
12:19 (play at 0.1x speed to see it) there is no Vsync, i recommend adding screen tearing test in future videos.
have a merry christmas & happy New Year
And to you! :)
Looks pretty good. I won't get one, because I'm swimming in computer stuff at the moment. Looks a more capable board than the Pi4 at only 50% more, so maybe good as a sub-desktop, perhaps?
There so much stuff coming out that maybe we need a year-end roundup of our options. Something simple, like a category for sub-desktop, another for low-end electronics, and perhaps another for best overall.
I agree -- a good board as a sub-desktop, esp. running Manjaro. As you say, so many options these days!
Deslike? For what? Thanks master ! More one video in good tradicional Explaining Computers flavor!
Thank you Chris, a very good summary. Manjaro certainly runs better on it than a RasPi4!
I think having the hot chips on the bottom of a SBC is far better for cooling when users need to add HATs, so I really like this design, despite it's larger size.
In view of the poor state of Android at this time, it would be interesting to know what proportion of buyers run it? This is particularly the case as I understand Hardkernel saw their early boards being used primarily for Android development work.
I think Chris didn't know how to work a recent version of Android. He certainly never opened the app drawer in the video. I expect everything he said was missing was in fact in the app drawer.
I really appreciate that you list what resolution the HDMI output is capable of
Personally, I think the 240v British plugs are better than what we have here in North America. Here, small portable stoves and ovens can be a real hassle, blowing breakers, etc, as the maximum output of a circuit is usually around 1800 watts.
Max load per socket is 13 A @ 240 V (3120 W) in the UK. Domestic UK wiring is usually a ring configuration with 32 A limit per circuit. Crucially, this means you can boil water in a 3 kW electric kettle quickly for making tea. ;-)
@@cdl0 Indeed, more power is always better, within reason. I could have gone for 5000 watts/circuit, but that's just me. :-)
So finally everything that you wanted from your SBC since the Raspi is here. USB3, Gigabit ethernet, some decent CPU power.... Except that i can't see the niche anymore that the N2 wants to fit, especially not with the price tag of the 4GB model. Media Player? RPi 4 is cheaper, good enough, has better community support is and more convinient. Low power Desktop? Intel NUCs and the like are roughly the same price and more convinient because x86. Home server/NAS? No Sata/NVMe , only USB 3. Applications where you can justify the price for that much CPU power and the USB3 ports in an automation applications are rare. Unless there is no good use for the GPIO ports there's hardly a compelling reason to choose it over either a *really* cheap SBC like a RPi Zero or go for a cheap x86 (Celeron) board with a soldered CPU at the same price.
I have qty 3 HC1 NAS ON NETWORK NOW FOR A YR OR 2. Excellent !
A great SBC, and a great demonstration that you've given us ! Any findings yet about heat ? Does the heat sink need plenty of ventilation - or indeed the cooling fan to be fitted ? Thanks !
The heat sink only got slightly warm during my tests -- and the board ran for many hours off camera while shooting. I imagine the sheer size of metal here helps greatly.
@@ExplainingComputers Many thanks for that confirmation ! Probably what I should have anticipated, with Odroid being aimed more at the professional market than some other SBCs. But it's great to have your findings on that issue which invariably interests many of us - and provided by yourself at lightning speed too - thank you and happy filming in the week to come !
Very nice information, thanks and kind regards
Great video as always
good
working very smoothly
edit: Ubantu>Android
Honestly with 4G marks everywhereI expected that this odroid could use 4G LTE network as android can.
I like this video for about Odroid N2 board
It should be easy to solve that problem with the small mouse cursors. The DE just has a folder filled with pictures (one for each icon) which get loaded on a certain position on your monitor. All you need to do is replace those files. Make the pictures larger or put other pictures there, as long as the names of the files in that folder are the same those pictures should get loaded. Christopher, if you want to up your Linux-game then look at Chris Titus Tech his video on Awesome, just type "awesome" on his channel and you will find it.
You can buy the Odroid wifi dongle for about £10 that works perfectly in a USB port.
@freshly squeezed Us Brits always get screwed :-)
I'll wait for a version with a couple of Thunderbolt3 connectors and better emmc option.
That's a really nice little SBC! Quite a shame about Android on that thing though...
Hey - currently a systems engineer and wondering if you need help with any projects you currently have. In the US annoyingly, but everything you've done with SBCs is awesome - wondering if you're doing any virtualization / cloud projects soon - like clustering any SBCs with a SAN and making a mini-cloud. Awesome videos - huge fan!
Thanks for this -- if I can think of anything, I'll be in touch. :)
Definitely on my list for Santa!
Super sir you are genius
Please do a review of the rock pi x comes with intel processer
I am in appropriate discussions for early access . . . :) Looks a very exciting board.
Great overview. Pi zero has wifi bt. I wonder why odroid dont have these standard features. You lose 2 usb 3.0 ports just to compensate.
They don't include wireless for various reasons one of them being that these are used in industrial applications therefore with the different companies needing to certify specific wireless adapters they would most likely possibly have to disable something built-in anyway which is a waste or money then. Also by not having wireless built-in Hard Kernel doesn't have to mess with various country's legalities and wireless device certification then in turn saves costs. There is a big difference between the markets for a Raspberry Pi and Odroid products.
Being a former British colony we don't find UK plugs to be bizarre at all, they are part of everyday life here.
Virginia?
Does it have 4 usb 3 ports or is it one usb 3 divided into 4 ports
This I will have to check.
@@ExplainingComputers It is a good question. Please do let us know the answer when you find out.
Unfortunately, it looks to be a single USB3 bus with a hub to provide four ports. It would be nice if it was more, but that is a limitation of the SoC's design.
It has just one controller but it works fine. 120Mb read/write on an external hard drive with connected few other devices
@@dark4o90 Many thanks for the info.
great thanks for sharing. xJes
I like watching videos on the latest SBC's but I haven't found a place in my life for them that isn't filled better by their more powerful and expandable full-sized ATX, etc. brothers or a laptop which includes everything you need (screen, interfaces, etc.).
I like your only information no bulshit way.... Keep it up dear......
I'm wondering which SBC niche this one fits into? Maybe a round up video of the latest reviewed devices and where they are best utilized for price and performance?
Hello 👋🏻
Powerful small piece of machine. 👌🏻
It has no WiFi but still powerful and with excellent performance.
Enjoying EC videos, still abroad, but recovering from 5 days without internet.
Painful experience. 😆
Hi Elvira. Five days without the Internet! :) Wow! I did 37 hours when I went to Wales recently, and found that hard. You had an online detox! :) But I guess it will be worth for those transhumans in the future who have WiFi implants and cloud-augmented brains. How such individuals will suffer when offline.