SupTronics X1208 Raspberry Pi 5 HAT with UPS and NVMe

SupTronics X1208 Raspberry Pi 5 UPS HAT

The SupTronics X1208 is a UPS and M.2 NVMe SSD HAT for Raspberry Pi 5 that is made to provide fast storage and keep the system from losing data during power outages for Edge Computing, NAS, data logging, and other applications that are always on. The X1208 UPS+POE Shield is designed to give the Raspberry Pi 5 a stable power source and more storage space. The HAT can get up to 5V/5A from the USB-C port. This charges a 21700 lithium-ion battery (1.5A) and powers the Raspberry Pi 5 directly through the 40-pin GPIO header, so you don’t need any extra cables. It also has an M.2 M-key NVMe slot that can hold SSDs up to 4TB with PCIe 2.0/3.0 speeds.

The board’s advanced power-path management system sends power through USB-C and lets you switch between external power and the board’s battery. This makes sure that uptime stays high even when there are outages. The UPS can switch power, turn on automatically, shut down safely when the battery is low, and control power and charging through GPIO. It can also detect when power goes out. The X1208 board also has a Maxim fuel gauge I2C chip that keeps an eye on the battery’s voltage and capacity. LED lights on the board make it easy to see how much charge is left. A blue LED shows the status of power and drive activity.

Previously, we covered several Raspberry Pi 5 HAT options, including the Waveshare PCIe TO M.2 USB ETH HAT, Waveshare PCIe to USB 3.2 HAT+, and Radxa Dual 2.5G Router HAT. You can check them out if you’re interested.

SupTronics X1208 Raspberry Pi 5 HAT Top and Bottom

SupTronics X1208 UPS + M.2 HAT Specifications:

• Compatibility: Designed for Raspberry Pi 5 Model B
• Storage Support:
  • M.2 M-key slot compatible with 2280, 2242, and 2230 NVMe SSDs
  • Supports capacities up to 4TB
  • PCIe interface: Gen 2 (5Gbps) with optional/unofficial Gen 3 (8Gbps) support
  • Bootable NVMe storage supported
• Expansion Interfaces:
  • Extended 40-pin GPIO header
  • GPIO 2/3: I2C communication
  • GPIO 6: Power loss detection
  • GPIO 16: Charge control
  • PCIe FFC connector for Raspberry Pi 5 connectivity
• Additional Features: Integrated cooling vent (compatible with official Raspberry Pi active cooler)
• Indicators and Controls:
  • Battery level LEDs: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%
  • Power and disk activity indicators
  • Power output LED (turns off after 3 seconds if Pi is not connected)
  • Raspberry Pi 5 detection indicator
  • Charging LED:
    • Blinking: Charging
    • Solid: Fully charged
  • Blue LED for SSD activity
  • Multifunction power button (same as Pi 5; triple press for forced shutdown)
• Power and UPS Features:
  • Input: 5V/5A via USB Type-C
  • Battery: Supports a single 21700 Li-ion cell (unprotected, max length 70.3mm)
  • Output: 5.1V (±5%) up to 5A supplied via 40-pin header
  • Charging current: Default 1.5A
  • Intelligent power management including:
    • Automatic source switching
    • Power loss detection through GPIO
    • Auto power-on functionality
    • Programmable safe shutdown on low battery
• Physical Dimensions: 86.5 mm × 84.5 mm

SupTronics-X1208 Hardware Overview

SupTronics gives users a setup guide that clearly explains how to enable PCIe and set PSU_MAX_CURRENT=5000 on the software side. The company has also put Python scripts on GitHub that can read the Maxim fuel gauge (I2C address 0x36), check for power loss, and set up a soft-shutdown script that safely shuts down the Pi when the battery level drops below a certain level (defaulting to 3.20V).  

Users can get the X1208 UPS + M.2 2280 NVMe HAT on Amazon for $45.00 and for less than $40 at a number of AliExpress stores, including Geekworm and Geekbord. There are a few more details on the product page. 

Images used courtesy of Suptronics.