This New Kit Turns a Raspberry Pi Into a High-End Linux Handheld

If you are looking to turn a Raspberry Pi into a custom handheld or cyberdeck, there are countless projects out there that you can borrow ideas from. However, most of these builds have lots of rough edges, so don’t expect to end up with a polished device that looks as nice as a commercial product. This is because wiring some development boards together and stuffing them in a 3D-printed case is relatively easy, but making it all look and feel nice takes an entirely different set of skills that electronics hobbyists often lack.

A new kit called the piBrick PocketCM5 was just released that makes the job of building a handheld Raspberry Pi computer as simple as can be. The kit provides a physical keyboard, touchscreen, enclosure, and nearly everything else you need to build a device that looks like it just came off the shelf of an electronics retailer. You will need to supply some of the core components yourself, however, including the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 and a battery.

The PocketCM5 packs a lot of functionality into a device measuring just 80 × 145 × 20 mm. It is equipped with a 3.92-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a sharp 1080 × 1240 resolution, 90 Hz refresh rate, and support for up to five simultaneous touch points. A physical QWERTY keyboard with an integrated trackpad provides a more practical way to interact with Linux applications than a touchscreen alone, making the device suitable for terminal work, software development, and remote administration tasks.

Storage options include both microSD and M.2 NVMe SSD support, allowing builders to choose between a simple setup or a more capable high-speed storage configuration. Connectivity is also fairly comprehensive for a handheld system, with USB-C, USB-A, full-size HDMI, micro-HDMI, stereo speakers, a headphone jack, and internal USB expansion capabilities all integrated into the design.

The hardware includes an RP2040 auxiliary controller and an onboard accelerometer, while optional camera support is available through a Raspberry Pi Camera Zero module included with the upgraded Full Camera Kit. Power comes from a user-supplied lithium-polymer battery, with the creator recommending a 5,000 mAh pack.

The developer designed the platform as open source hardware, making design files, firmware, documentation, and software resources available to the community. That approach allows users not only to assemble the handheld, but also to study, modify, repair, and expand it for their own projects.

Assembly requires installing the Compute Module 5, battery, heatsink, storage devices, and operating system, along with final enclosure assembly. But for makers who want a polished handheld Linux machine without having to engineer every piece from scratch, it could be one of the more attractive Raspberry Pi-based options currently available. The kit is presently available for $240.