Why Jetson Orin Nano is your best choice to start.
ROBOCO
As the AI and robotics begins to become more of a every day related topic, one might want to dive in the world of AI and start learning, NVIDIA is no doubt one of the leading company in this field, they also encourages developer to do so, since they have those "Developer Kits".
Choosing the right NVIDIA Jetson Developer Kit really depends on project's scale, but as of 2026, the Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit still remains as the champion for beginners.
Here is the differences between the three developer kits from NVIDIA.(Data from NVIDIA official website)
Jetson series | Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit | Jetson Orin AGX Developer Kit | Jetson AGX Thor Developer Kit |
|---|---|---|---|
AI performance | 67 TOPS(INT8) | 275TOPS(INT8) | 2070 TFLOPS (FP4) |
CPU | 6core Arm Cortex-A78AE | 12core Arm Cortex-A78AE | 14core Neoverse-V3AE |
GPU | 1024-core NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPU with 32 Tensor Cores | 2048-core NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPU with 64 Tensor Cores | 2560-core NVIDIA Blackwell architecture GPU with fifth-gen Tensor Cores |
GPU max frequency | 625 MHz | 1.3 GHz | 1.57GHz |
Memory | 8GB 128-bit LPDDR5 | 64GB 256-bit LPDDR5 | 128 GB 256-bit LPDDR5X |
Wattage | 7W - 25W | 15W - 60W | 40W - 130W |
MSRP | $249 USD | $1999 USD | $3499 USD |
Highlight | Achieve seamless software experience with NVIDIA's flagship hardware for a minimal investment. And it's small. | Strong multitasking capabilities, is the standard for edge computing today. | Ultimate platform, delivers over 7.5x higher AI compute than AGX Orin. |
At $249, the Orin Nano Super gives you access to the same NVIDIA JetPack SDK used by multi-million dollar industrial projects.
Unlike the older Jetson Nano (which struggled with modern models), the Orin Nano can actually run YOLOv8, Transformers, and SLMs (like Llama 3) in real-time. This means you won't get stuck with hardware bottlenecks while trying to learn the latest 2026 AI techniques.
The Orin Nano currently has the largest community support. Most open-source robotics projects (like ROS 2) and GitHub AI repos are optimized and tested specifically for the Orin Nano due to its popularity among developers.
And because it draws very little power (max 25W), you can easily power it with a small battery pack for mobile robots or drones. You don't need the complex power management or heavy cooling systems required by the AGX or Thor series.
Think of Thor as a jet engine and AGX Orin as a heavy-duty truck. They are powerful but expensive and might be overkill for learning. The Orin Nano is like a high-performance sports car—fast, modern, and perfectly suited for you to master the "roads" of AI without breaking the bank.
