Just ran into this video the other day, a review for the Orange Pi Zero 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_7C2nOU3e8 It shows what they added to the O-Pi Zero and it's improvements. The one thing I do not get it the number of cores it has. The Second Gen O-Pi Zero has either a H3 or H5 CPU which has an A53 in it, which is a Quad Core ARM CPU. This third Gen is using an H616 CPU which boasts a quad core of A53s in it. So does it have 4 cores or 16 cores in it?
Other enhancements include:
GPU: Mali G31 MP2
RAM: 512MB or 1GB DDR3
Network: 1000M Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g/n/AC, BlueTooth 5.0
All in the same footprint of the O-Pi Zero footprint form factor, pin compatible with the few hats and cases made for the O-Pi Zero, and under $20 for the board ( $16 for the 512MB and $19 for the 1GB boards ).
From Aliexpress:
$16 512MB O-Pi Zero 2
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001692374248.html $19 1GB O-Pi Zero 2
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001652164182.html (Search AliExpress:
https://www.aliexpress.com/af/orange-pi-zero-2.html )
From Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08M9MWZCQ/ (Either 512MB or 1GB can be selected from the page by clicking on the icon. But they charge $15 shipping!!!)
The reviewer complains about a few things about Android running on it (it is the Chinese version of it) and a few minor issues with Ubuntu and another system, but when he started emulating game systems on it, he was shocked in what it can do! It emulated systems that many other boards, including the Raspberry Pi 4 can not do!
I do not have a O-Pi Zero 2, not yet, but when I do, I will be posing a review on the forum. Now to save up those pennies.
Note: The O-Pi Zero 2 came out this last summer, so there will be a few kinks and bugs in it like all other new systems. They should be ironed out soon enough.