The new and improved MagPi magazine now houses one of my favourite sections of the late great HackSpace magazine: Top Projects. The feature showcases five or six spectacular builds using Raspberry Pi, and this was our favourite from the latest issue.

Do you want a portable mini modular computer based on Raspberry Pi 5? If so, you’re in luck. A small outfit (boasting one-and-a-half people) called Soulcircuit is working on one right now, called the Pilet (it was called Consolo, but is now called Pilet, which according to the maker “reflects the project’s aim to appeal to a wider global audience”). 

Two 8000mAh batteries give the device a claimed seven-hour lifespan, which if true will put a lot of computing power in your pocket for a productive day’s work. The basic unit houses a Raspberry Pi 5 and a touchscreen, running a full-fat version of the Linux operating system (it looks like Debian with a KDE desktop, which wouldn’t really have been practical with any model of Raspberry Pi until now). 

Soulcircuit claims that the Pilet is “built by open-source software for the open-source community,” and credits KiCad, FreeCAD, Blender, Linux, Raspberry Pi, and KDE. As we’ve seen so many times though, it’s not enough just to have the right software; a device this good takes expertise and imagination, and if it can come in at the expected price of under $200, we’re sure it’ll be popular with open-source geeks who want to get work done but also quite like leaving the house every now and then.

The MagPi #146 out NOW!

You can grab the new issue right now from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, WHSmith, and other newsagents, including the Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge. It’s also available at our online store, which ships around the world. You can also get it via our app on Android or iOS.

You can also subscribe to the print version of The MagPi. Not only do we deliver it globally, but people who sign up to the six- or twelve-month print subscription get a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico W!