SpecFive Launches the Strike, a Meshtastic-Ready Raspberry Pi CM4 "Handheld Linux Workstation"

Portable LoRa hardware specialist SpecFive, also known as Spec5, has announced a new gadget, described as a fully-fledged "handheld Linux workstation" — and powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4: the SpecFive Strike.

"The SpecFive Strike is a compact handheld Linux workstation with a built-in LoRa mesh radio, designed for developers, hackers, makers, tinkerers, and off-grid communicators," the company writes of its latest hardware. "Built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 and our custom-built, in-house SpecFive motherboard (carrier board), it features a 4.3-inch touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB ports, and a [Semtech] SX1262 LoRa module, bringing Linux flexibility and portable mesh networking into one device."

The new Strike, brought to our attention by Linux Gizmos, is a successor to the Nomad SpecFive launched in September last year and which featured a Raspberry Pi 5 single-board computer. The Strike, then, is something of a retrograde step in terms of performance, being as it is based on the last-generation and considerably less powerful Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 — though a recent refresh of the Nomad, in the form of the Nomad 2 upgrade, brought with it the option to configure the device with either a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B or Raspberry Pi 5 single-board computer inside.

The shift to a computer-on-module with custom carrier board has, at least, given the company a chance to slim things down a little, with the Strike offering a more compact layout than the Nomad or Nomad 2. There's a QWERTY keyboard to the front below a 4.3" touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LoRa radios, and a 5Ah battery good for a claimed 3–6 hours of active use — all housed within a case 3D-printed in PETG.

For storage, the carrier board includes a microSD card slot — and the company offers a "Ready" variant which bundles the core "Base" hardware with a 32GB microSD card featuring a copy of the Debian-derived Raspberry Pi OS Linux distribution and the software required to turn the Strike into a node on the Meshtastic LoRa mesh network.

The Strike is available on the SpecFive store, priced at $379.99 in "Base" or $409.98 in "Ready" guises; the refreshed Nomad 2 is also available, starting at $499.99 for a "Base" variant with Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB fitted. Those interested in experimenting with Meshtastic, meanwhile, should consider entering our Meshtastic Device Design Challenge for a chance of sharing a prize pool valued at over $7,000 — submissions close on September 25th.