After recently covering the Radxa Orion O6N, it’s clear that the competition in CIX P1-based Arm SBCs is heating up. The latest contender is the Orange Pi 6 Plus, now officially available on AliExpress starting at $223.90 (16GB) and $268.89 (32GB) — complete with a heatsink, fan, and a 100W USB-C adapter included in the kit.
Despite being the smallest CIX P1 board we’ve seen so far, the Orange Pi 6 Plus still packs serious performance: a 12-core Armv9 CPU, LPDDR5 memory up to 64GB, dual 5GbE, PCIe Gen4, and up to 45 TOPS of AI compute performance combining CPU, GPU, and NPU capabilities.
Core Specifications and SoC Overview
At its heart, the Orange Pi 6 Plus features the CIX P1 SoC (CD8180/CD8160) — a 12-core processor built on TSMC’s 6nm process and designed for AI-intensive workloads.
CPU Configuration:
- 4× Cortex-A720 big cores @ up to 2.6GHz
- 4× Cortex-A720 medium cores @ up to 2.4GHz
- 4× Cortex-A520 efficiency cores @ up to 1.8GHz
- 12MB shared L3 cache
GPU & AI:
- Arm Immortalis-G720 MC10 GPU with hardware ray tracing
- Supports Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 3.0
- NPU: Up to 30 TOPS, plus combined CPU+GPU acceleration reaching 45 TOPS total AI performance
Video Capabilities:
- Decode: Up to 8Kp60 (AV1, H.265, H.264, VP9, VP8, etc.)
- Encode: Up to 8Kp30
This combination of compute, graphics, and AI processing makes the 6 Plus ideal for edge inference, computer vision, robotics, and next-gen multimedia systems.
Memory and Storage
- System Memory: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB LPDDR5 (128-bit bus)
- Storage Options:
- 64Mbit SPI NAND flash
- 2× M.2 M-Key (PCIe Gen4 x4) 2280 slots for NVMe SSDs or AI accelerators
- MicroSD card slot
This gives users flexibility for both high-speed solid-state storage and swappable boot media, a rare combination on compact SBCs.
Display and Multimedia Connectivity
The Orange Pi 6 Plus offers impressive display flexibility for its size — up to five simultaneous outputs:
- HDMI 2.0 (up to 4K@60Hz)
- DisplayPort 1.4 (up to 4K@120Hz)
- 2× USB-C with DP Alt Mode (4K@60Hz each)
- eDP interface (up to 4K@60Hz) with touch panel connector
That’s multi-monitor support straight out of the box, making it suitable for AI visualization, digital signage, and developer workstations.
Networking and Expansion
Networking is handled by dual 5GbE Ethernet ports, each supporting 10/100/1000/2500/5000 Mbps speeds.
Expansion options include:
- M.2 Key-E (PCIe Gen4 x2 + USB) for Wi-Fi 7/6E + Bluetooth modules
- M.2 Key-M (x4 Gen4) for NVMe SSDs or edge AI cards
- 40-pin GPIO header (color-coded) supporting UART, I²C, SPI, PWM
Audio and Camera Support
Audio:
- 3.5mm combo jack (headphone + mic)
- Dual speaker connectors
- Analog mic input
- Camera:
- 2× 4-lane MIPI CSI connectors for camera modules — ideal for stereo or AI-vision systems.
Power and Cooling
- Power Input: 20V / 5A via USB-C (100W PD supported)
- Battery Interface: with onboard charging IC
- Active Cooling: bundled heatsink + fan, essential for full-load operation
- Metal Case (Optional): available as an accessory, though not yet listed for direct sale
Software Support
Orange Pi advertises compatibility with:
- Debian, Ubuntu, Android, Windows, and ROS2
However, while these OSes may boot, some (notably Windows 11) currently lack full driver support. The documentation page is still being populated, with placeholders for now — though community builds and early testing on Linux have already begun.
Official pricing communicated by Orange Pi:
- $199 – 16GB RAM
- $249 – 32GB RAM
- $9.9 – Active cooling system (pre-assembled)
- $19.9 – Metal case (optional)
- $15 – 100W power adapter (optional)
At launch, the board is only available as a kit on AliExpress, bundled with cooling and power adapter for $223.90 (16GB) or $268.89 (32GB).
Both Radxa Orion O6N and Orange Pi 6 Plus also list upcoming 64GB variants, though those remain unavailable for now due to the high cost of LPDDR5 memory chips.
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