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Is there any Raspberry Pi Zero alternative that meets the following specs:

  • At least one USB-C 40gbps OTG PD capable, 60W+ desirable, to be both charged or to charge attached peripheral, supporting dual 1080p monitor or one 4k.
  • Multi core 64-bits ARM CPU, E-core/P-core desirable (a.k.a. CPU big little architecture).
  • At least 2GB RAM.
  • GPU capable of supporting two 1080p@60Hz monitors or one 4k@60Hz via USB-C, Vulkan support desirable.
  • microSD storage at least UHS-III, desirable SD Express 4.0x2 or UFS 4.0.
  • Optional extra USB-C PD to charge only, with no data transfer.
  • No need for Bluetooth, WiFi, Ethernet, audio jack, nor onboard HDMI, since those can be easily deprecated and replaced by newer ones via USB. Meaning it's desirable not to have to avoid wasting energy, but it's more important to meet the previous requirements.

The motivation is that some Raspberry are requiring 5V/4A+ while we already have PD that can provide energy on demand varying the voltage instead of amperage, which looks much more efficient, and we can leverage one single port to do all that if we connect to a docking station or some USB-C hub charged by PD.

Furthermore today we have Bluetooth 5.4, WiFi 7/be tri-band, Ethernet 2.5Gbps+, HDMI 2.1/DisplayPort 2.1, all provided by USB devices, so I feel like having its older versions onboard is a waste.

Tiago Pimenta
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  • the nearest I found up to now is this one: Geniatech XPI-3566-ZERO but the USB-C looks lame, supporting USB 2.0 only. – Tiago Pimenta Mar 30 '24 at 09:47
  • By the way, WiFi 7 is still missing via USB, by now we have a tri-band WiFi 6E Netgear AXE3000, but WiFi 7 is coming soon with Archer TBE400UH. – Tiago Pimenta Mar 30 '24 at 10:19
  • Those specs are not remotely in the Pi Zero's spec class, particularly the 40 Gbps USB-C requirement; this is far closer to an $200 machine than a $5 machine. I'd take a look at the recent Alder Lake-N based x86 machines if ARM isn't a hard requirement; there's some good N100-based machines, like the Beelink Mini, that should come pretty close to your specs at a competitive price. – JMY1000 Mar 31 '24 at 01:12
  • @JMY1000, Thank you for your suggestion, it's a very interesting device I wasn't aware of but I’m still looking for an ARM machine. I mentioned Pi Zero because of the size, not the price. I guess a mobile phone could easily fit this specs, except by the video over USB-C. If it still doesn't exist it is worth expressing the need so vendors can fulfil the demand. – Tiago Pimenta Mar 31 '24 at 07:32

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