Mini Computers
Raspberry Pi, mini PCs, SBCs, and compact computing.
349 articles
Microduck Is a $399 Open Source Robot You Can Retrain
Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics launched Microduck, a 25cm biped with 15 motors, LiDAR and an Apache 2.0 reinforcement learning stack, for $399.
Opener Brings an Open Source DECT NR+ Stack to Zephyr
Opener is an Apache 2.0 DECT NR+ stack for Zephyr, targeting a standard rated for one million devices per square kilometre on Nordic nRF91 hardware.
Mac mini M6 Speeds Local LLM Prompts by 4.8x for $899
Apple's new Mac mini starts at $899 with the M6 chip, 16GB of unified memory and a claimed 4.8x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio than M4.
HomeMaster MiniPLC Puts ESPHome on a 9-Module DIN Rail
The $324 HomeMaster MiniPLC is an ESP32 DIN-rail controller with 6 relays, RS-485 Modbus and ESPHome preinstalled for local Home Assistant control.
Banana Pi BPI-AI2N Packs 15 TOPS Into a Vision SoM
Banana Pi's $266 BPI-AI2N pairs a Renesas RZ/V2N with a 15 TOPS DRP-AI accelerator, 8GB of LPDDR4X, 32GB eMMC and dual MIPI CSI camera inputs.
Advantech AOM-6741 Packs 100 TOPS Into a SMARC Module
The Advantech AOM-6741 SMARC module runs a 100 TOPS Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-9075 with up to 36GB of LPDDR5 and 16 concurrent camera inputs.
Firehat HAT Brings FireWire DV Capture to Raspberry Pi
The $79 Firehat is an open-source FireWire HAT that digitizes MiniDV, Digital8 and HDV tapes straight from a Raspberry Pi 5, with no laptop needed.
Jetway PIC-TWL1 Puts an Intel N150 on Pico-ITX
Jetway's $315 PIC-TWL1 fits an Intel N150, 32GB of DDR5 and dual gigabit Ethernet into a fanless 100 x 72mm Pico-ITX board rated to 60C.
MNT Station Puts 10+ Swappable CPU Modules in a Mini PC
MNT Research's fanless MNT Station takes 10 or more Arm and FPGA modules, starts at $299 for the case, and ships from Crowd Supply in January 2027.
Openterface KeyMod Turns Your Phone Into a Keyboard
The $42 Openterface KeyMod turns a phone into a USB keyboard, mouse, gamepad, or SSH terminal for any PC, server, or Raspberry Pi board, even at the BIOS.
Nordic nRF93M1 Dev Kit Brings LTE Cat 1 bis for $60
Nordic's nRF93M1 development kit pairs a 10 Mbps LTE Cat 1 bis modem with an nRF54L15 host MCU, and prices start at $60 with a trial SIM card.
Framework Laptop 12 Upgrade Adds 70% More Battery
Framework's Laptop 12 gains an Intel Core Series 3 mainboard, Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 7, with DIY kits from $549 and Fedora prebuilts at $699.
Bosgame M5 Brings 128GB Local AI to a Mini Desktop
ServeTheHome's Bosgame M5 review finds a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 box with 128GB of LPDDR5X that undercuts comparable local AI desktops by $500 or more.
ESP32-S31 Linux BSP Boots Real Linux on 16MB PSRAM
Espressif released a Linux 6.18 BSP developer preview for the ESP32-S31, fitting a bootable image into roughly 13.7MB of flash on a $10-class chip.
Quectel Android 16 Modules Bring 5G to IoT Devices
Quectel's SH602FA and SE505FE put production-ready Android 16 on MediaTek silicon, with 5G downlinks up to 3.27 Gbps and 32MP camera support.
M5Stack Paper Mono Packs LoRa and NFC Into $65 E-Paper
M5Stack's $65 Paper Mono pairs a 3.97-inch e-paper touchscreen with LoRa, NFC, and an ESP32-S3, plus a 1,150 mAh battery in a shell just 8mm thick.
AAEON uCOM-Q6490 Puts 12 TOPS on a SMARC 2.1 Module
AAEON's uCOM-Q6490 packs a Qualcomm Dragonwing QCS6490, 12 TOPS of AI, and up to 16GB LPDDR5 onto an 82x50mm SMARC 2.1 module that weighs just 20 grams.
NXP MCX C15 MCUs Pack 16-Bit Analog Under 60 Cents
NXP's MCX C15 and C16 Cortex-M23 MCUs start under 60 cents, pair a 16-bit ADC with an on-chip op-amp, and idle at 320 nA in deep power down.
Linux 7.2 Powers Down the Raspberry Pi GPU When Idle
Linux 7.2 brings runtime power management to the Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 V3D GPU, cutting idle desktop draw about 3.3%, plus Pi 3 GPU hang fixes.
StarFive Dubhe-100 Is a Server-Class RISC-V CPU Core
StarFive's Dubhe-100 is an RVA23-compliant RISC-V core hitting 15 SPECint2006 per GHz, with a 15-stage out-of-order pipeline and KVM already running.
KAGA FEI Packs Bluetooth 6.0 Into an 8.55mm Module
The KAGA FEI ES4L15MA1 fits Bluetooth 6.0, an nRF54L15 SoC, and ready-made UART firmware into a module measuring just 8.55 by 3.25 by 1.00 mm.
Raspberry Pi CM5 Jig Flashes Modules With No Carrier
The official $600 Raspberry Pi CM5 programming jig flashes Compute Modules with secure boot and disk encryption without needing a carrier board.
NXP MCX A5 MCUs Pair Post-Quantum Boot With Ethernet
NXP's MCX A5 pairs a 240 MHz Cortex-M33 with an integrated 10BASE-T1S PHY and post-quantum secure boot, sampling now and available in Q4 2026.
PwrBlock 323 Is a $230 Programmable USB-C PD Supply
The open-hardware PwrBlock 323 turns a 100W USB-C PD charger into a scriptable 1-32V bench supply for test fixtures, at $230 on Crowd Supply.