This $15 SBC is Amazing for Emulation! - Orange Pi Zero 3 Review 

Taking bets on whether or not the Zero 4 will be $10.

Can you post a guide about the screen and controller setup you used for this. I think it would be cool. I'm sure I'm not alone in this 😂

Orange Pi's always had serious SW & support difficulties 😩 It's a real shame because their HW is awesome 👍

That is REALLY impressive indeed! And dang, they are already planning on a Zero 4? That is awesome.

Thanks for the video, I was looking at this for a small htpc.

so many memories with that showing of the grinch. i need to go back and actually play it since i didn’t get passed the beginning when i was 8

Can you share more details on the screen / controller combo you have going on? I've been wanting something like this for ages for several use cases. Thanks so much for all the hard work!

Thank you! waiting for the first review of this device! my copy is on the way! I'll be waiting for your review regarding gpu dryers on linux.

Links to the monitor and Bluetooth controller? Looks like a great set! Love to pickup that combo

Porting an older version of android will probably be a better bet. We still have pretty much full compatibility with Dolphin and Aether with some of the older builds. That being said, we need a brave soul to get one of those legacy android builds to run specifically with this hardware.

Amazing video.....Dude go ahead 🎉

Thanks for a great video! By the way, did the Sandisk card use GPT or MBR partitions? That might be the problem.

14:18 - Enabling the GPU on Linux is very easy, it already comes with the firmware module and mesa drivers. I think there are two options to enable it, either by manually editing the dtb file to enable the gpu module, or using the orangepi-config tool that comes with their OS, there is a "gpu" checkbox in one of the submenus. Manually editing the DTB works, ive done it.

i think the fact that they have decent Linux support means this'll be a great pi replacement for some small pi projects that aren't heavily reliant on HATs (especially given the current prices on pis). Might actually get one for a project or two, great video!

Thank's for the video. What is the screen that you're using?

Great video, what screen are you using?

I think path visibility/editability restrictions are being put for security reasons, but it should be possible with some permission to give the apps the possibility o read/write into other than private storage...

thanks for the review ! Can you pls share the models of the LCD & controller u r using ? Going to buy the board for print server use, but having some other capabilities onboard feels nice

Not bad for what it is. Allwinner do tend to get toasty though and seem to get les support than Rockchip or AMLogic. Hardware acceleration will be a must for Linux.

i have onn 4k tv box got it $19.88 from wallmart it comes with remote and cables it s great for emulators

He was teaching his son about electronics? I thought Taki was 15 💀😂😂

I might have missed this but did you do your tests on the base 1 go model or did you use a different model.

It’s a common theme for most Chinese SBC manufacturers to not add GPU drivers support. They know that their customers base don’t demand it, and RU-vidr’s like yourself help sell these boards really well for them. But at least you did cover the lack of GPU support so the educated audience can wait until Orange Pi gets their act together. The reason is simple. There is no point for them to add any additional effort to include GPU support when they haven’t from the beginning, and we’re still able to sell their products.

lol man over the years I was always worried about screwing things while its powered, for exactly this reason, in case/when I drop a screw, it could short it, I'm glad to know that it really does happen IRL haha

Fyi, for N64 use NTSC roms to achieve a higher frame rate. Typically 30fps as opposed to 24-25fps

What's the controller/screen you're using?

What screen and controller is that? Looks nice

I ordered 2x Zero 3 (1x 2GB & 1x 4GB)... Should be more than enough for Klipper

neat little sbc. i almost wanna swap out my pi zero 2 w if that sbc fixes its issues it has right now.

Thank you Taki for testing The Grinch (Dreamcast)

I've got an old LG prepaid phone that runs a Snapdragon 425. It, the SD425, also has 4 A53 cores and they're clocked at 1.4ghz. I retired it back before I got into emulation on Android; but, I know it still works and I have to assume that it'll be as capable as this Orange Pi device, right? Maybe I'll dig it out and see what it'll do. Thanks for the inspiration.

I might get one of these soon, though I would use true Debian and just compile and install the drivers to that manually.

How did you manage to install Dig? When I try the screen turns black and doesnt create the folder. And duckstation can you share the version with the hardcoded directory? Please do a tutorial for the orange pi zero 3 😢

Can we please get info or a link to what screen/controllers you used in this video? That's kind of an essential part of this showcase.

Would you be willing to make a written guide for setup? I'm very new to emulation (not to gaming as I repair multiple OEMs). The furthest I dipped my toe into it, is Garlic on RG35XX and Miyoo OS on the PK Q90. If I pick this up it will be my first Pi. Any help is appreciated.

its easy to forget how miles ahead HL2 looked when it came out. it looked then like how cyberpunk looked or like hell blade did.

what is the hdmi display you are using

For a quadcore processor, it's pretty powerful.

Can you do the Orange Pi 5? Would be cool to see if you can get Proton + FEX working

Damn that little things is powerful for the price!

I noticed SanDisk cards have comparability issues with some things for example I tried to use one for my PS2 (I got a hacked memory card that used micro SD) and every other card other than the SanDisk one. For that reason I avoid them.

Just like others... inquiring minds want to know about about the screen and controller setup you used and where can I get it? Gimme gimme gimme! Thanks for all the good stuff you show us. (now gimme!)

Why didn't you use daijisho? Would it work as a front end ? I am considering buying a zero 3 while the prices are low.

Which ram configuration do you recommend for Android gaming and emulation?

This one is a beast if issues were going to solve, and still stays with that price. Just sharing my thoughts. Happy gaming!

Reckon you could go that dajisiri front end (yeah cant spell it) and play a few good titles as a handheld emu station?

Is there a video on that screen? I'm really curious about it

Pirates of Dark Water. LOVED that cartoon as a kid, how's the game?

I’ve had same issue with SanDisk card too on a project.

This is why I can't trust what the Raspberry Pi Foundation says. Every SBC competitor in the world can manage to produce products but them.

What screen and controller are you using?

Can this SBC handle CRT shaders for N64? I've been trying for so long to find the perfect budget device to play up to N64 with crt shaders.. i just can't stand the look of n64 on modern LCDs

Would this be suitable as a content source for an LCD panel with photo and video advertising?

It's amazing that you can match Nintendo Switch CPU performance with this thing!

Could this perhaps be used as a head unit in a car?

I have a device that requires flashing with a high speed card. It might be that the first card you use is not a high speed card.

as far as I know the pinephone pro uses the same chips. So you could try one of there mobile linux builds. The should have hardware acceleration

What screen and controller are you using for this video? Thank you in advance.

Bro, Whats the name of the screen and bluetooth controller that u r using?

Would something like this be good for torrenting and playing on 4k TV? There are free courses and other stuff that I can't download on my TV and I don't want to have my laptop on 24/7 to download files.

15 bucks for something this capable is wild

What screen are you using?

What about the front end lemuroid wonder would that work better

The Grinch game at 11:46 is PS1, not Dreamcast :)

I find that when you flash linux images of SBC it will always end up failing verification because your windows OS can no longer read the partitions. I just move on and plug it in.

It's possible to run Steam Link on this SBC better than a Google TV box like Chromecast 4 or Fire TV Stick?

What is that screen? That's the gamesir controller, right? I want a screen that fits like that.

How are you installing HL and HL2 or are you running through an emulator or RetroArch??

Can i rec speedruns in this "orange pi" with ssd? Like Ubuntu?

You could 3d print a case might be fun to make 🤷🏾‍♂️

Where you get those side controllers?

can you make tutorial for installing dig?

What gamepad controller is your using ?

They went up in price.

How did you do the ADB??

Wish it was actually a 'zero' form factor so I could put it in my gpi.

hopefully they will putnew orange pi os (oh version) which is harmony to run in a 64bit environment

Какую ос лучше поставить, чтобы флешка дольше жила? Например для видео по локалке

What screen are you using? Interested to buy

I will wait from you for a test of ps2 ps3 switch emulators, please do a test

Is there a way to install android 11 or android 10? I tried but the board wont load. I think you need a specific version for this board. Also I have tried the ReArmIt, Retro Orange Pi and no success either 😢

Hello, can you send me the model of the screen or control that you use here?

How good is steamplay & moonlight on this?

It's always crazy to me that these consoles that cost like $200 worth of hardware (not even accounting for the fact they usually sold consoles at a loss, and adjusted for inflation it's around $388 in today's money) can be so easily ran on a $15 little board in the modern era. Makes me wonder if in another 20-30 years we'll be emulating the PS5 on a little $20 SBC lmao

Would running emulators on Linux run slower?

$15 for a small block Chevy? Sign me up!

Does not seem to be for sale anywhere in Europe..

does it do analog (composite) video out, so could I use it on a CRT tv?

I'm assuming a raspberry pi 4 build wouldn't work on this seamlessly right? Dumb question I know but if it can I'd love to swap it over to this. My pi 4 isn't doing so hot haha

Which hdmi screen is that

can you OC it?

It kind of bothers me that on the Amazon store page it sounds like they're using your RU-vid video in their previews. But I don't see a link to this video or even your name

How much ram in the model you got?

I had the same problem with Android 12 on Chromecast...

Too bad that you can't link them together to improve performance. Thanks for the video.

Can you use parsec on it

14:48 what display is that?

This one will be supported in batocera linux 40

i think this would. be a great IPTV device

Hi. I followed the steps of installing Android and was successful in it. I even installed Magisk and gained root access. But now, the pi zero 3 only boots into an Android SD image. When I insert an SD card with a linux disto, there is no LED activity on the board and no display. However, without an SD card it boots into the tiny linux system on the SPI flash which I can see via the display. Do you have any idea why it wouldn't boot into a linux image anymore?