RK3588-powered mini-PC offers HDMI in and out

Mekotronics is prepping an “R58X” mini-PC that features on an octa-core RK3588 with up to 16GB RAM, 2x GbE, WiFi/BT, HDMI in and out, DP, and 4x USB plus eMMC, SATA, and M.2 storage.

Shenzhen-based Mekotronics has posted several preliminary shopping/product pages (without prices) for an industrial temperature mini-PC and signage player that runs Linux or Android on Rockchip’s octa-core -A76 and -A55 RK3588 SoC. The R58X supports IOT gateway, industrial PC, edge computing, face recognition, digital signage, intelligent device, cloud terminal, and vehicle central control applications, among others.

R58X, front and back
(click images to enlarge)

In addition to the basic R58X system, there is an R58X Crystal version with a transparent acrylic top that possibly offers easier access to the mainboard. Mekotronics also offers a larger R58X Armour model with a rugged case with a heatsink. Other products from Mekotronics include the RK3566-based R35 mini-PC, as well as the RK3568-powered R18 and RK3399Pro driven R16-Pro embedded computers, among others.


R58X Crystal (left) and R58X Armour
(click images to enlarge)

Rockchip’s 8nm-fabricated RK3588 has 4x up to 2.4GHz Cortex-A76 and 4x up to 1.8GHz -A55 cores. There is also a powerful, quad-core Mali G610MC4 GPU and a 6-TOPS NPU.

The RK3588 has been announced on Radxa’s Rock 5 Model B SBC, as well as the Firefly ITX-3588J Mini-ITX board and an unnamed Banana Pi dev kit based on a Banana Pi RK3588 Core module. The powerful SoC was most recently announced on Mixtile’s Blade 3 Pico-ITX SBC.

Despite the lack of a public price and an active shopping link, you can dial the supplied phone number to order a sample unit of the Mektronics R58X for $249, according to the CNXSoft report that discovered the device. Although the standard model does not list the default memory, the Crystal and Armour models both list 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC as the standard configuration. The mainboard, which is possibly available separately from the various cases, was apparently teased last December at Rockchip’s formal RK3588 announcement, according to CSDN, which last month posted a preliminary detail view of the board.

Mekotronics is supporting the system with Android 12, Ubuntu 18.04, and Debian 11. CNXSoft speculates that only Android will be initially available, and that even Android may not yet fully support the complex RK3588 SoC.

The R58X is available with up to 16GB of LPDDR4, LPDDR4X, or LPDDR5 RAM. There is an eMMC 5.1 slot, as well as an SDIO interface, 2x SATA III connectors with power, and an M.2 M-key socket with PCIe Gen3-driven NVMe support. The system ships with a choice of dual-band 802.11ac or 802.11ax (WiFi 6) along with possibly optional antennas.

Major coastline ports include 2x GbE, USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, USB Type-C, and a USB serial debug port. A terminal plug supplies RS485, relay switch, and 12V output, and there are headers for 6x GPIO, RS232, and I2C.

R58X PCB and PCB detail view
Source: image at right from CNXSoft
(click images to enlarge)

Media features include HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4 outputs, both with up to 8Kp60 support. There is also an HDMI input, which has appeared on several of the other RK3588 products, and a 2-lane MIPI-CSI header, both with 8Kp30 encoding. An audio I/O jack and header are also available.

The R58X appears to offer both 12V/3A and 5V inputs, as well as an RTC with coin-cell battery and 3x LEDs. The system has a -40 to 80°C operating range.

Further information

No official pricing or availability information was provided for the R58X, although CNXSoft says it is sampling for $249 with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC and a one-week shipment lead time. More information may be found on Mekotronics’ shopping/product page. Mekotronics also has some YouTube videos, including demos.