Cool Pi Arm Linux Laptop with Rockchip RK3588 SoM sells for $455

Cool Pi has put its CM5 Rockchip RK3588 system-on-module to good use by integrating it into a 14.1-inch laptop with 1920×1080 resolution running Android 12, Ubuntu 22.04, or other Linux distributions.

The Cool Pi laptop comes with up to 32GB LPDDR4X memory, up to 256GB eMMC flash, features an M.2 socket for additional NVMe storage, as well as HDMI 2.1 video output and a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alt. mode to enable triple display setups with the laptop.

Cool Pi laptop specifications:

• System-on-Module – Cool Pi CM5
  • SoC – Rockchip RK3588 octa-core processor with
    • 4x Cortex‑A76  cores @ up to 2.2 GHz, 4x Cortex‑A55 core @ 1.8 GHz
    • Arm Mali-G610 MP4 “Odin” GPU @ 1.0 GHz
    • Video decoder – 8Kp60 H.265, VP9, AVS2, 8Kp30 H.264 AVC/MVC, 4Kp60 AV1, 1080p60 MPEG-2/-1, VC-1, VP8
    • Video encoder – 8Kp30 H.265/H.264 video encoder
    • 6 TOPS NPU
  • System Memory – 4GB, 8GB16GB, or 32GB LPDDR4/4X SDRAM
  • Storage – 8GB, 16GB, 32GB64GB, 128GB, or 256GB eMMC flash memory
  • Audio – Realtek ES8336 audio codec
  • Networking – RTL8111HS and RTL8211F Gigabit Ethernet chips (likely left unpopulated in the module in the laptop)
  • 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector for insertion into a carrier board
  • Supply voltage – 4.2 to 4.8V DC
  • Dimensions – 82 x 60 mm
  • Temperature Range – 0 to 70°C
• Storage – Optional M.2 NVMe SSD
• Display – 14.1-inch display with 1920×1080 resolution, 250cd/m2 brightness
• Video Output
  • HDMI 2.1 port up to 8Kp60 resolution
  • DisplayPort 1.4 via USB-C port
• Audio
  • 3.5mm audio jack for headphones or external speakers
  • Stereo 8 Ohms (1W) speakers
  • 2x microphones
• Camera – 2.0 MP front-facing camera
• Connectivity
  • WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2
  • Optional 4G LTE cellular connectivity via M.2 socket
• USB – 1x USB 3.0 Type-A port, 1x USB 3.0 Type-C OTG port with DisplayPort Alt. mode
• User inputs – QWERTY keyboard and touchpad
• Sensors – Hall sensor
• Expansion – 1x M.2 PCIe socket for SSD or cellular connectivity
• Misc
  • LEDs – Power, charge, Capslock, Numlock
  • Power button
• Battery
  • 38 Wh (7.6V/5000mAh) capacity
  • 130 hours of standby time
  • 7 hours of video playback
  • 3.5 hours charging time
• Power Supply – 12V/2A via DC jack
• Dimensions – 323.4 x 219.9 x 19.9 mm (shell made of plastic)
• Weight – 1.46 kg

The Rockchip RK3588 laptop ships with Ubuntu 22.04 by default, but Android 12, Debian, and some OS for the Chinese market such as Ubuntu Kylin and UOS (United Operating System) are also supported. The wiki has more details about the Cool Pi CM5 module, software images, and the source code, but nothing yet about the laptop itself.

So I got most of the information for this article from a forum post as well as Aliexpress where the Cool Pi laptop is sold for $455.40 including shipping with 8GB RAM and a 64GB eMMC flash, plus maybe a 1TB SSD, but this would have to be double-checked since the specifications on Aliexpress are not 100% clear and just show “hard disk: 1TB”. I’m quite surprised we haven’t seen more Rockchip RK3588 laptops since the processor has been available, and it’s the first one I cover on CNX Software, one reason may be the price that’s similar to x86 parts. I can also see another one on Alibaba and Charbax noticed a laptop prototype at MWC earlier this year.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.