Huawei launches powerful Raspberry Pi competitor

30 April 2017
HiKey 960 800x450

Linaro has announced the availability of the HiKey 960 mini PC, developed by Huawei.

The board is based on Huawei’s mobile SoC processors and uses the same CPU as the Huawei Mate 9 smartphone.

The mini PC shares several features with the Raspberry Pi, including an integrated video processor and HDMI port.

Both Android and Linux operating systems can be installed on the HiKey 960.

Due to its powerful CPU and graphics chip, the HiKey 960 is fitted with a copper heatsink to improve thermal performance under load.

While it is more expensive than other boards, like the Raspberry Pi, the HiKey 960’s hardware makes it a good choice for developers working on performance-heavy IoT applications.

Specifications and pricing

Huawei’s HiKey 960 boasts 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM and an octa-core ARM processor.

Users can interface with the hardware using the 40-pin and 60-pin connectors, and the board includes 32GB of onboard storage supplemented by an M.2 PCIe slot.

This means users are able to attach a high-speed SSD to the board, allowing it to be used for performance-intensive applications.

The HiKey 960 has a recommended retail price of $239 and will be available in early May.

Huawei HiKey 960
SoC Kirin 960 octa-core CPU
Processor 4x Cortex-A53 1.8GHz, 4x Cortex-A73 2.4GHz
GPU Mali-G71 MP8 GPU
RAM 3GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
I/O HDMI 1.2, 40-pin low-speed expansion connector, 60-pin high-speed expansion connector, M.2 PCIe Gen2 slot
USB 1x USB 2.0 Type-C, 2x USB 3.0 Type-A
Connectivity 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1
Storage 32GB UFS 2.0 Flash, MicroSD card
Power Supply 12V/2A recommended PSU
Dimensions 85 x 55 mm
OS Support Android, Linux
Price $239

HiKey 960 back

HiKey 960 Front

This article first appeared on MyBroadband and is republished with permission.

Now read: Five cool gadgets you can build using a Raspberry Pi

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  1. Jose
    30.04.2017 at 16:00

    Asus released a ‘competitor’ and now Huawei does the same, problem is that neither is a competitor because the lure of the Pi is the price! Any company can make a board that small and put bleeding edge hardware on it, the trick is to make it attractive to consumers. The Pi 3 goes at $39 and this goes at $239, what the heck are these companies smoking before calling their product a competitor for $200 more?

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