Khadas VIM3 vs Radxa ROCK 5C

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The Khadas VIM3 scores 6.6/10 overall, ahead of the Radxa ROCK 5C at 6.5/10.

The Khadas VIM3 leads on software support, storage and I/O and networking.

The Radxa ROCK 5C leads on performance and value.

The biggest difference is storage, where the Khadas VIM3 scores 8/10 to the Radxa ROCK 5C's 5/10.

Khadas VIM3

6.6/10verdict: buy

The Khadas VIM3 is for tinkerers who want a six-core Arm board with NVMe support and a 40-pin header. It suits media, display and embedded projects where the NPU and flexible storage matter. It is less suited to anyone who wants a board that runs cool with no extra cooling.

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Radxa ROCK 5C

6.5/10verdict: good, not the best

The ROCK 5C is for homelabbers and developers who want a lot of CPU and RAM in a small board. It suits people who are happy to follow Radxa's own Debian and Android images or the third-party systems listed for it. It is a weaker fit if you want native M.2 storage.

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Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	Khadas VIM3	Radxa ROCK 5C
Software support	30%	6/10	5/10
Performance	25%	7/10	9/10
Storage	15%	8/10	5/10
I/O and networking	15%	7/10	6/10
Value	15%	5/10	7/10
Overall		6.6/10	6.5/10

Specifications

Spec	Khadas VIM3	Radxa ROCK 5C
Processor (SoC)	Amlogic A311D, four Cortex-A73 cores at 2.2GHz and two Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz, with 5 TOPS NPU	Rockchip RK3588S2
Memory	2GB or 4GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X	4GB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB; V1.1 uses LPDDR4X, V2.1 uses LPDDR5
Storage options	eMMC 5.1 16GB or 32GB, micro-SD slot, M.2 2280 socket for NVMe (PCIe 2.0 x1)	1x eMMC connector, 1x microSD card slot, no SPI flash; no native M.2 slot; PCIe 2.1 1-lane via FPC connector
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet with Wake-on-LAN; AP6398S 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0	Gigabit Ethernet (PoE via optional HAT), WiFi 6, BT 5.4 with external antenna connector
GPIO	40-pin GPIO header, 2.54mm pitch	40-pin header, Raspberry Pi-style layout, 3.3V logic, up to 27 GPIO
Video outputs	HDMI with CEC, MIPI-DSI display interface, touch-panel connector	1x HDMI 2.1 up to 8K, 1x MIPI DSI up to 2K
Power input	VIN connector 5–12V; USB-C port 5–20V USB Power Delivery input	5V via USB Type-C; at least 10W recommended, 25W with full USB and PCIe load

Strengths and weaknesses

Khadas VIM3

+ M.2 NVMe socket alongside eMMC and microSD
+ Six-core A311D with NPU; owners praise efficiency
+ Several official OS images, including mainline Linux
− Owners report heat and instability without a fan
− Power delivery quirks reported, including bootloops and shutdowns
− RAM stops at 4GB

Skip it if:

Buyers who want a fanless, cool-running board with no extra cooling
Anyone needing more than 4GB of RAM
Builders who can't test and choose their power supply carefully

Read the full Khadas VIM3 review ›

Radxa ROCK 5C

+ Eight-core RK3588S2 with 6 TOPS NPU
+ RAM options from 4GB up to 32GB
+ Raspberry Pi-style 40-pin header
− No native M.2 slot; microSD bottlenecks storage
− No power supply in the box
− PCIe drive stays powered when board is off

Skip it if:

Buyers who want a native M.2 NVMe slot on the board
Buyers who want a power supply included in the box

Read the full Radxa ROCK 5C review ›

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