Around 5 years ago when Raspberry Pi was launched, everyone was talking about the small and cheap single-board computers - there was this effervescence surrounding the little devices that made them very desirable.

For home, commercial or academic use - everyone wanted to test the mini PC and shortly after they were used in hundreds of different ways, in many projects around the world.

Some of those project evolved beyond the capabilities of the small device, demanding more and more space and CPU, to the extent that the cost became a secondary concern - and this is how many other single-board devices appeared.

One of the companies that started to address that demand is Khadas, the Chinese company launching several devices, most recently the VIM2 developer board.

Khadas VIM2 comes with roughly the same size as the Raspberry Pi's (82.0 x 57.5 x 11.5 mm to be exact), but with much more processing power and several interesting extras.
Yes, the price is simply in another league, but that's understandable.

Let's take a quick look at the specs for Khadas VIM2, we'll further cover them with the unboxing.

Khadas VIM2 full specs

• SoC: Amlogic S912
• CPU: octa-core Cortex A53 (up to 2 GHz)
• GPU: Mali-T820MP3 (up to 750MHz)
• RAM: 2/3 GB DDR4
• ROM: 16/32/64 GB eMMC
• LAN: Gigabit
• Wi-fi: 802.11 b/g/n/ac
• USB: 2 x USB 2.0 host, 1 x USB 2.0 type-C for power and data
• Audio/Video: HDMI 2.0a (up to 4K @ 60 Hz), CEC
• Other:SD card reader, Bluetooth™, Expansion header
• OS: Android 7.1.2, Ubuntu 16

Khadas VIM2 unboxing

The device comes in an intriguing book-like box, which on the front has just the Khadas logo, the back revealing that's an "Open Source DIY Box", and you can find out more about it on khadas.com.
The model is not clearly specified anywhere, but there's a bar code.

There's nothing much to unbox - just open the "cover" and you'll see the VIM2 developer board and the braided USB to type-C cable which can be used as a power adapter.

The device comes with a transparent acrylic case that really makes the VIM2 teardown unnecessary, as every detail can be observed through the case.
My VIM 2 has "V1.2" stamped on the PCB, an upgrade from the 1.1 I've seen on the pictures online.
You get to see the Amlogic S912 SoC (which has no heatsink whatsoever) and the Ampak AP6359SA chip (Gigabit Ethernet with WoL support, 802.11 b/g/n/ac with RSDB and Bluetooth 4.2).
This allows the use both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz, at the same time, which broadens the use cases for the little device - you can use it as an access point, if you want.
On the left side of the board you can see the RTC battery slot, cooling fan slot and FPC connector.

On the front we have the LED lights (blue and white), and you can see the tiny IR (two channels).

Right on top there's the first expansion header - 40-pin 2.54mm pitch header with USB, UART, I2C, ADC, PWM, I2S, SPDIF, and ISO7816.

The right side has three buttons (Power, Function, Reset) - but the device can be turned on and off by simply applying power to it.

On the back we have two USB 2.0 ports, one on each side, the USB type-C port used to power the device, the HDMI 2.0 port and Ethernet port.

Khadas VIM2 - Where to buy

Khadas VIM2 is available on GearBest - make sure to check out all versions and the Khadas accessories (the VTV Extension DTV Board looks particularly interesting).
GBCNA to drop the price - 14% off.