Odroid N2L Takes Aim at Raspberry Pi 4

By Ian Evenden
published

No on-board networking, though

The Odroid N2L
(Image credit: Odroid)

Odroid has released a new version of its N2 Arm-based SBC. The new N2L, unearthed by CNX-Software (opens in new tab), is smaller and cheaper than the original, and is compatible with the company’s natty blue heatsink, but drops features such as networking and significantly cuts the number of USB 3 ports.

Now smaller than a Raspberry Pi 4 (opens in new tab), the Odroid N2L makes a fine alternative if you don’t mind that there's no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Ethernet. Its six-core processor is made up of four Cortex-A73 cores which at up to 2.4GHz are faster than the 1.5GHz quad-core A-72 model in the Pi, and adds a couple of A-53 efficiency cores too, plus a Mali-G52 GPU. RAM comes in the form of either 2GB or 4GB of LPDDR4 running at 3216 MT/s, and there's both an eMMC socket and Micro SD card slot for storage. 

Video output is achieved through a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, there's a single USB 2.0 and a single USB 3.0 for peripherals - such as a networking module - and power is supplied via a dedicated 7.5V DC socket. You also get a 40-pin GPIO header with 2x I2C, UART, SPI, 2x ADC, 25x GPIO,  5V, 3.3V, 1.8V, and GND, plus there are power and activity LEDs on the board. The PCB measures just 69 x 56mm (2.7 x 2.2 inches), and has a fan header for active cooling, which comes in the box. A large blue heatsink is also available for passive cooling, though you’ll pay extra for it.

Changes over the original N2 and N2+ mean the N2L isn’t able to use software images designed for those boards, but has its own Android (32 and 64bit) and Ubuntu (minimal and MATE) releases. 

The Odroid N2L is available now from the Hardkernel store, priced at $59 for the 2GB version (opens in new tab) and $69 if you want 4GB of RAM (opens in new tab). Accessories include a USB Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module for $8.90, and you’ll need to pick up a power supply too, for $5.50.

Ian Evenden
Ian Evenden
Freelance News Writer

Ian Evenden is a UK-based news writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He’ll write about anything, but stories about Raspberry Pi and DIY robots seem to find their way to him.

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • domih
    "Odroid N2L Takes Aim at Raspberry Pi 4" ?
    No it does not. Hardkernel could not care less about Raspberry, they made the Odroid N2L for their B2B customers.
    Reply
  • eye4bear
    Even when you add in the additional WiFI/Bluetooth, it is half the price; as well as much faster than any Raspberry Pi4 you can currently buy.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    FWIW, I've been pleased with my N2+ that I got about 1.5 years ago. That said, 4 GB of RAM is a little tight and I'm eager to see if ODROID will offer a RK3588 board, or similar.
    Reply
  • WebBeachBoy
    bit_user said:
    FWIW, I've been pleased with my N2+ that I got about 1.5 years ago. That said, 4 GB of RAM is a little tight and I'm eager to see if ODROID will offer a RK3588 board, or similar.
    Hi, Are you still happy with this ?
    What OS are you using with it ? I'd like to run LXLE on an N2+ as I like the functionality of the OS
    Reply
  • bit_user
    WebBeachBoy said:
    Hi, Are you still happy with this ? What OS are you using with it ?
    Yes, but I don't have occasion to use it very often. For me, the main downside has been the lack of proper 3D acceleration in the vendor-supported Ubuntu image. If I really cared about it, I'd probly try installing Armbian. What a lot of people seem to do is just install a custom kernel.

    Another popular distro, which focuses on things like 3D and video acceleration, seems to be CoreElec. I can't say how useful it would be for general usage, however.

    WebBeachBoy said:
    I'd like to run LXLE on an N2+ as I like the functionality of the OS
    Sorry, but I don't know anything about it. You'll have to research it yourself, if you're sufficiently interested. Here's the forum for running other OS's on it (i.e. besides Android and Ubuntu):

    https://forum.odroid.com/viewforum.php?f=179&sid=377d23a75c6527b5a456cb4c1a864794

    Depending on what you want it for, you should really consider a RK3588S board. I don't know of any that are particularly well-supported, but I know Orange Pi 5 is pretty cheap and has Armbian support. Although it's somewhat more expensive than the N2+, you can get it with 8 GB of RAM (or more?) and it's about twice as fast. However, it still has a Mali GPU, so proprietary drivers will still be needed for 3D and video acceleration.
    Reply
  • WebBeachBoy
    bit_user said:
    Yes, but I don't have occasion to use it very often. For me, the main downside has been the lack of proper 3D acceleration in the vendor-supported Ubuntu image. If I really cared about it, I'd probly try installing Armbian. What a lot of people seem to do is just install a custom kernel.

    Another popular distro, which focuses on things like 3D and video acceleration, seems to be CoreElec. I can't say how useful it would be for general usage, however.


    Sorry, but I don't know anything about it. You'll have to research it yourself, if you're sufficiently interested. Here's the forum for running other OS's on it (i.e. besides Android and Ubuntu):

    https://forum.odroid.com/viewforum.php?f=179&sid=377d23a75c6527b5a456cb4c1a864794

    Depending on what you want it for, you should really consider a RK3588S board. I don't know of any that are particularly well-supported, but I know Orange Pi 5 is pretty cheap and has Armbian support. Although it's somewhat more expensive than the N2+, you can get it with 8 GB of RAM (or more?) and it's about twice as fast. However, it still has a Mali GPU, so proprietary drivers will still be needed for 3D and video acceleration.
    Thanks for all the info. I will check out the forum you mention.
    We wouldn't need to have heavy graphics support. The machine would just be used to run millions of data enquiries online 24 hours per day - so could run happily by itself.
    Yes 4GB Ram is not much even for simple tasks. I would prefer 8GB but cost is also a facto of course. We looked at getting ex lease Dell Optiplex machines to use but we don't have the space for all of them. We want a 'bank' of small units that can be housed on a shelf with a hardware software KVM switch.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    WebBeachBoy said:
    The machine would just be used to run millions of data enquiries online 24 hours per day - so could run happily by itself.
    I guess you've ruled out using a cloud service? That would be best, because new instances can spin up to meet demand, and they also use reliable server-grade hardware with various data protection features.

    In any case, good luck!
    Reply
  • WebBeachBoy
    bit_user said:
    I guess you've ruled out using a cloud service? That would be best, because new instances can spin up to meet demand, and they also use reliable server-grade hardware with various data protection features.

    In any case, good luck!
    Thanks :)
    No we don't want to use a cloud service as the data is very sensitive.....
    Reply
  • bit_user
    WebBeachBoy said:
    Thanks :)
    No we don't want to use a cloud service as the data is very sensitive.....
    Fair enough.

    If possible, I'd use PCs with ECC memory, at least. For a filesystem, I'd use something like ZFS or BTRFS that has checksums. BTRFS has been in Linux for more than a decade, while some might still consider OpenZFS to be fairly experimental.

    All of this depends a lot on how much you care about data integrity. If not, then something like these Amlogic or RK3588-based boards would be fine. Even if you use those, you can still use BTRFS for at least the volume(s) holding your data.
    Reply