# FriendlyElec NanoPi M5

> Compact 90×62mm RK3576 SBC with up to 16GB LPDDR5, dual Gigabit Ethernet, UFS 2.0 storage, M.2 NVMe, 6 TOPS NPU, and USB-C PD — FriendlyElec's octa-core edge AI developer board.

## Quick Facts

- **Brand:** FriendlyElec
- **Price:** ~$65
- **CPU:** ARM Cortex-A72 ×4 @ 2.2GHz + Cortex-A53 ×4 @ 1.8GHz
- **CPU Architecture:** ARM big.LITTLE (Cortex-A72 + A53)
- **CPU Cores:** 8
- **RAM:** 4GB LPDDR4X / 8GB or 16GB LPDDR5
- **Flash:** UFS 2.0 (optional) + 16MB SPI NOR + M.2 NVMe (PCIe)
- **USB:** 2× USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, 1× USB-C (PD 6–20V)
- **Power:** USB-C PD 6–20V
- **Operating Voltage:** 3.3V GPIO
- **Operating Temp:** 0°C to 70°C
- **Dimensions:** 90 × 62 × 1.6mm
- **SD Card:** microSD (UHS-I)

## Connectivity

- **Ethernet:** 2× Gigabit Ethernet

## Use Cases

- edge-ai
- iot-gateway
- home-server
- embedded-linux
- arm-sbc-development
- computer-vision

## Components

- **RK3576** (soc): Rockchip RK3576: 4× Cortex-A72 @ 2.2GHz + 4× Cortex-A53 @ 1.8GHz, Mali-G52 MC3 GPU, 6 TOPS NPU (INT4/8/16/FP16), 8K@30fps H.265/VP9 decode. — [Datasheet](https://openhardware.directory/r?to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rock-chips.com%2Fa%2Fen%2Fproducts%2FRK35_Series%2F2024%2F0322%2F1299.html&ref=openhardware.directory&product=friendlyelec-nanopi-m5&source=md-export)
- **Mali-G52 MC3** (gpu): ARM Mali-G52 MC3 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, Vulkan 1.2, and OpenCL 2.0. — [Datasheet](https://openhardware.directory/r?to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.arm.com%2FProcessors%2FMali-G52&ref=openhardware.directory&product=friendlyelec-nanopi-m5&source=md-export)

## GPIO Map

| Pin | Name | Type | Functions |
|-----|------|------|-----------|
| Pin 3 | I2C0_SDA | I2C | digital-input, digital-output, i2c |
| Pin 5 | I2C0_SCL | I2C | digital-input, digital-output, i2c |
| Pin 8 | UART_TX | UART | digital-output, uart |
| Pin 10 | UART_RX | UART | digital-input, uart |
| Pin 11 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 13 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 15 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 16 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 18 | SPI_CLK | SPI | digital-output, spi |
| Pin 19 | SPI_MOSI | SPI | digital-output, spi |
| Pin 21 | SPI_MISO | SPI | digital-input, spi |
| Pin 22 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 24 | SPI_CSn | SPI | digital-output, spi |
| Pin 27 | I2C1_SDA | I2C | digital-input, digital-output, i2c |
| Pin 28 | I2C1_SCL | I2C | digital-input, digital-output, i2c |
| Pin 29 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 30 | GPIO | GPIO | digital-input, digital-output |
| Pin 32 | PWM | PWM | digital-output, pwm |
| Pin 33 | PWM | PWM | digital-output, pwm |
| Pin 35 | I2S_SDI | I2S | digital-input, i2s |

## Description

## Overview

The NanoPi M5 is FriendlyElec's compact developer board built around the Rockchip RK3576 — an octa-core SoC combining four Cortex-A72 performance cores with four Cortex-A53 efficiency cores, a Mali-G52 MC3 GPU, and a 6 TOPS NPU for INT4/INT8/INT16/FP16 edge AI inference.

Memory is available in three configurations: 4GB LPDDR4X or 8GB/16GB LPDDR5, with optional UFS 2.0 flash for high-speed sequential storage alongside the standard M.2 M-Key NVMe socket and 16MB SPI NOR flash. A microSD slot rounds out storage options. Dual native Gigabit Ethernet ports make it suitable for IoT gateway and light router workloads without external adapters.

The board outputs video via a single HDMI port supporting up to 4096×2304@60Hz, and supports dual MIPI CSI camera interfaces and dual MIPI DSI display connectors for embedded display applications. A 30-pin GPIO header exposes four UARTs, three I2C buses, two SPI buses, PWM, and 20 general-purpose GPIO lines, with an M.2 E-Key slot for optional SDIO WiFi/BT modules.

Armbian, Ubuntu, Debian, Android, and FriendlyWrt are all supported. The NanoPi M5 fits the same aluminum enclosure family as other NanoPi boards, making it well-suited for compact edge AI inference, smart gateway, NAS, and industrial control deployments.

## Where to Buy

- [FriendlyElec](https://openhardware.directory/r?to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.friendlyelec.com%2Findex.php%3Froute%3Dproduct%2Fproduct%26product_id%3D309&ref=openhardware.directory&product=friendlyelec-nanopi-m5&source=md-export) — 65.00

## Resources

- [product](https://openhardware.directory/r?to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.friendlyelec.com%2Findex.php%3Froute%3Dproduct%2Fproduct%26product_id%3D309&ref=openhardware.directory&product=friendlyelec-nanopi-m5&source=md-export)
- [wiki](https://openhardware.directory/r?to=https%3A%2F%2Fwiki.friendlyelec.com%2Fwiki%2Findex.php%2FNanoPi_M5&ref=openhardware.directory&product=friendlyelec-nanopi-m5&source=md-export)
- [datasheet](https://openhardware.directory/r?to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rock-chips.com%2Fa%2Fen%2Fproducts%2FRK35_Series%2F2024%2F0322%2F1299.html&ref=openhardware.directory&product=friendlyelec-nanopi-m5&source=md-export)

## Tags

`rk3576`, `linux`, `arm`, `sbc`, `npu`, `friendlyelec`, `rockchip`, `edge-ai`, `lpddr5`

## Images

![FriendlyElec NanoPi M5](https://nbg1.your-objectstorage.com/openhardware-directory/entities/friendlyelec-nanopi-m5/fb41ae0d1949.jpg)
![FriendlyElec NanoPi M5](https://nbg1.your-objectstorage.com/openhardware-directory/entities/friendlyelec-nanopi-m5/e4e3dde9811d.jpg)

---
[View full device page](https://openhardware.directory/devices/friendlyelec-nanopi-m5)