Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini Review: A Tiny & Fast 2.5GbE router board

Operation

We have been given the BPI-R3 Mini, which comes equipped with a 20W USB-C PD power adapter. This adapter is truly exceptional, as it features an integrated smart chip that intelligently adapts the current to perfectly suit the requirements of your device. It also offers the convenience of adjustable voltages, with options ranging from 5V-3A, 9V-2.22A, to 12V-1.67A. With such versatility and sophistication, this power adapter is a true standout feature of the BPI-R3 Mini.

Banana Pi R3 Mini Power Adaptor

After conducting extensive tests, we have determined that the device’s CPU operates optimally within a temperature range of 52-64℃ (Maximum). The small fan inside the case is controlled by Pulse-width modulation (PWM). It kicks in when there is a change in CPU load or when the temperature exceeds a specific threshold. This fan plays a crucial role in gradually reducing the operating temperature of the device to a very reasonable ~53℃.

Moreover, we have found that the CPU cores are utilized at approximately 26-28% capacity during normal operation, resulting in superior performance and efficiency.

Banana Pi R3 Mini | CPU Load Information

BPI R3 Mini CPU Load
BPI R3 Mini (CPU Load Information)

Hardware

The Banana Pi BPI-R3 mini boasts impressive power, thanks to its robust quad-core ARM MT7986A (Filogic 830) processor. With this advanced 12 nm process technology, it delivers outstanding processing capabilities, seamlessly integrating a highly efficient CPU, GPU, AI processing unit, and a comprehensive connectivity module.

Featuring a robust 2GB of DDR4 memory, this router ensures flawless and effortless performance, even when confronted with numerous devices and extensive network traffic. This device boasts an array of remarkable features including 8GB eMMC storage, M.2 interfaces (B&M) for enhanced functionality, a Nano SIM slot for hassle-free connectivity, two 2.5G Ethernet ports for high-speed networking, and integrated onboard dual-band Wi-Fi 6 support for smooth wireless connectivity.

Checking Memory Usage

root@OpenWrt:/# free
              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:        2041900      274420     1507116        4504      260364     1709152
Swap:             0 

Checking Available system resources

root@OpenWrt:~# cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:        2041900 kB
MemFree:         1597196 kB
MemAvailable:    1788732 kB
Buffers:          162996 kB
Cached:            68448 kB
SwapCached:            0 kB
Active:           203904 kB
Inactive:          36444 kB
Active(anon):       9592 kB
Inactive(anon):     2764 kB
Active(file):     194312 kB
Inactive(file):    33680 kB
Unevictable:           0 kB
Mlocked:               0 kB
SwapTotal:             0 kB
SwapFree:              0 kB
Dirty:                 0 kB
Writeback:             0 kB
AnonPages:          8904 kB
Mapped:            14948 kB
Shmem:              3452 kB
KReclaimable:      17200 kB
Slab:              79536 kB
SReclaimable:      17200 kB
SUnreclaim:        62336 kB
KernelStack:        2048 kB
PageTables:          796 kB
NFS_Unstable:          0 kB
Bounce:                0 kB
WritebackTmp:          0 kB
CommitLimit:     1020948 kB
Committed_AS:      23568 kB
VmallocTotal:   262930368 kB
VmallocUsed:       42876 kB
VmallocChunk:          0 kB
Percpu:              608 kB

Result: The OpenWrt OS efficiently uses around 4.5GB of the available 2GB RAM, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization.

Result: The OpenWrt OS efficiently uses around 4.5GB of the available 2GB RAM, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization.

CPU Information

root@OpenWrt:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
model name      : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS        : 26.00
Features        : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant     : 0x0
CPU part        : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 4

processor       : 1
model name      : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS        : 26.00
Features        : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant     : 0x0
CPU part        : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 4

processor       : 2
model name      : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS        : 26.00
Features        : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant     : 0x0
CPU part        : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 4

processor       : 3
model name      : ARMv8 Processor rev 4 (v8l)
BogoMIPS        : 26.00
Features        : fp asimd evtstrm aes pmull sha1 sha2 crc32 cpuid
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 8
CPU variant     : 0x0
CPU part        : 0xd03
CPU revision    : 4

Finding all storage devices

root@OpenWrt:/# lsblk -o KNAME,TYPE,SIZE,MODEL
root@OpenWrt:/mnt# lsblk -o KNAME,TYPE,SIZE,MODEL
KNAME        TYPE   SIZE MODEL
mtdblock0    disk   128M
mtdblock1    disk     1M
mtdblock2    disk   512K
mtdblock3    disk     2M
mtdblock4    disk     2M
mtdblock5    disk   4.5M
mtdblock6    disk     2M
mtdblock7    disk     2M
mtdblock8    disk    32M
mtdblock9    disk     1G
mtdblock10   disk 980.3M
mtdblock11   disk     2G
mtdblock12   disk   4.2G
mmcblk0      disk   7.3G
mmcblk0p1    part    17K
mmcblk0p2    part   512K
mmcblk0p3    part     2M
mmcblk0p4    part     2M
mmcblk0p5    part    32M
mmcblk0p6    part   256M
mmcblk0boot0 disk     4M
mmcblk0boot1 disk     4M
nvme0n1      disk 476.9G SAMSUNG MZ9LQ512HBLU-00B00
nvme0n1p1    part 476.9G

More detailed information about the storage devices

root@OpenWrt:/# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/mtdblock0: 128 MiB, 134217728 bytes, 262144 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock1: 1 MiB, 1048576 bytes, 2048 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock2: 512 KiB, 524288 bytes, 1024 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock3: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock4: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
The backup GPT table is not on the end of the device.

Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 7.28 GiB, 7818182656 bytes, 15269888 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 2BD17853-102B-4500-AA1A-8A21D4D7984D

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1 0 33 34 17K Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p2 8192 9215 1024 512K Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p3 9216 13311 4096 2M Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p4 13312 17407 4096 2M Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p5 17408 82943 65536 32M Linux filesystem
/dev/mmcblk0p6 82944 607231 524288 256M Linux filesystem

Disk /dev/mtdblock5: 4.5 MiB, 4718592 bytes, 9216 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mtdblock5p1 1 4294967295 4294967295 2T ee GPT

Disk /dev/mtdblock6: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock7: 2 MiB, 2097152 bytes, 4096 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock8: 32 MiB, 33554432 bytes, 65536 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock9: 1 GiB, 1073741824 bytes, 2097152 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock10: 980.31 MiB, 1027932160 bytes, 2007680 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock11: 2 GiB, 2147483648 bytes, 4194304 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock12: 4.24 GiB, 4554489856 bytes, 8895488 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini specifications

  • SoC – MediaTek MT7986A (Filogic 830) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores @ 2 GHz
  • Memory – 2GB DDR4 RAM
  • Internal Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, NAND flash, support for (a short) M.2 NVMe SSD
  • 1 x USB 2.0 Type-C port
  • 2x 2.5GbE RJ45 ports via Airoha controllers
  • Wi-Fi 6 via MediaTek MT7976C (2.4GHz: 574Mbps + 5GHz: 2402Mbps)
  • 4x u.FL antenna connectors
  • Expansion: 1x M.2 B-Key socket + 1x M.2 M-Key socket
  • Debugging – 3-pin Debug UART header for serial console
  • 1x DC power input
  • 1x Nano SIM card slot
  • Misc – 6x LEDs, fan header, NAND/eMMC boot switch
  • Power Supply – Via USB-C PD port
  • Board Dimensions: 65x65mm
  • Metal Case Dimension: 69x69mm

Banana Pi BPI-R3 vs. Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini

Banana Pi BPI-R3 vs. Banana Pi BPI-R4

Model

Banana Pi BPI-R3

Banana Pi BPI-R3 Mini

-

Banana Pi BPI R3
Banana Pi BPI R3 Mini SBC

Hardware features

CPU

MediaTek MT7986

(Filogic 830)

MediaTek MT7986

(Filogic 830)

RAM Configurations

2 GB (DDR4)

2 GB (DDR4)

CPU architecture

Cortex-A53

(64-bit SoC)

Cortex-A73

(64-bit SoC)

Core number

4

4

CPU Frequency (Max)

4x2.00 GHz

4x2.00 GHz

26 PIN GPIO Header

check mark icon
cross mark icon

Interfaces

• 1x M.2 Key-M socket
• 1x Mini PCIe slot

• 1x M.2 Key B USB interface
• 1x M.2 KEY M PCIe interface

Micro SD (TF) Card Slot

check mark icon
check mark icon

8GB eMMC onboard storage

check mark icon
check mark icon

128MB SPI-NAND Flash

check mark icon
check mark icon

32MB SPI NOR Flash

check mark icon
cross mark icon

Boot switch

check mark icon
check mark icon

(NAND/eMMC boot switch)

USB port

1x USB 3.0 Type-A port

1x USB 2.0 Type-A port

Integrated WiFi

Wi-Fi 6 4x4 2.4G Wifi(MT7975N) +4x4 5G Wifi(MT7975P)

Wi-Fi 6 2x2 2.4G + 3x3 5G(MT7976C)

Antennas

8 Antennas

3 Antennas

3 Pin debug serial port (UART)

check mark icon
check mark icon

Buttons

• 1x Boot switch

• 1x WPS

• 1x Reset

• 1x Boot switch
• 1x WPS

• 1x Reset

Ethernet

• 5x 1GbE RJ45 Ethernet
• 2x SFP 2.5GbE port

2x 2.5GbE RJ45 Ethernet 

PCIe Interfaces

1

1

SIM Support

x1 Micro SIM

x1 Nano SIM

Dimensions

100.5x148mm

65x65mm

Weight

200g

100g

Power Interface

DC (5521) 12V 12A

DC 12V/1.67A DC via USB-C

RTC Battery Interface

cross mark icon
cross mark icon

OS

Ubuntu/Debian/OpenWrt

Astimate Price

Starting at $91

Starting at $70

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
zhang
1 year ago

5G外壳 ,希望能采纳

AndroidPIMP
Logo