Walnut Pi 2B: New Raspberry Pi alternative sports PCIe and NPU for AI workloads

SBC fans can choose from many different products these days, but the Raspberry Pi 5 (from $68 on Amazon) is arguably the biggest name in this segment. However, the Walnut Pi 2B is a new single-board computer that serves as an alternative to the Raspberry Pi.

It measures approximately 3.3 x 2.2 inches and is powered by an Allwinner T527 SoC. This chipset features eight Cortex-A55 cores and an NPU with 2 TOPs of AI computing power. The soldered memory has 1GB, 2GB or 4GB of capacity depending on the configuration. In terms of mass storage, the Walnut Pi 2B is currently only available with 32GB of eMMC storage, but it does support microSD cards. A single PCIe 2.1 lane is available, which means that an NVMe SSD can be connected.

The little computer is further is equipped with a 40-pin color-coded header, while USB 3.0 and three USB 2.0 ports can be used for connecting external storage devices or accessories. Moreover, the Walnut Pi 2B has a microHDMI 2.0a port that can provide a 4K 60Hz signal.

MIPI DSI and MIPI CSI are also available and can be used to hook up a camera or display. Additionally, the single-board computer offers Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 6. It can be powered either via PoE or USB Type-C. The Walnut Pi 2B was briefly listed on AliExpress for prices around $50.