ASUS Tinker Board S Is New Raspberry Pi-killer With Linux And Android Support (CES 2018)

At CES 2018, ASUS unveiled tons of small form factor hardware and expanded its family. PB40 and PN40 are two mini PCs that let combine power and portability. Chromebox 3 is Chromebox 2 successor with 8th Generation Intel Core processor with DDR4 2400 Memory. For Linux enthusiasts and DIYers, the good news came in the form of a new Raspberry Pi competitor.

Following the last year’s hacker board, ASUS Tinker Board S is the new and improved SBC that brings better durability and stability. Featuring 40 GPIO pins and robust Linux support, Tinker Board S comes with 16GB eMMC onboard storage to improve performance. You also get a microSD card for expanding the storage.

It goes without saying that Tinker Board S will deliver better battery life, performance, and other metrics. The most striking difference between both the versions is the new ARM-based RK3288 SoC, operating at 1.8GHz, opposed to the previous Rockchip RK3288. It also has 4 USB 2.0 ports as compared to two ports in the last release.

It has 2GB Dual-channel LPDDR3 Memory, Bluetooth 4.0 + EDR, wireless 802.11.b.g.n, and Gigabit LAN port. The onboard power-on pin also makes tweaking easier.

Here’s the complete comparison chart:

	Tinker Board S	Tinker Board
Processor	Cortex-A17 Quad-core 1.8GHz
Display	1 x 15-pin MIPI DSI supports up to HD 1 x HDMI up to 4K/30fps *HDMI CEC Hardware Ready	1 x 15-pin MIPI DSI supports up to HD 1 x HDMI up to 4K/30fps
Memory Size	Dual-CH LPDDR3 2GB
Storage	Onboard 16GB eMMC Micro SD(TF) card slot	Micro SD(TF) card slot
Connectivity	1 x GB LAN 1 x wireless 802.11 b/g/n & BT 4.0 + EDR
Audio	RTL HD Codec with 1 x 3.5mm audio jack *Supports Plug-in Detection and Auto-Switch	RTL HD Codec with 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
USB	4 x USB 2.0 ports
Internal Headers	1 x 40-pin GPIO header w/ enhanced I2S 1 x 2-pin eMMC recovery header 1 x 2-pin Power-on header	1 x 40-pin GPIO header 1 x 2-pin contact points
Power Connector	Micro USB (5V/2~3A) *Supports low voltage input detection	Micro USB (5V/2~3A)
OS Support	Debian 9 / Android 6
Dimension	3.37″ x 2.125″

For better user experience, Tinker Board S is HDMI-CEC-ready for complete video entertainment, using which you can control the hacker board and TV with a single remote.

The software running here is a Debian 9-based Linux distro named TinkerOS. It features lightweight LXDE desktop environment. The GUI is optimized for single board computers as well. Moreover, Tinker Board S also supports Android.

The pricing and availability of Tinker Board S are expected to be told in the first half of 2018.

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