Yuzuki Chameleon: Affordable and Versatile Raspberry Pi Alternative with Allwinner H616

The Yuzuki Chameleon is a single-board computer (SBC) that mirrors the form factor of the Raspberry Pi model A, offering an open-source platform built around the Allwinner H616 chipset. Priced at $25, this board is designed for users seeking a compact yet powerful device for various applications, including media streaming and IoT projects.

At its core, the Yuzuki Chameleon features the Allwinner H616 System-on-Chip (SoC), which houses a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and an ARM G31 GPU. This combination allows the board to support up to 2GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, with additional storage options available via an onboard MicroSD card slot. The H616 chip is tailored for high-quality 64-bit video decoding, supporting 4K@60fps output and integrating Allwinner’s SmartColor3.3 picture enhancement engine, along with Dolby and DTS audio processing, making it a strong candidate for multimedia projects.

Connectivity on the Yuzuki Chameleon is robust, with an XR829 chip providing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. The board is equipped with four USB Type-C ports (three for HOST and one OTG) that allow connection to peripherals such as USB cameras and capture cards. Additionally, it includes a 100M Ethernet interface and a 40-pin GPIO header, which facilitates expansion with SPI LCDs, Gigabit Ethernet, microphone arrays, and various sensors. To ensure effective cooling, the board is designed with a fan connector and radiator fixing holes, and power management is controlled by the AXP313A PMIC chip.

The Yuzuki Chameleon supports a variety of firmware options, including Tina Linux, Ubuntu, and Android TV, with the latest firmware versions accessible through the project’s release page. Developers can easily set up a development environment using the provided BSP, available as a Docker image. The board is also compatible with firmware flashing using Allwinner’s proprietary tools like PhoenixSuit, as well as mainline Linux distributions such as Armbian and Ubuntu, which are well-documented in their GitHub repository. This versatility and support for multiple operating systems make the Yuzuki Chameleon a flexible tool for developers and hobbyists alike.

The Yuzuki Chameleon board first appeared on Hackaday in 2022, though it lacked a dedicated product page at the time.

Recently, DongshanPI highlighted the board on Twitter, announcing its availability for purchase with 1GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB eMMC storage for $25.08 on AliExpress.

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