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Chinese startup launching RISC-V laptop for devs and engineers priced at around $300
Chinese startup SpacemiT has unveiled its next computer, a laptop based on the K1 octa-core RISC-V chip. It is not exactly a standard laptop, but the MuseBook, as it’s called, has features and capabilities aimed at hardware engineers, developers, and DIY enthusiasts. While no official launch date is available, it’s expected to be available soon at a relatively low price of $300.
The MuseBook looks vaguely like an Apple MacBook, primarily from the printed name at the bottom of its display bezel. A 14.1-inch IPS panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and 60Hz refresh rate is standard. The keyboard is more akin to Windows machines, but the dedicated Windows button has been replaced by a RISC-V button. There’s no news yet on what function that button might provide since the unit provided to CNX Software would not power on.
Image 1 of 3
The MuseBook keyboard looks like a standard Windows keyboard, but with its own RISC-V button.
(Image credit: CNX Software)
(Image credit: CNX Software)
The MuseBook features an 8-pin header
(Image credit: CNX Software)
The laptop weighs in at 1.3kg and is approximately 18mm thick. It provides a MicroSD card slot, two USB-C ports, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an 8-pin header with pins for power, multiplexed I2C, UART, PWM, GPIO, and more. The full specifications for the K1 SoC are listed below:
8-lane MIPI-CSI in 4+2+2-lane or 4+4-lane configuration
Row 10 - Cell 0
Single camera supports up to 16MP
Row 11 - Cell 0
Supports three camera inputs
Connectivity
2x GMAC
Row 13 - Cell 0
1x USB 3.0 (multiplexed with PCIe 2.1 x1)
Row 14 - Cell 0
1x USB OTG
Row 15 - Cell 0
1x USB HOST
Row 16 - Cell 0
5x PCIe 2.1 (x2+x2+x1 combined, 5Gbps/lane)
Row 17 - Cell 0
4x SPI, 7x I2C, 12x UART, 2x CAN-FD, 30x PWM
Power consumption
3-5W TDP
Pakcage
FCCSP 17x17mm, 0.65mm pitch
The laptop's storage includes up to 128GB of onboard eMMC flash memory, M.2 NVMe SSD options up to 1TB, and a MicroSD card slot. The K1 RISC-V System-on-a-Chip (SoC) is configured with up to 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Wireless networking connectivity is available via the installed RTL8852BE-based WiFi 6 module.
The MuseBook runs Bianbu OS, an operating system based on Debian and optimized for the K1 RISC-V SoC. Presumably, it will include common office software such as LibreOffice and the Chromium browser. It will also include optimized OpenCV, OpenBLAS, Slam Eigen, libpng, libjpeg, XNNPACK, and other algorithm libraries for development purposes.
If preferred, you can also install the Linux flavor of your choice or RTOS on the laptop. Of course, finding RISC-V packages in standard repositories might prove problematic.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
SpacemiT MuseBook specifications
SoC
SpacemiT K1 octa-core X60 RISC-V core compliant with RVA22 (see full SoC specifications details above)
System memory
Up to 16GB 32bit LPDDR4-2400MT, 32bit LPDDR4X-2666MT
Storage
32GB eMMC flash (default), option up to 128GB
Row 3 - Cell 0
M.2 (PCIe 2.1 2x) socket for NVMe SSD up to 1TB
Row 4 - Cell 0
MicroSD card slot
Display
14.1-inch IPS display with 1920×1080 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate
Row 6 - Cell 0
72% NTSC (≈100%sRGB) Color gamut
Row 7 - Cell 0
250 nits brightness
Networking
RTL8852BE-based WiFi 6 module
Power supply
USB PD 3.1 Type-C port (65W power adapter)
Dimensions
322.6 x 209.2 x 17.8mm
Weight
1.36kg
OS
Bianbu OS by Debian, Ubuntu, Linux
Browser
Chromium
Of course, this isn’t the first RISC-V laptop to come to market. We’ve reviewed the Sipeed Lichee Console 4A in the past, and there’s also the ROMA laptop. However, the K1 is the first RISC-V SoC to comply with the RISC-V Foundation’s RVA22 and 256-bit RVV 1.0 standards. While not exactly blazing fast compared to, for example, the Intel Core Ultra CPU, SpacemiT’s K1 SoC does provide 2 TOPS of AI computing power.
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Jeff Butts has been covering tech news for more than a decade, and his IT experience predates the internet. Yes, he remembers when 9600 baud was “fast.” He especially enjoys covering DIY and Maker topics, along with anything on the bleeding edge of technology.
but the dedicated Windows button has been replaced by a RISC-V button. There’s no news yet on what function that button might provide
What it does will depend on the desktop environment and/or application, but I'd expect it to be the "Super" key, which is the same binding the Windows key has under most Linux distros. Use of the Windows logo requires following Microsoft's branding terms, so Linux laptops and some custom keyboards/keycaps choose to replace it with either the word 'Super' or some alternative logo.
The DIY keyboard I typed this on actually has the letters "Win" written out as a workaround so they don't have to deal with the "Microsoft Windows Logo Key Logo License Agreement for Keyboard Manufacturers".
