Rockchip introduced the RK3562 in February 2023. It has four Cortex-A53 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz, a Mali-G52 2EE GPU, a 1 TOPS NPU, and an ISP for cameras up to 13 megapixels.
The company listed tablets, translation pens, robot vacuum cleaners, and industrial equipment as target products. That sounds like a rather random collection of hardware, but it makes more sense once you look past the CPU.
RK3562 isn’t really an SBC processor in the usual sense. You can build a small Linux board around it, but the chip was designed for products with their own display, camera, and fixed list of jobs.
Four Cortex-A53 Cores and Mali-G52 Graphics
The four Cortex-A53 cores are the least interesting part. They can run Android, handle an appliance interface, and keep a few background services moving. But Cortex-A53 was already old when RK3562 arrived, and it isn’t especially fast at browser work, compilation, or anything that leans heavily on one CPU core.
For a translation pen or robot vacuum, that’s probably fine. Those devices don’t need twenty browser tabs or a desktop full of applications. They run the software the manufacturer built for them, usually on the same hardware for the entire life of the product.
The Mali-G52 2EE is newer than the Mali-450 GPU in RK3528. It supports OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, and Vulkan 1.1, and Rockchip also includes a separate 2D graphics engine.
So Android interfaces, maps, camera previews, and simple 3D graphics should be comfortable enough. Games are another matter. Mali-G52 is a family name, and the small 2EE configuration doesn’t suddenly turn four Cortex-A53 cores into a gaming platform.
Rockchip RK3562 Specifications
| Component | Rockchip RK3562 |
| CPU | 4x Arm Cortex-A53, up to 2.0 GHz |
| GPU | Mali-G52 2EE |
| NPU | 1 TOPS |
| Memory | LPDDR4/LPDDR4X, DDR4, DDR3/DDR3L, LPDDR3 |
| Video decoding | H.265/VP9 up to 4K30; H.264 up to 1080p60 |
| Video encoding | H.264 up to 1080p60 |
| Camera | ISP up to 13 MP |
| Display | One display through LVDS, MIPI-DSI, or RGB |
| Expansion | USB 3.0 OTG, USB 2.0 host, PCIe 2.1 |
| Networking | RGMII and RMII interfaces |
The 1 TOPS NPU and 13 MP ISP
One TOPS doesn’t sound like much next to the 6 TOPS NPU in RK3576 or RK3588. It isn’t much if the plan is to run a language model, either.
But a small NPU makes more sense in a device that performs one narrow job. Rockchip showed obstacle detection and SLAM for cleaning robots around this class of hardware at its 2023 developer conference. The camera stays in a known position, the model can be prepared for one task, and the manufacturer controls the complete software stack.
Models don’t run on the NPU automatically. RK3562 is supported by Rockchip’s RKNPU2 runtime, while RKNN Toolkit 2 converts models into the format used by the chip. An ONNX or TensorFlow model still has to convert successfully, use supported operators, and fit within the memory available on the finished device.
And the ISP may be more important than the NPU. It handles the camera pipeline before the image reaches an application or inference model, which saves CPU time and avoids adding a separate image processor. That is useful for scanners, learning tablets, portable terminals, and robots.
The 13 MP figure needs a little caution. A camera also needs the correct physical interface, sensor tuning, and working drivers. A board listing “13M ISP” doesn’t guarantee that any 13-megapixel module will work after plugging it in.
Video, Displays, and Expansion
RK3562 decodes H.265 and VP9 video at up to 4K30. H.264 decoding and encoding reach 1080p60, so there’s enough media hardware for a tablet display, a camera feed, or video inside an appliance interface.
It isn’t the obvious choice for a 4K television box. The cheaper RK3528 puts more emphasis on that job, with 4K60 decoding and HDMI output. RK3562 supports one display through LVDS, MIPI-DSI, or parallel RGB, and Rockchip doesn’t list HDMI on the official product page.
Those connections are quite normal for a built-in LCD. They are less helpful if you wanted to put the board beside a television or desktop monitor.
The rest of the I/O is better. There is USB 3.0 OTG, a USB 2.0 host, PCIe 2.1, plus RGMII and RMII network interfaces. A board manufacturer can add storage, Ethernet, a wireless module, or another controller without hanging everything from USB 2.0.
RK3562 Compared with RK3528 and RK3566
RK3528 uses the same Cortex-A53 CPU family, but pairs it with older Mali-450 graphics and no NPU. For an inexpensive IPTV box, its 4K60 decoder and HDMI output are more useful than RK3562’s camera and AI hardware.
The Rockchip RK3566 SBC processor is closer to what most people expect from a development board. Its Cortex-A55 cores are newer, it handles 4K60 video, and there are many more community boards built around it. If the goal is a general Linux system, RK3566 is usually the easier starting point.
RK3562 sits in between. It has much better graphics and image-processing hardware than RK3528, while keeping the older CPU and a display block made for internal panels. That combination is useful to a manufacturer building one finished product. It’s a little awkward for a hobbyist looking for another Raspberry Pi alternative.
Software Support Depends on the Board
Rockchip provides the RKNN software path and public firmware repositories with RK3562 support. Android is a natural fit, and Linux is possible when the board vendor publishes an SDK, kernel, and working system image.
The SoC name doesn’t tell you how good that support will be. Camera tuning, GPU packages, suspend, updates, and a maintained kernel all come from the board vendor. RK3562 hasn’t appeared on nearly as many community SBCs as RK3566, so it is worth checking the exact board before planning a Linux project around it.
Rockchip also offers the RK3562J for industrial hardware. The company describes that platform with RT-Linux, real-time interfaces, and interrupt latency below 5 microseconds. Those are properties of the industrial platform, not features that every consumer RK3562 tablet inherits.
FAQ
Does Rockchip RK3562 have an NPU?
Yes. RK3562 has a 1 TOPS NPU supported by RKNPU2 and RKNN Toolkit 2. It is intended for small, fixed inference tasks rather than large generative models.
Does RK3562 support 4K video?
Yes. It decodes H.265 and VP9 at up to 4K30. H.264 decoding and encoding are limited to 1080p60.
Can RK3562 run Linux?
Yes, but support depends on the board. Check the available system image, kernel, GPU packages, camera drivers, and documentation before buying it for a Linux project.
Is RK3562 faster than RK3528?
The CPU configuration is similar, but RK3562 has newer Mali-G52 graphics and a 1 TOPS NPU. RK3528 has a stronger feature set for inexpensive media boxes, including 4K60 decoding and HDMI.
What products use RK3562?
Rockchip lists tablets, translation pens, robot vacuum cleaners, and industrial devices. Its display, camera, and NPU blocks suit products with a fixed interface and a narrow set of tasks.
Sources