The Maix4-HAT is a rather unusual system, which, as the name HAT suggests, can be used either as an expansion board for a Raspberry Pi or as a stand-alone system. An AX650 chip is installed, which provides INT4 performance of 72 TOPS and is reportedly capable of delivering 18 TOPS at INT8. The 56 x 65 millimeter board is said to be able to accelerate a wide range of AI-related applications, including (special) DeepSeek models as well as Qwen3. According to the manufacturer, the system cannot be used to accelerate LLMs. Instead, it can be used for image content analysis, such as automated object recognition in a surveillance camera.

The board is equipped with eight A55 processor cores, each running at up to 1.7 GHz, and 8 GB of RAM. A USB 3.0 port is available for connecting other devices, and there are also I2C ports on the underside of the board, as well as an SPI port for a monitor. The PCIe connection, which is used to connect to a Raspberry Pi, is located on the back. There are also connectors for a fan and speakers, as well as HDMI port in mini format.

The price given by Sipeed is HK$ 1,174.21 (approximately $149) on AliExpress, but it currently appears to be unavailable at the time of writing.
 

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Editor of the original article: Silvio Werner – Senior Tech Writer – 14615 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2017

I have been active as a journalist for over 10 years, most of it in the field of technology. I worked for Tom’s Hardware and ComputerBase, among others, and have been working for Notebookcheck since 2017. My current focus is particularly on mini PCs and single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi – so in other words, compact systems with a lot of potential. In addition, I have a soft spot for all kinds of wearables, especially smartwatches. My main profession is as a laboratory engineer, which is why neither scientific contexts nor the interpretation of complex measurements are foreign to me.

Translator: Jacob Fisher – Translator – 1938 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022

Growing up in regional Australia, I first became acquainted with computers in my early teens after a broken leg from a football (soccer) match temporarily condemned me to a predominately indoor lifestyle. Soon afterwards I was building my own systems. Now I live in Germany, having moved here in 2014, where I study philosophy and anthropology. I am particularly fascinated by how computer technology has fundamentally and dramatically reshaped human culture, and how it continues to do so.