The Radxa Cubie A5E is a compact single board computer built on the Allwinner A527/T527 octa-core Cortex-A55 SoC, with WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, dual Gigabit Ethernet and one HDMI 2.0 output. The closest Thinvent alternative is the Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC, which uses an ARM Cortex A55 processor with 4 cores, a fanless aluminium housing and Thinux™ Embedded Linux. Both target compact, low-power ARM systems.
Radxa Cubie A5E vs Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC
| Radxa Cubie A5E | Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Allwinner A527/T527 (ARM) | ARM Cortex A55, Amlogic S905X3 |
| Cores | 8 | 4 |
| RAM | Not confirmed | 4 GB |
| Storage | M.2 socket for NVMe SSD | 32 GB eMMC |
| Form Factor | Single board computer, 69 × 56 mm | Mini PC, 102 × 90 × 21 mm |
| Operating System | Not confirmed | Thinux™ Embedded Linux |
| Displays | 1 (HDMI 2.0) | 1 (HDMI) |
| Ethernet | 2 ports (dual GbE) | 1 port, 100 Mbps |
| WiFi | WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 | Wi-Fi, dual antenna, dual band |
| Cooling | Not confirmed | Fanless passive cooling |
Key differences
-
The Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC ships with a fanless aluminium housing and a keyboard and mouse set, so it can be used as a finished desktop device out of the box.
-
The Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC includes an installed operating system, Thinux™ Embedded Linux, with Chromium, Firefox and RDP 10 support.
-
The Radxa Cubie A5E has 8 cores against 4 in the Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC, and it has two Gigabit Ethernet ports where the Thinvent unit has one 100 Mbps port.
-
The Radxa Cubie A5E includes an M.2 socket for an NVMe SSD. The Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC has a fixed 32 GB eMMC store and a microSD slot.
-
The Radxa Cubie A5E includes a 40-pin GPIO header for embedded and IoT projects. The Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC has USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports and no GPIO header.
Which one should you choose?
Choose the Radxa Cubie A5E for board-level projects that need dual Ethernet, an NVMe SSD and GPIO access. Choose the Thinvent Micro 6 Pro Mini PC for a sealed, fanless mini PC that runs a ready-installed Linux desktop and includes a keyboard and mouse.
