Libre Computer Alta review: A mediocre SBC plagued by some weird issues

Following the massive success of the first Raspberry Pi, several manufacturers have cropped up in the Single-Board Computer space, with each company putting its own spin on the classic SBC formula. Libre Computer is one such manufacturer, and while it’s not as popular as Radxa, Orange Pi, Odroid, or other Raspberry Pi rivals, it offers some cool boards with unique functionalities.

The Libre Computer Alta AML-A311D-CC is one such SBC, which bears a built-in 5 TOPS AI accelerator as its standout feature. Since you can mess around with TensorFlow Lite drivers, the Alta AI can be tempting for machine learning enthusiasts who wish to harness the power of AI in their computing projects… or so you’d think. Unfortunately, Libre Computer has cut quite a few corners when designing the product, with the low RAM capacity and compatibility issues standing out as sore thumbs in what could have been a decent SBC.

About this review: I bought the Libre Computer Alta a few months ago to satisfy the tinkerer residing in my head. The company had zero input into the contents of this article, nor did it view its contents before publishing.

Not the best SBC out there

Libre Computer Alta

Built for budget DIY experts, the Libre Computer Alta is an affordable SBC that crams four Tensor Cores and eight Neuro Cores into a miniature chassis. It also has an AI accelerator that can deliver 5 TOPS of performance, though app compatibility is another issue althogether.

Pros

• Armed with a 5 TOPS AI accelerator
• Includes a full-size HDMI port

Cons

• Limited number of compatible operating systems
• Performance issues and prone to microstutters
• RAM is limited to 4GB
• No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity

Price, specifications, and availability

Unlike typical SBCs, the Libre Computer Alta is only available in a 4GB model. It debuted last year with a $60 price tag and costs about the same on Amazon and LoverRPi.

Appearance and port selection

A cool-looking board in the typical Raspberry Pi form-factor

The Libre Computer Alta has the same dimensions as mainline Raspberry Pi boards, though it rocks an all-white chassis instead of the typical green or blue color schemes. While its port selection isn’t as expansive as the Radxa X4’s, the SBC has its fair share of connectivity options — at least as far as physical ports are concerned. Rather than featuring a mixture of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 sockets, the Alta has four USB Type-A 3.0 ports alongside a 1 Gigabit RJ45 connection. Display-wise, you’re looking at a single full-sized HDMI connector, which supports 4K HDR output, and you also get a dedicated 3.5mm audio jack near the bottom.

Aside from that, the Alta AML-A311D-CC is equipped with 40-pin GPIO pinouts and some extra pins for UART and PoE connectivity. You also get a DSI port and a CSI connection to interface display and camera modules with the SBC. The lack of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is a bummer, and so is the absence of a dedicated M.2 SSD slot.

Software

Not too many compatible operating systems

The OS compatibility and app support can make or break an SBC, and the Alta has a decent collection of images on its support page. Or that’s how it would appear at first glance. Unfortunately, many of the images haven’t been updated for the Alta board, with the OpenSUSE page displaying placeholder text instead of actual images. Likewise, the page containing Android images doesn’t have a single file for the Alta AML-A311D-CC.

Meanwhile, the repository provides IMG files for Ubuntu 23.04, though the SBC was unable to display the GUI of the distro on a monitor. Thankfully, the Alta was able to run the aarch64 variant of Fedora Workstation as well as the ported versions of Debian and Raspbian.

Performance

Not very responsive and prone to bugs

While the four ARM Cortex-A73 and two ARM Cortex-A53 cores powering the Alta should provide decent performance, the 4GB RAM is a huge bottleneck, especially if you’re planning to build complex projects with the SBC.

For most of my tests, I decided to use Debian, as it’s the Linux distro I’m most familiar with. Unfortunately, the overall experience was marred with slowdowns – to the point where opening a single Firefox tab and the Settings tab would result in microstutters. And you can well imagine the device’s performance when running more than a couple of Firefox tabs.

Running YouTube videos at 1920×960 resulted in worse frame drops than the Raspberry Pi 5. Speaking of, I installed Geekbench to get more tangible performance metrics, and well, the numbers speak for themselves.

But I wanted to give the Libre Computer Alta one last chance by testing the AI accelerator. Unfortunately, I was unable to get the demos working even after installing all the TensorFlow Lite drivers and troubleshooting everything for an hour.

Should you buy the Libre Computer Alta?

The Libre Computer Alta is a decent purchase if:

• You’re looking for an SBC with a built-in AI accelerator, and are willing to deal with scarce documentation.
• You’re a hardcore tinkerer who loves experimenting with different SBCs.

You should stay away from the Libre Computer Alta if:

• You want a fast and responsive SBC that can walk toe-to-toe with the Raspberry Pi 5.
• You’re looking for a tiny system that can replace a desktop for everyday tasks.
• You need an SBC that’s compatible with multiple operating systems.

If I were to describe the Libre Computer Alta in one word, it’d be mediocre. From the scores and performance (or the lack thereof), it’s clear that the device is far from a Raspberry Pi killer. The weird bugs and compatibility issues are also rather annoying. Considering the SBC has been out for a while, I can’t really give it the benefit of the doubt, either.

Related

This SBC you’ve never heard of is better than the Raspberry Pi 5 — here are 5 reasons why

Armed with several useful features, the Radxa X4 has the potential to overthrow the Raspberry Pi 5 to become the new king of SBCs

But on the other hand, it’s not as bad of a trainwreck as the Milk-V Mars. If you don’t mind getting rid of a graphical interface, the SBC should provide somewhat decent performance when used with the CLI versions of Debian, Fedora, and Raspbian. That said, seeing as how the Raspberry Pi 5 and the Radxa X4 provide significantly better performance per dollar, I’m not very impressed by the Alta AML-A311D-CC.

Not the best SBC out there

Libre Computer Alta

Built for budget DIY experts, the Libre Computer Alta is an affordable SBC that crams four Tensor Cores and eight Neuro Cores into a miniature chassis. It also has an AI accelerator that can deliver 5 TOPS of performance, though app compatibility is another issue althogether.