Raspberry Pi-alike NanoPi K1 Plus: For $35 you get 2xRAM, 4K video, Gigabit Ethernet

Video: How to set up your Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+.

FriendlyElec has released a $35 rival to the Raspberry Pi 3 B+, outdoing the better-known board with 2GB of memory, Gigabit Ethernet, and a more powerful GPU.

The NanoPi K1 Plus follows FriendlyElec's Nano Pi K2, released last year with similar dimensions to the Raspberry Pi 3 for $40.

The NanoPi K1 Plus shares similar specs to the Nano Pi K2 and maintains the Raspberry Pi's form factor, but offers double the RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, and 4K video playback.

The device also has the same 40-pin GPIO pin-header as the Raspberry Pi 3, so it should work with Raspberry Pi accessories and housings.

See more: What are the best Raspberry Pi alternatives? Everything you need to know about Pi rivals

Instead of the NanoPi K2's 1.5GHz Amlogic processor, FriendlyElec opted for an Allwinner H5 quad-core 64-bit Cortex A53 processor that runs at 1.4 GHz as well as a six-core Mali450 GPU. The Raspberry Pi 3 B+ uses a 1.4GHz Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 ArmV8 64-bit SoC.

The NanoPi K1 features three USB 2.0 ports, one microUSB 2.0 port for power, a microSD slot, while wireless support includes 802.11 b/g/n.

An HDMI port supports 4K video output. However, it's restricted to 30 frames per second. It also has one GPIO button, a red LED power indicator, a green LED status light, heatsink, and a built-in infrared receiver.

Multimedia features include a DVP camera interface, a built-in mic, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Naturally, to use the NanoPi K1 users will need to have their own monitor, TF card keyboard and mouse, and FriendlyElec recommend the host computer is a 64-bit system running Ubuntu 16.04.

FriendlyElec provides a FriendlyCore OS, which is based on UbuntuCore. Further specification and setup details are also available on the NanoPi K1 Plus wiki.

Previous and related coverage

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ arrives: Faster CPU, Wi-Fi, 300Mbps Ethernet

Raspberry Pi Foundation unveils the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, its newest model in the Raspberry Pi 3 lineup.

Raspberry Pi goes Android Auto: Now you can build your own cheap car head unit

Why buy a finished Android Auto head unit when you can hack one together with a Raspberry Pi 3?

Mozilla's Raspberry Pi gateway helps connect up your smart home

Mozilla has released its Things Gateway, with a host of new features for controlling smart home devices.

Linux on Raspberry Pi: SUSE support turns $35 board into enterprise IoT platform

SUSE rolls out full commercial support for its SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 (SLES) Raspberry Pi image.