Argon Forty has done something amazing with the Argon ONE UP, a laptop powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5). This little board, often found in the hands of hobbyists soldering circuits in their garage, powers a full laptop that’s modular, affordable and full of creative possibilities.
The case is sleek and minimalist in dark grey or navy blue depending on the light. The 14 inch IPS LCD screen is bright and crisp enough for coding or browsing but not up to a high end MacBook’s Retina display. A cutout above the screen may house a webcam, possibly a Raspberry Pi Camera Module v3, with microphones in the bezel for extra functionality.
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit PRO - Turbine Black (128GB Edition) (8GB RAM)
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (8GB RAM)
- Includes 128GB EVO+ Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
The Argon ONE UP’s standout feature is its modularity. The CM5 at its heart has 2GB, 4GB, 8GB or 16GB of RAM and eMMC storage from 16GB to 64GB. No eMMC? You can use a microSD card or a 2280 M.2 SSD for faster performance. You can swap the CM5 for a more powerful one later or add an AI accelerator to the M.2 slot for machine learning projects.
Connectivity is a big plus. The laptop has dual USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port for internal peripherals, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD slot for CM5 models without onboard storage. A custom GPIO module is connected via a modified USB-C port giving you access to the Raspberry Pi’s 40-pin GPIO. This means you can prototype hardware on the go, like connect sensors or LEDs in a café. Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 if your CM5 supports them and power via USB-C PD charging a built in battery for untethered use.
Performance is up to the CM5’s Broadcom BCM2712, a quad core ARM Cortex-A76 processor running at 2.4 GHz, the same as the Raspberry Pi 5 but in a compact, portless form for custom carrier boards. A fan and aluminum heat sink keep temperatures in check for consistent performance. A utility, argononeupd[.]py, monitors battery status and brightness but uses a bit of CPU resources. Argon Forty may optimize this before the Q3 2025 release.
Under $400 the Argon ONE UP is a steal. It’s not trying to compete with Chromebooks or MacBooks but for those who see computing as a creative activity. It’s open source so you can customize the software to your heart’s content, run Raspberry Pi OS or try other Linux distributions.
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