Imagine a Raspberry Pi 400, but with a full-blown flagship AMD Hawk Point CPU with up to 32GB RAM and a 1TB M.2 NVMe drive that all fits into a foldable keyboard. Also imagine all of that coming in under $500. Sure, it may be a niche product, but its maker Ling Long (don’t laugh) is definitely offering something uniquely powerful for its size.
In a recent reveal presentation (as posted on Chinese video site Bilibili), Ling Long announced its own take of an integrated keyboard PC, creatively called the “Ling Long Keyboard PC.” While mini PCs like Ayaneo’s recent retro PC AM01 are more popular (and familiar) options, keyboard PCs have a small, but growing user base.
Due to their size limitations, keyboard PCs tend to be relegated to lower-performing duties. However, Ling Long claims that its version not only sports a high-end AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor, but comes in a foldable keyboard to boot. The company lists the dimensions at 15 x 10 cm, which likely means the folded dimensions. During the reveal, the presenter easily plops the device in his rear jeans pocket, so at least we know it’s portable, though it’s probably a good idea to remove it before sitting down.
The fact the the Ling Long PC comes with an Intel Meteor Lake Ultra 7-trumping AMD Ryzen 7 8840U means that it will at least be quite future-proofed in terms of performance, gaming, AI, and efficiency (on paper, anyway). Heat dissipation is achieved through a primary inlet on the front-right side of the keyboard plus a corresponding exhaust fan at the bottom. The 16,000 mAh battery is located on the left side of the unit to keep temperatures in check. Ling Long claims that even under load, surface temperatures on the right side hovers around 42°C (107°F).
Ports are limited, of course, to a grand total of three: a USB-A 3.0, a USB-C 3.2, and a USB-C 4.0. When hooked up to a display or TV, this realistically gives users only two ports to play with. Speaking of display, the PC can be hooked up not just to TVs, monitors, and mobile devices, but to AR and VR glasses. The latter pairing might actually be the strongest use-case for the Ling Long PC.
Battery life is factory rated at 10 hours for light office work and six hours of movie-watching. Expect those numbers to fall when things like connected accessories or passively-powered monitors are plugged into the keyboard.
Currently the Ling Long Keyboard PC is only available for beta testing, and even then all 200 units might already be spoken for. Long term though, no word if and when the PC will be available only in China or globally.