AAEON Launches UP TWL & ARL SBCs Edge AI Boards Delivering Up to 214 TOPS

 If you’re into edge AI and on-device machine learning, AAEON just dropped some seriously powerful new boards in its UP series. These compact single-board computers (SBCs) are designed to handle heavy AI inference right where the data is — at the edge — cutting down latency and reducing cloud dependence.

The new lineup includes the UP TWL Entry, UP Squared Pro TWL AI Dev Kit, and the UP Xtreme ARL AI Dev Kit. Each board balances performance, size, and price differently, but the star feature across the family is incredible AI acceleration, ranging from 13 TOPS to a jaw-dropping 214 TOPS depending on configuration.

AAEON calls this one “Palm+ sized,” but don’t let the small footprint fool you. Inside you’ll find:

• CPU: Intel Processor N150 (Quad-core, up to 3.6GHz turbo)
• GPU: 24 EU Intel Graphics (up to 1GHz)
• AI Acceleration:
• Hailo-8L module → 13 TOPS
• DeepX DX-M1 → 25 TOPS
• Axelera Metis → 214 TOPS (requires active cooling, bundled in)
• Memory & Storage: 8GB RAM + 64GB eMMC
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS + AAEON UP AI Suite (pre-installed)

This board is a sweet spot for developers who want serious AI inferencing power without breaking the bank.

For tinkerers who want to dabble in AI at the edge but don’t need all the bells and whistles, the Entry model is a Raspberry Pi-inspired form factor at just $279.

Key highlights:

• Same Intel N150 processor as the mid-range
• 8GB RAM + 64GB eMMC
• No PCIe accelerator support (so you’re capped on TOPS out of the box)
• Includes an Intel Altera Max V FPGA (instead of a Lattice FPGA) — though it’s unclear how user-accessible this is right now

This is the board for budget AI hobbyists and lightweight projects.

At the top of the food chain is the UP Xtreme ARL, which packs Intel’s latest Core Ultra 5 225H — a chip built for high-performance computing.

Specs worth highlighting:

• CPU: 14 cores (4P @ 4.9GHz, 8E @ 4.3GHz, 2 LP @ 2.5GHz)
• GPU: Intel Arc 130T with ray tracing (7 Xe cores)
• AI Acceleration: 63 TOPS baseline + optional M.2 accelerators
• Memory & Storage: 16GB RAM + 256GB M.2 SSD
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS preloaded

Price starts at $899, but if you’re running serious edge AI workloads (think robotics, industrial automation, or computer vision), this is the board to beat.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• UP TWL Entry → $279
• UP Squared Pro TWL (Hailo-8L model) → $469
• UP Xtreme ARL AI Dev Kit → $899

All come with Ubuntu 24.04 pre-installed, so you can start building right out of the box.

AAEON is clearly aiming these boards at AI developers, robotics engineers, and edge computing enthusiasts who need compact but powerful solutions. With options ranging from budget-friendly to high-end beast mode, the new UP SBCs look like they’ll make waves in the edge AI development scene.

If you’ve been waiting for boards that can handle modern ML workloads without needing a full-blown server, the new UP TWL & ARL lineup might just be the hardware you’ve been looking for.