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Voltarum Mini PC Guide
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Orange Pi · Orange Pi · 2023

Orange Pi Zero 3

Good budget option

A 5 cm board with Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi for very little money: Pi-hole, VPN or print server.

Processor
Allwinner H618
RAM
1 / 1.5 / 2 / 4 GB
Network
1 × 1 GbE
Drive slots
0

Great fit for: No use rated great

—

Researched from manufacturer data and public reviews; not tested by us.· Last reviewed Oct 28, 2026

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What it is good for

Derived from the specs

Our rules applied to its specs. The reasons come from the data in the specification table. How the verdicts are decided

  • Home AssistantLimited
    • Home Assistant OS needs a community build
    • microSD or USB storage only: use a USB SSD for reliability
    • Low power for 24/7 use
  • Media serverLimited
    • Hardware encoder for H.264 only
    • Decodes HEVC 10-bit in hardware, not AV1
  • Homelab / ProxmoxLimited
    • Arm processor: Docker works, Proxmox VE does not
  • Router / firewallLimited
    • One network port: only as a 'router on a stick' with VLANs and a managed switch
  • NASLimited
    • No internal drive slot: USB drives only
  • DesktopLimited
    • Linux desktop on Arm: fine for browsing, coding and learning, slow with heavy sites
  • Electronics / GPIOGood
    • GPIO header
    • Raspberry Pi HATs and libraries do not always work unchanged

Configurations and where to buy

Prices are editorial references (launch price and a typical street price on the date shown), not live prices. In 2026 the memory shortage has pushed many prices well above launch.

Prices are shown only if updated in the last 24 hours and may change; the retailer’s price at checkout applies. We may earn a commission from these links at no cost to you. Affiliate disclosure

Overview

Editorial opinion

Best for: One small network service, wired, for the price of a lunch.

Editorial opinionWould we buy it today?

Yes for Pi-hole, WireGuard or similar on a shoestring.

Pros and cons

Editorial opinion

Pros

  • Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi 5
  • Tiny and cheap
  • Up to 4 GB

Cons

  • microSD only
  • 26-pin header, not the Pi's 40 pins
  • No Home Assistant OS image

Specifications

Factual data
General
Manufacturer
Orange Pi
Type
Single-board computer
Form factor
Zero-size board
Released
2023
Availability
On sale
Processor and graphics
Processor
Allwinner H618Arm (64-bit) · Cortex-A53
Cores / threads
4 / 44× Cortex-A53
Max clock
1.5 GHz
Graphics
Arm Mali-G31 MP2
Hardware video decode
H.264, HEVC 8-bit, HEVC 10-bit (HDR), VP9
Hardware video encode
H.264
Memory and storage
RAM options
1 / 1.5 / 2 / 4 GB
RAM type
LPDDR4
RAM upgrades
Soldered, cannot be upgraded
M.2 slots
0
microSD slot
Yes
Network
Ethernet
1 × 1 GbE1× GbE
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth
5.0
Displays, USB and expansion
Displays at once
1
Video outputs
1× micro-HDMI (4K)
USB
1× USB 2.0, more on a 13-pin header
USB4 / Thunderbolt
No
GPIO header
Yes
Power, cooling and size
Power input
USB-C 5 V
Power supply
External adapter
Cooling
Bare board: heatsink or fan sold apart
Size (W × D × H)
55 × 50 mm

Allwinner H618: A cheap TV-box chip used on tiny boards: fine for Pi-hole, a print server or a VPN.

Source: Manufacturer specifications

Software support

Editorial opinion

How well each system installs and runs on it today (editorial assessment).

  • Windows 11Not supported
  • Linux (Debian, Ubuntu or vendor image)Good
  • Proxmox VENot supported
  • Home Assistant OSPoor
  • OPNsense / pfSense / OpenWrtWorks with effort

Measured

Factual data

Measured values with their source. We never invent figures.

No measured values yet.

Alternatives

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi 5

Processor
Broadcom BCM2712
RAM
16 GB
Network
1 × 1 GbE

Great fit for: Electronics / GPIO

The reference board: two to three times a Pi 4, PCIe for an NVMe SSD and the best software of any SBC.

from $78 (typical price)Highly recommended

Radxa

Radxa X4

Processor
Intel N100
RAM
16 GB
Network
1 × 2.5 GbE

Great fit for: Home Assistant · Media server

An Intel N100 PC in Raspberry Pi size, with a Pi-style GPIO header driven by an RP2040.

—Recommended

Other boards

ZimaSpace ZimaBoard 2

Processor
Intel N150
RAM
16 GB
Network
2 × 2.5 GbE

Great fit for: Home Assistant · Media server · Router / firewall

A silent, fanless N150 board in an aluminium case with two Intel 2.5 GbE ports, two SATA ports and a PCIe slot.

from $279 (typical price)Recommended