The Banana Pi BPI-M5 Pro presents a cutting-edge solution for AIOT (AI + IoT) applications, boasting the advanced features of the second-generation 8nm high-performance Rockchip RK3576 chip design. This powerhouse is equipped with a 6 TOPS computing power NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and supports up to 32GB of expansive memory, ensuring seamless performance for a wide range of tasks.
One of the standout features of the BPI-M5 Pro is its support for 8K video encoding and decoding, pushing the boundaries of multimedia capabilities. Moreover, it offers a plethora of connectivity options with dual gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi 6, and BT5, enabling high-speed data transfer and seamless networking. Additionally, it provides various video outputs, ensuring versatility in display options for different applications.
Hardware Specifications:
- SoC: Rockchip RK3576
- CPU: Integrated with four Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.2GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.8GHz, along with a separate NEON co-processor.
- GPU: ARM Mali G52 MC3 GPU
- NPU: Up to 6 TOPs computing power (INT8), supports INT4/INT8/INT16 mixed operations.
- VPU/Encoding & Decoding:
- Hardware Decoding: Supports H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1, and AVS2 up to 8K@30fps or 4K@120fps.
- Hardware Encoding: Supports H.264 and H.265 up to 4K@60fps, high-quality JPEG encoder/decoder supports up to 4K@60fps.
- RAM: 8/16GB 32-bit LPDDR4x, default is 16GB. RK3576 supports a maximum of 16GB.
- Flash: 32/128GB eMMC, default is 128GB eMMC.
- Operating Voltage: Wide input voltage range, from 4.5V to 23V (voltage error ±5%).
- Operating Temperature: 0°C to 80°C
- Operating Systems:
- Official Rockchip Support: Android 14, Debian 11, Buildroot
- Third-party Support: Armbian
- PCB: 8-layer PCB board design
- Weight: 43g
- Dimensions: 92mm × 62mm
The Banana Pi BPI-M5 Pro is not for sale on SinoVoIP’s Aliexpress store just yet possibly because the OS images are not available yet, but you’ll find the ArmSom Sige5 Pro Max for pre-order for $148 with 16GB RAM and 128eMMC flash. It does not seem particularly good value as the Orange Pi 5 Pro with similar features (but only one GbE port) and a more powerful Rockchip RK3588S processor goes for $128 on Amazon in the same 16GB/128GB configuration. Maybe it is still worth it for use cases where the low-profile design is important.