Mekotronics R58 ARM Mini PC Review
There are lots of similarities between Android boxes and ARM mini-PCs, but when it comes to performance and multiple operating systems and ARM mini-PC is the clear winner. The Mekotronics R58 is one of the most recent high performance ARM mini-PCs running on the latest Rockchip RK3588 Octa-Core CPU clocked at 2.4 GHz. There are different hardware configurations with the highest being 16GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. One of the things I really like about ARM mini-PCs is that it can be used in any different ways. My favorite of course is as an Android TV Box for streaming movies and TV shows and for super high-performance Android gaming and emulation gaming.
Some of the other operating systems you can install for yourself using their library of operating systems include Android 12 mobile version, Linux Ubuntu, Debian 14, and build root. However, there are things you wish you had on the Android operating system. For example the absence of a navigation bar and full status bar with system controls, and drag and drop shortcuts and long click menu pop-ups. For those who like to stream using paid subscription services would have surely appreciated Google Widevine L1 with HDCP protection. Those who like to play self hosted videos would have surely appreciated the inclusion of all required Dolby and DTS decoders for surround sound audio.
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Mekotronics R58 hardware specs
- Model: R58 Mini-PC (Aluminium Enclosure)
- 8K Ultra HD media player, Arm-based PC and Edge computing device
- Real 8K output, 76804320, HDMI 2.1, 12Gbps
- SOC: Rockchip 3588 (8 nm made chipset, 8 cores CPU, 8EE GPU, 2.4Ghz) OS: Android 12 OS, Linux Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11, Buildroot
- CPU: Quad-core Cortex-A76 and Quad-core Cortex-A55 with separately NEON
- NPU: 6TOPs supports INT4/INT8/INT16/FP16 hybrid operation
- TensorFlow/MXNet/PyTorch/Caffe can be easily converted
- Memory: 4G LPDDR4x, 32G eMMC (Maxium LPDDR4x is 16GB, and 64G or 128G eMMC)
- Storage: eMMC 5.1
- WiFi: WiFi 6
- G-LAN network 1000Mbps
- Industrial connectors: GPIO, Serial port
- H.265 and VP9 decoder by 8K@60fps, H.264 decoder by 8K@30fps
- AV1 decoder by 4K@60fps, also support H.264 and H.265 encoder by 8K@30fps
- JPEG-codec support YUV400/YUV411/YUV420/YUV422/YUV440/YUV444
Mekotronics R58 I/O ports
- 2 HDMI 2.1 Output
- 1 HDMI Input
- 1 RJ45 GN LAN 1000Mbps
- 1 DC 12V
- 1 USB 3.0
- 2 USB 2.0
- 1 USB Type C
- 1 DP Display 1.4
- 1 SATA Expandable Storage
Benchmarks
- Antutu: 488,017
- CPU Single Core: 26,322
- CPU Multi Core: 35,281
- GPU Performance: 178,677
- RAM Copy Speed: 8989 MB/s
- Internal Storage Speed: Read 308 MB/s | Write 173 MB/s
- Wi-Fi Speed (based on 154Mbps network): 5GHz 100% | 2.4GHz 25%
- LAN Speed (based on 154Mbps network): 1000Mbps 100%
Mekotronics R58 Pro Firmware Features
- Rockchip RK3588 octa-core 2.352GHz
- 64bit chipset architecture
- Quad core Mali G610 quad core GPU w/Vulkan
- 16GB LPDDR4 RAM
- Android 12 operating system mobile version
- Android/Ubuntu/Debian/build root different OS ready
- Root access
- Built-in screen rotation
- Hardware monitor overlay feature
- 4K 2160p at 60hz/8K display (DP 4.1 display port)
- HDR/HLG display
- Mobile screen mirroring Airscreen app
- Kodi and streaming APKs
- Max Internet speed on the GB LAN port
- Max speed on the 5GHZ Wi-Fi 6 technology
- Alternative launchers work
- 4K HDR AV1 video playback good
- Dolby Atmos/ Dolby Digital plus/Dolby TrueHD/DTS-X/Dolby surround (Software decoding only)
- Very high performance 64bit 3D Android gaming
- Gamepad keymapping works
- Very high performance PS2 Emulation gaming
- Very high benchmarks
- No overheating
Cons
- No root switch
- No navigation bar or status bar
- No DRM for Netflix in HD/4K
- No surround sound decoders compiled into firmware (software decoding only)
- Some apps not recognizing root access
- SATA port not convenient
- Miracast not included
- No custom wallpaper or live wallpapers enable
Final thoughts
What I can say about the R58 is that it is indeed a powerful ARM mini-PC. However, powerful hardware must be complemented with a well designed and optimized firmware. My focus was mainly on its Android firmware, but as I indicated earlier, it has the ability to run 4 different operating systems. Hence the possibilities of the unit and the cost for unit at a price point of around $400. On its Android firmware they need to include a different type of launcher that includes a navigation bar and full status bar with system controls. It needs a root switch, and they need to include decoders for the playback of surround sound audio such as eac3 and DTS HD, and Dolby vision decoders for video.
Buy Mekotronics R58
