Below is what Geerling actually found, what Radxa claims, and what Windows users need to know before trying to turn this 100 × 75 mm board into a small Windows 11 on Arm PC.
The hardware: what "double" actually means
Radxa's own specifications describe the Q8B as a flagship board based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 (Qualcomm SC8280XP) compute platform, built on a 5 nm process. The main parts are:
- CPU: eight Kryo cores, split into four Kryo Prime cores at up to 3.0 GHz and four Kryo Gold cores at up to 2.4 GHz
- GPU: Adreno 690. Radxa's spec sheet lists OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.3, OpenCL 2.0, DirectX and DirectML support
- NPU: Hexagon, with the Qualcomm AI Engine rated at "up to 29+ TOPS". That is Radxa's figure, not a measured result
- Memory: LPDDR4X up to 32 GB, up to 4266 MT/s, on a 128-bit bus
- Storage: microSD, a UFS 3.1 module connector, and two M.2 2280 M-key slots (one PCIe 3.0 x4, one PCIe 3.0 x2)
- Networking: two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports, plus an M.2 E-key 2230 slot for a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module
- Display: one HDMI 2.1 port and two USB-C ports with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode. Radxa says it can drive three 4K120 displays
- Expansion: a PCIe 3.0 x1 FPC connector and a 40-pin GPIO header with UART, I²C and SPI
A few details matter more than they first appear. On its product page, Radxa says the two Ethernet ports run through a QPS615 Ethernet-AVB/TSN bridge that supports several IEEE time-sensitive networking standards. That points at robotics and industrial control, not media servers. Radxa also says Wi-Fi 7 through the E-key slot needs board revision V1.3 or later, while the spec sheet lists Wi-Fi 6E/Bluetooth 5.3 modules. If you want Wi-Fi 7, check the revision before you buy.
Geerling also found a second PCIe flat connector on the underside that he says doesn't appear to be documented in Radxa's wiki. That's his observation. Radxa's documentation lists only the x1 FPC connector.
Section summary: The core-count claim is correct: eight cores against the Pi 5's four. The rest of the spec sheet is closer to a 2022 Arm laptop than a hobby board.
What the benchmarks show
Geerling's results are more measured than a flat "twice as fast". In Geekbench, the Q8B's single-core score was not quite double the Pi 5's. In multi-core it was more than twice as fast. He calls Geekbench useful for relative comparison, not a definitive benchmark. He also reported:
- HPL (which loads both CPU and RAM heavily) showed a large jump over the Pi 5
- Efficiency was better overall despite higher absolute power use, though not as good as more efficiency-focused Arm chips
- 3D performance was much better, which you'd expect from a GPU designed for laptops
- Memory speed was higher, which he notes helps with local LLMs and image processing
For a feel of everyday use, he compared it to an Intel N150 mini PC, "maybe even a bit faster", running Radxa OS. The interface was responsive and 4K YouTube played smoothly in Firefox. Other reviewers reported similar results. Smart Home Circle reported that running 1080p and 4K YouTube streams in Firefox resulted in zero dropped frames, and GLmark2 scored ~5,844 (nearly twice the score of the Radxa Dragon Q6A).
Geeky Gadgets called the board "desktop-class" and said it had an "efficient cooling system that minimizes noise". Neither claim comes from Geerling's testing. The mini PC comparison is his impression from use, not a formal category, and nothing in his review covers thermals or fan noise. Treat both claims with caution until someone measures them.
Section summary: It's a real performance jump, largest in multi-threaded and graphics work. Single-thread gains are smaller, and no benchmark turns it into an Apple M1, which Geerling himself points out.
Power: budget for a proper adapter
This is the most practical caveat in the review. Geerling measured more than 20 W at full load and says a 65 W adapter matters, especially once NVMe drives and Wi-Fi cards are installed. He also found that Radxa ships the board in performance mode by default, which raises idle power draw. He wasn't sure whether that was for stability or for benchmark numbers.
For power input, Radxa lists a USB-C PD port, a separate 12–20 V input header, and 15 W PD output. Your old phone charger won't do.
The Windows angle: how installing Windows 11 actually works
Geeky Gadgets says "native support for Windows 11". There is support, but it comes with conditions. Radxa now publishes a dedicated guide that explains how to perform a clean installation of Windows 11 ARM64 on the Radxa Dragon Q8B and install the Q8B Windows drivers, targeting either an NVMe SSD or a UFS module. Here are the prerequisites from that documentation:
- Windows version: Recommended: Windows 11 25H2 (build family: 26200) ARM64. The minimum is Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100).
- ISO type: You must use an ARM64 ISO; an x64 ISO will not work. Radxa prefers Microsoft's official ARM64 download to UUP dump.
- Firmware: BIOS 260825 or newer. Radxa says to enter EDL mode and flash the BIOS through the official procedure only if your version is older than that, and to keep power stable throughout.
- Power: a 20 V USB PD or fixed 20 V Type-C adapter, with at least 3 A recommended, using a Type-C to Type-C cable.
- Installer USB: a blank drive of at least 16 GB. Radxa's docs repository shows the requirement was recently raised from 8 GB because the ARM64 ISO no longer fit after writing. If you're following an older copy of the guide, this is a likely place for the install to fail.
- Display during setup: use HDMI and a USB keyboard and mouse. A USB-C display with DP Alt Mode only works after the drivers are installed.
- Drivers: Radxa's downloads page offers the Dragon Q8B Windows Driver Pack v1.0.0: For installing Windows 11 (ARM64) on the Q8B.
The installation erases the target drive, so back up anything on it first. Driver pack v1.0.0 is a first release. Expect early-firmware quirks, and don't assume every peripheral works the way it does on a retail Snapdragon laptop.
Bret.dk, an SBC review site, also reported in its review that Windows 11 on Arm works with the board out of the box. It added that this is where the chip comes from, since the 8cx Gen 3 originally shipped in a range of Windows laptops. Unlike the Windows Dev Kit 2023, which Geerling notes officially ran only Windows, the Q8B can run Windows or Linux.
Linux friction is real, but narrower than reported
Radxa lists Radxa OS, Windows, Ubuntu, Armbian, Arch Linux, NixOS and Debian as supported. Its product page also advertises standard UEFI boot and direct boot from unified Arm ISO images. Geerling's experience was rougher than that:
- The OS choice is a maze. He compared Radxa's installation guide to a choose-your-own-adventure book, with different methods depending on storage type and different download links.
- Generic ISOs didn't boot. At the time of his review, he still hadn't managed to boot a generic arm64 ISO from USB and install it to NVMe.
- Updates go through Rsetup. Radxa OS's Getting Started Guide tells you to use Radxa's Rsetup tool rather than
apt upgrade. Geerling criticised this, arguing that standard maintenance should work with standard tools. - Downloads were sometimes slow, including Geekbench and some video files. He didn't find a cause.
One troubleshooting lead from Radxa's documentation is relevant to the ISO problem: to boot a third-party OS (such as Ubuntu, Fedora, or Debian), enable all the features in Third-party OS Compatibility Settings in the BIOS. Radxa lists Ubuntu 26.04, Fedora Workstation 44 and Debian testing ISOs alongside the Windows image. The evidence doesn't show whether those settings would have fixed Geerling's setup, but check them first if a generic ISO drops you into firmware. Separately, Bret.dk reported it couldn't get UFS detected as a boot device on any OS build it tried.
Geeky Gadgets' summary blamed "Qualcomm's proprietary tools" for updates. Rsetup is Radxa's tool, and Geerling's complaint applies to Radxa OS specifically. The broader claims about proprietary frameworks and missing community support also aren't in Geerling's review. In fact, he says Qualcomm appears more committed to Linux than Rockchip ever was, and that Radxa is benefiting from that work. His real point is a familiar one: he sticks with the Raspberry Pi for projects because it's easy to get started, and he doesn't have to spend time on forums working out how to boot the thing.
Price and supply
Geerling paid $209 for an 8 GB Q8B, about what an 8 GB Pi 5 was selling for when he wrote the review. So Geeky Gadgets' line about a "higher price point" doesn't hold in his case. Prices also vary by retailer. AmeriDroid's listing shows a sale price $284.95 USD, though the snippet doesn't say which memory configuration that is.
Getting one is the harder problem. Geerling ordered from ARACE in June and received the board in September, and he describes US supply as short. By comparison, he could buy some Pi 5 models locally or get them within a week or two. Radxa says the Q8B is sold only through its approved partner network, so check the specific retailer's stock and delivery estimate before you design a project around the board.
The verdict
The Q8B makes sense for a specific kind of buyer. That includes Windows on Arm developers who want a cheap Snapdragon test machine, edge AI tinkerers, people prototyping TSN networking, and anyone who would actually use dual NVMe and three 4K displays. They get far more hardware than a Pi 5 offers at a similar price, as long as they can live with first-release drivers, firmware updates and occasional forum visits.
The Raspberry Pi 5 is still the easier choice for classrooms, beginners and anyone who wants a board that boots without trouble. Geerling's review supports that conclusion, but it doesn't say the Pi wins on price.
Practical checklist before buying:
- Confirm your board revision if you need Wi-Fi 7 (V1.3 or later)
- Budget for a 65 W USB-C PD adapter
- For Windows: use an ARM64 ISO of 24H2 or later (25H2 recommended), BIOS 260825+, and a USB drive of at least 16 GB
- For generic Linux ISOs: enable the BIOS third-party OS compatibility settings first
- On Radxa OS, update through Rsetup, not
apt upgrade - Check the retailer's delivery estimate. Months-long waits have been reported