[Device Reviews and Information] Jupit3r:
Other Software​

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However, you are probably not buying the Station P2 as a TV box or an Android PC, as there are lots of cheaper alternatives out there. What makes this mini PC special is its capability of booting multiple operating systems, and Station OS gives you a portal to do that. Yes, I am talking about the OS Assistant App, which makes installing operating systems as simple as eating a piece of cake. Firefly offers six operating systems tailor-made for the Station P2 right now, including Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, LEDE, OpenWRT and the aforementioned Android 11. Just choose the OS you intend to install, and the drive you want it installed on, and you are good to go. The Operating system will be automatically downloaded from Firefly’s server and then installed on your local hard drive. When you have multiple operating systems installed on your Station P2, a boot screen will show up every time you power up the mini PC, from which you can choose the OS to boot into.

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I have Ubuntu 20.04 installed on a 2.5-inch hard drive, and OPenWRT installed on a TF card. So the Firefly Station P2 can serve as my TV box, my desktop computer, or my router, depending on the OS I choose to boot into.

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Ubuntu is a very much liked operating system for tech geeks, and a welcomed addition for average users. But unfortunately, the Rockchip RK3568 quad-core CPU is by no means a powerhouse, scores in Geekbench 5.4.4 told the story.

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Also, Ubuntu for ARM has very limited number of apps available. As a result, most people won’t be able to use the Station P2 as their main computer, unless you care very little about efficiency.

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With that said, if you want to handle some of the basics, you can. And if you are using the Station P2 to learn about Ubuntu and Linux, and some of the codings, it does provide you with an opportunity here.

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The Station P2 also comes with superb networking capabilities. With two Gigabyte Ethernet jacks, and WiFi6, it is an ideal device for soft routing as well as streaming PC games. If you are new to these ideas, there are lots of tutorials online to help you set things up.

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I streamed my favorite game “Fortnite”, and enjoyed fairly smooth gameplay, with only a few hiccups in my one-hour session.

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You can also run PSP and XBOX games on the Station P2 via emulations, there are quite a lot of tutorials to help you do that in Firefly’s very own forum. But limited by the performance of the Mali-G52MP2 GPU, only those simpler, less intense games can run smoothly on the Station P2, heavier titles will very likely show up like slideshows.

Verdict​

With rich interfaces, great expansibility, and superb networking, the Firefly Station P2 is surely an interesting device with a ton potential. Besides a decent collection of official firmware based on different operating systems, you can also find many other third-party firmware in Firefly’s forum, giving you more ways to play with this mini PC.

Some potentials of the Station P2 can be limited by the performance of the relatively old Rockchip RK3568 processor, and some features in Firefly’s very own software may feel a little bit undercooked. But with a sensible price tag that starts from $189 (2+32GB), and a fast-growing Firefly community, the Station P2 is still one of the best open-source computers you can buy right now.