RK3188 Processor found in Android Headunits

The RockChip 3188 SoC is a processing chip powering low-end Android headunits.

RockChip RK3188 Answers

Is the RK3188 a considered a fast processor for an android head unit?

No. The RK3188 is not considered a fast processor.

Is an android head unit with the RK3188 a good buy?

No. The RK3188-based Android headunits are not a good buy. The processor is slow, and the RAM is limited to 2 GB.

Is the RockChip RK3188 a quad-core

Yes. The RK3188 is a quad-core processor with just 4 ARM cores.

Can I add more RAM than 2Gb to my RK3188 android head unit?

No. It is not possible to add more RAM to the Android headunits.

RK3188

The RockChip RK3188 SoC is a Quad-Core ARM Cortex A9-based processor

  • The Cortex-A9 uses the Armv7-A architecture, making it 32-bit capable.
  • 4 cores of Cortex A9 are clocked at around 1.8GHz
  • Has a 512KB unified Level 2 Cache
  • Includes ARM Neon SIMD co-processor

ARM Cortex A9

The Cortex-A7 superseded the Cortex-A9 for most applications. The Cortex-A7 gave a much lower power consumption for a slight loss in total processing power. This makes sense for battery-operated devices and small handheld gadgets but not so much for an Android head unit.

These earlier ARM Cortex A9-based units may be slightly quicker in some benchmarks, but no one will notice.

ARM A7 vs ARM A9

ARM Cortex-A9 and ARM Cortex-A7 use the same Armv7-A Architecture. The ARM Cortex-A7 is a later version of the very similar Cortex-A9. There is very little speed difference between the two and neither are great for modern android systems.

RAM

RAM for the RK3188 is limited to 2 GB per bank; although there are 2 banks, only one bank is being used, giving a maximum RAM available of 2 GB.


The RockChip3188 supports DDR3/LPDDR2 SDRAM with data rates up to 1066 MHz.
Unfortunately, the RAM is not in those sticks you can buy, so adding more RAM to the Android headunit is impossible.

Graphics

The ARM Mali-400 MP4 handles RK3188 graphics
This Mali-400 has embedded 4 shader cores with a shared hierarchical tiler with support for:

  • OpenGL ES1.1 and 2.0
  • OpenVG1.1

Support for LCD or TFT interfaces up to 2048×1536

USB ports

RK3188 is USB2 compatible.

  • USB Host2.0: Compatible with USB Host2.0 specification.
    Supports high-speed, full-speed, and low-speed modes
  • USB OTG2.0: Compatible with USB OTG2.0 specification.
    Supports high-speed, full-speed, and low-speed mode OTG

SD Cards

The RK3188 has an interface for SD/MMC, compatible with

  • SD3.0
  • MMC ver4.41

RK3188 Block Diagram

RK3188 Processor Block Diagram
RK3188 SoC block diagram shows the four Cortex-AM MP cores, each with their NEON floating point co-processor.

Overall

The Quad-core 1.8 GHz RK3188 is a Quad-Core by name and a Quad-Core by nature. The processing cores are too few to provide a fluid Android 10 experience on the headunit. Similar to all the other Quad-Core-based SoCs used in the widespread but low-rent Android head units.

While these quad-core-based units, like the 8227L_Demo, are ever popular, they are just not powerful for modern expectations. The Android versions these old 4 cores were designed to run were Android 4.4.4 and Android 6. This is a world away from the Android 12 that is the basis of modern phones. The Android headunits often play catch-up with the phones. But buying an SoC with only 4 cores will not give enough processing power to make an enjoyable and fluid Android headunit experience. Coupled with the lack of RAM, at 2 GB, this is another limiting factor on the fluidity that you can expect from later Android versions.

Fake

With the poor specifications, the RK3188 SoC-based Android head units must run much older core Android versions. The versions didn’t demand much processing power, and these will be versions of Android 6 and below. The fakery must be implemented to pass the old Android versions off as a later and more appealing version name, like ‘Android 10’.

Marshmallow
Marshmallow
I am an android-headunits.com staff blogger. I have been using Android on my devices for many years and have learned a lot about the features and best hardware to keep up with the latest Android versions. I also make the coffee ☕

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ask Questions in the new Android Headunit Forum

Before you comment, consider joining our new Android Headunit Discussion Forum. You can find a place for your question that will be more easily seen and get answers to your questions. We are also looking for posts from experienced uses to share their knowledge and expertise. A simple registration process will open the site to you.

Join the forum - handshake

Top Headunit Articles

If you have a question, try our new Android Headunit Forum for answers. A simple registration and introduction will allow you to post your questions in the forum.