As the cost of the Raspberry Pi single-board computer (SBC) rises and perhaps due in part to supply issues (which thankfully have largely been resolved for now), we’ve seen a trend towards Intel-based mini PCs such as NUCs being adopted for some of the tasks that Pi boards are meant to serve. This may be fine for a media center or retro gaming rig, but what about maker projects that require integration with sensors and other non-PC hardware? I’ve been playing around with a board called the UP 7000, which presents a very interesting answer to this question.
The first thing I noticed when I unpacked the UP 7000 was the Pi-like form factor, the next thing I noticed was the huge heat sink that came pre-installed on the bottom of the board, which allows the quad-core 12NumberIt’s powered by the 2.5 Gen Intel processor N100, which runs at up to 3.4GHz without the need for active cooling from a fan. Included standoffs elevate the board for improved airflow. The unit I received comes with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, making it a great alternative to the Raspberry Pi’s microSD-based approach. Three Type-A USB 3.2 ports, a full-size HDMI (no need to buy a microHDMI adapter), and a Gigabit Ethernet port are located on the side of the board where the Pi’s two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 appear to be.
I plugged in an ethernet cable, keyboard, mouse and display, powered the device with the included (in my case) 12V power supply, then installed Ubuntu (the device didn’t come with an operating system) from a USB stick (3 USB ports are enough, but for everyday use you might want to consider a hub). UP WikiInstallation was quick and easy, and I was immediately impressed with the performance of this board compared to other SBCs I’ve used recently. The integrated Intel UHD graphics and HDMI 1.4b port gave me fast performance, even running at 4K. While I didn’t have a chance to explore its use for AI, this GPU should also be interesting in scenarios where the board is used for inference.
I was a little surprised to see that the Pi doesn’t have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, since up until now those have been built into the Pi. But it turns out that you can add two more USB ports and a UART via a 10-pin wafer opposite the USB and Ethernet ports. But if you need a UART, it’s already there. Also included are I2C, I2S, SPI, ADC, PWM, etc. 40-pin headerA custom DKMS driver enables these pins on Linux (a Windows SDK exists as well), but what I found really interesting is the FPGA fabric that makes it possible: the integrated Intel Altera Max V means you can tweak the firmware to make the HAT pins do virtually anything (in theory).
I’m always excited to try out a new SBC, especially one in the Pi form factor that I can use my existing collection of HATs and pHATs for, but I often find myself sorely missing the Raspberry Pi documentation and community when trying to understand a lesser known board. With the UP 7000, there’s extensive documentation and resources, as well as Community forum I found that most of my questions were already answered there. UP 7000 starting at $169 Compared to the Pi 5, it may seem expensive at first, but to make a more realistic total cost comparison, I added the 8GB version, 64GB mSD card, mHDMI adapter, power supply and RTC battery to my shopping cart, which came to about $130. The top-spec version I evaluated is $239, plus an extra $13 for the power supply, but it was almost indistinguishable from a $2000 ThinkPad when it came to performance for most tasks in Ubuntu. Of course, my laptop doesn’t have any convenient GPIO at all, not to mention the Pi’s familiar 40-pin. Compared to the Pi, it does require a bit more experience and expertise to get up and running, but the UP 7000 is a very interesting and powerful choice for developers looking to build AI, IoT, automation or digital signage/retail solutions. For more information about the UP 7000, please visit the official website.and let us know what you build with it!
