Radxa X4 a full powered X86 SBC small like a Raspberry
The Radxa is actually quite small and as an SBC no bigger than a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5. I ordered one of these devices once and here is my report.
Introduction
I became aware of the small computer, but there seems to be no distributor for it in Europe, so you have to order the device directly from one of the Chinese dealers. But the goods were also not available and I checked several times on AliExpress, as it always said that another delivery was coming.
And it arrived in mid-August and I ordered the version with 8GB memory and 64GB eMMC. Shipping took about 14 days. Payment and handling by AliExpress were absolutely no problem. I would have liked to have ordered the heatsink with it, but unfortunately it was not available at the time.
I recorded a video about it:
Unboxing
There is not much unboxing here, because the Raxda comes in a matching plastic shell and a protective cover, as you know from the mainboards. But Radxa has also documented the small mini PC well.
And it’s full of little details:
It offers Bluetooth 6.0, of course has USB ports and what I miss on the Pi is also 2.5 GBit LAN, which is actually standard. On the top it has space for an M2 2230 NVMe and the N100 processor is then on the back, so to speak. There is even WiFi.
There is a USB-C port for the power supply. I didn’t order a power supply unit and put the Radxa X4 into operation with a small Anker USB-C PD, which delivers around 20 watts.
There are also 2 mini HDMI ports for monitors.
Construction
Since I don’t have a case (yet) and I know that the N100 needs to be cooled, the construction to try out the Radxa X4 was quite adventurous.
I put a USB fan directly under the SBC, which runs at the lowest setting and ensures that the Radxa X4 stays nice and cool and does not reduce its performance during operation.
Installing an operating system
An X86 CPU has the significant advantage that you have more software, i.e. operating systems, to choose from. In addition to the Linux distributions, you can also easily install an OPNSense or Windows 11.
As you can see here, I then tried with a Debian 12. Unfortunately, that didn’t work because an error occurred when installing the boot loader. But that wasn’t due to the Raxda X4; it’s probably a Debian error because the same problem occurred when installing in a virtual machine.
Then I installed Windows 11 and that worked fine too. This installation had the pleasant side effect that I could install Windows 11 with a local account, since Windows doesn’t recognize the Ethernet adapter or the WLAN devices. There was no internet, so I was able to install Windows with a local account.
First impression
The first impression is good and the N100 is sufficient for surfing, answering emails and other typical office tasks. The power consumption is a little higher than that of a Raspberry at around 8 W in idle mode, but still very low.
Maybe I’ll use the Raxda X4 for home office work, but I’ve now ordered the heatsink and a 2230 M2 SSD is coming too. The heatsink says that the cooling performance is not sufficient and that the fan is quite loud.
ciao tuxoche
