A rumor started by the a member n the FaceBook O-Pi group stated that the Arm H3 CPU is going to be discontinued because “It’s showing its age” and “The H5 will is far more advanced than the H3!”
 
Though there is some truth to this, it is far from being discontinued. Not at least for another few more years. Again, as stated many times, the H3 is a 32Bit Quad Core CPU, and the H5 is a 64Bit Quad Core CPU. Linux on the H5 (though software compatible to the H3) is not perfect, as it is on the H3. There are also issues with the Mali 450 Quad Core CPU as used on the H5. There is some issue with the 64bit implementation on certain features. Something similar is happening with Linux on Intel because of the implementation of 64Bits on their CPUs and Video GPUs (nVida and Intel are not supporting Linux for their GPUs). One can try to run it on emulation mode and stay compatible with the H3.
 
The H5 is backwards software compatible with the H3; and that is how I believe it should be so one can still have access to the software library. It is like with the old Apple IIs and Mac 68K and PowerPCs, in keeping backwards software compatibility, they were able to keep running for many years after their first release!
 
Mind you readers, these chips are not only in Pi systems, but also on Android Tablets and Smartphones. There are literally billions of Android tablets and Smartphones out there. And though the majority of them are A20 Dual Cores and H3 Quard Cores, they are software compatible with each other. And they are still software compatible with the A7 Single Core CPU as used on the oldest of Tablets AND the Raspberry Pi systems. And most importantly, the H8 is an Octa-Core (8 Cores!) version of the H3, and is 32bit. It does not have the software problems the H5 has. The R58 is also an Octa-Core system which uses the A7 CPU and is 32Bit as well. The H5 uses the A53, as used on the 64Bit Raspberry Pi 3, but the A53 on the Raspberry Pi does not have the software issues as the H5 does on the other systems. This is because the GPU used on the R-Pi 3 remained the same as with the other R-Pies, and they are still using the 32Bit Code on the OS, keeping software compatibility on all the R-Pi systems. Orange Pi on the other hand tried to release a New OS for their 64Bit Systems and fall flat on their face. They should have kept using the older 32Bit code just to keep things going and upgrade to 64Bit Code when they ironed out all the bugs.
 
So this one guy is shouting out for everyone to abandon the H3 O-Pi systems and go for the H5 O-Pi systems. And he is blowing this horn very loudly! He even posted a link to buy H5 O-Pi systems on of all places: eBay! I clicked on the link and looked at it. It was Ebay, and it claims to be a US Seller. But the H5 O-Pi systems there are being sold are at double or triple the price of AliExpress! The H5 O-Pi Zero they are selling on Ebay is almost $45 ($38 + shipping! Most places on eBay has Free Shipping, this guy does not!).
 
With a bit of research, it turns out that HE (or his friend) is this eBay Seller he linked on the O-Pi list!
 
I pointed it out on the list that the prices are double that of AliExpress. He posted up the Next Day, “Oh if you want to wait 3 weeks for your item to arrive - blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...” I posted that I can wait. He was not too happy with that! And others are posting the same thing and complaining about there not being any customer support for their boards through him. He is just a seller. He probably bought them in bulk from AliExpress and think he can sell them just like that to the US Market on eBay. At least you can email or call AliExpress about your purchase and they are helpful! In fact, when I bought the O-Pi Zeros from AliExpress, they called me to see if I received the purchase and if I was happy with it! I told that I did not get it yet and they replied that if I did not get it within a week, that they would send me another set for free. Lucky for everyone the package came in the next day. And many other AliExpress buyers who got the O-Pi from AliExpress say the same thing.
 
As soon as I can get some money together, I will buy an H5 and H3 O-Pi Zero and maybe some other H5 O-Pi system (O-Pi PC2, O-Pi Prime or O-Pi Win Plus. But I will not buy them through this jerk!
 
Live and learn, let the buyer beware.