Power Droid
Even with a little bit of Android in Odroid, the small computer works equally well with Linux. In this article, we examine the aspiring quad-core SBC and introduce the most important firmware packages.
Testing the Odroid-U3 single-board computer
Lead Image © Sergey Konyakin, 123RF.com
The Raspberry Pi offers considerable performance given its compact size and minimal power consumption. However, it is not sufficient for many applications. The Odroid-U3 [1] is the size of a credit card and is produced by Hardkernel, a South Korean manufacturer. It exceeds by far the computing power of the Rasp Pi and is therefore a great alternative for tasks that require higher performance.
Like the Samsung Galaxy Note II Android cellphone and the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2, the Odroid-U3 has a Exynos 4412 SoC with an integrated Cortex A9 CPU. The 1.7GHz quad-core CPU gives the computer more computational power than many of the standard PCs you will see sitting under a desk (Table 1). As a result, the Odroid-U3 really shines when compared with the far less well equipped Raspberry Pi (Figure 1).
Accessories
As with the Rasp Pi, several accessories are now on the market for the Odroid [2], including a power supply, case, I/O shield, USB UART module kit, RTC backup battery with a 3V 220mAh Li ion battery, a prototype board, and a 9-inch 1280x800 HDMI display or a 2.2-inch TFT LCD. Hardkernel sells firmware based on Android 4.x or the latest version of Xubuntu pre-installed on 8, 16, and 64GB eMMC modules for US$ 25.00 to US$ 79.00 (Figure 2). More economical alternatives are using the pre-loaded micro SD for US$ 13 with the latest version of Xubuntu or loading the firmware onto a class 10 micro SD memory card with at least 8GB.
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