Raspberry Pi 400 AiO PC cranks it up to 1.8GHz

RPi Trading has an all-in-one multifunctional keyboard computer, the Raspberry Pi 400, worth $70 to $100, with an RPi 4 motherboard (without USB 2.0 and MIPI DSI/CSI) and improved thermostats that allow faster SoC control at 1.8 GHz.

Last year’s Raspberry Pi 4 SBC is available in an optional $120 configuration of the Raspberry Pi 4 Desktop Kit that provides 4 GB of Pi 4 in the case, power supply and mouse/keyboard combination. The Raspberry Pi Foundation and Raspberry Pi Trading have now delivered a $100 equivalent product that skips the case and packs the RPi 4 into the keyboard as a motherboard.


Raspberry Pi 400 (left) and complete set
(click on the images to enlarge).

Even better: The Pi 400 raspberry has a new Broadcom BCM2711 with the same four Cortex-A72 cores, but rotated from 1.5 GHz to 1.8 GHz. Although currently limited to 4GB LPDDR4-3200 instead of the maximum of 8GB available on Raspberry Pi 4 and RPi 4 based systems such as the CrowPi2 laptop, the Raspberry Pi 400 is currently the fastest Pi available.

The Raspberry Pi 400 is equipped with a Bluetooth keyboard very similar to the existing option and also has a new large thermal spray unit to cool the processor faster. A 286 x 122 x 23 mm computer is available for $70 or $100 for the Raspberry Pi 400 personal computer kit. Includes mouse, power supply, user manual, HDMI to HDMI micro cable and 16GB microSD memory card with Raspberry Pi operating system pre-installed.


Crimson Pi 400 detail view
(click photo to enlarge)

Installed on one side of the 78 or 79 keys compact keyboard (depending on the regional version) you will find 2x USB 3.0, 2x Micro-HDMI up to 4Kp60 and a GbE connector. Other features include a microSD slot, 40-pin external GPIO, USB Type-C with 5V input and dual-band standard 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0 with LE. The operating range is between 0 and 50°C.


PCB Pi 400 Crimson, front and back in source Jeff Geerling-Teardown
: Jeff Goerling
(click on the images to enlarge)

Only one of the two USB 2.0 ports is available in RPI 4, the other controls the keyboard and has no MIPI DSI or CSI interface. According to RPi Trading, when opening the file you run the risk of damaging the product and void the warranty. However, Jeff Goerling opened the file without much effort, although he did advise dealing with IPOC. The analysis report shows a long rectangular motherboard which, apart from the absence of MIPI, seems to offer almost the same components as the RPi 4.


Top view (left) of raspberry Pi 400 and bottom view of heat diffuser
by Jeff Geerling (click on photo to enlarge)

According to the Phoronix criteria the girls scored about 18% higher than RPi 4. It would be nice to finally see Raspberry Pi 4B+ SBC with the new Broadcom BCM2711 at 1.8 GHz and a version of Raspberry Pi 400 with 8 GB RAM. In the meantime, here is a simple addition to the Christmas shopping list.

Unpacking raspberries Pi 400

Additional information

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The Crimson Pi 400 is available for $70 or $100 for a complete Raspberry Pi 400 personal computer kit. Keyboard options include UK, US, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and power supplies support UK, US, EU, India and ANZ formats. The product is currently available in configurations for the UK, USA and France. Accessibility is expected to increase in the coming weeks and months and reach a global level in early 2021.

More detailed information can be found in the announcement on the blog of RPi Trading CEO Eben Upton, as well as on the product page, which contains a link to the purchase pages. For the American models we currently only see the full $100 kit, which is available at places like
OKDO and PiShop in the United States. Delivery is usually within 5 to 10 working days.

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