Here are the best Raspberry Pi 4 alternatives that tinkerers and hobbyists cannot live without. Raspberry Pi can help you to create your server to build your streaming device. But now, everyone wants a much more robust single-board PC and that is why they are looking for Raspberry Pi alternatives. Now, you might have heard or even experienced malfunctioning Type-C that led to this search in the first place. If you are also looking for something new, here are a few alternatives that have multiple ports with power. So, without any further ado let’s get started.
List Of Best Raspberry Pi 4 Alternatives
Down below, you will see the alternatives to our friendly Raspberry Pi 4. But these alternatives are more power efficient and robust. Not just that, but we also kept low pricing in mind before choosing this list. This means you will be able to experience the best results at an average price.
However, if you want something precise and professional and you don’t have any budget issues, you can go ahead and check out the high-standard boards as well. Let’s dive into our list.
1. Orange Pi 5
Orange Pi 5 gives a tough fight to the Rasberry Pi 4 when it comes to power and performance in the hardware. It has a processor of RK3588S Rockchip with ARM that has 64-bit capabilities. Also, it has eight cores with a 2.4GHz clocked speed.
For a simple comparison, Raspberry Pi 4 has a 1.5GHz speed. This clearly shows the extra speed boost you get with Orange Pi 5. It has cores 4x A55 and 4x A76, if we look the SBC will be much more powerful compared to others in the market. To top up the performance, here we get a RAM of 16GB with the speed of DDR4.
Now coming to the GPU, MALI G610 is used in this. It gives the best performance during high-resolution video work and is capable to render an 8K video. Now talking about the NPU unit, the board can be used for up to six TOPS. For your internet, it has an Ethernet port of Gigabit which supports the 6th version of Wi-Fi. You can add a Bluetooth version of 5.0 from an individual module.
The board consists of an audio jack of 3.5mm and an inbuilt mic, HDMI port, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, Type-C port, and GPIO pins. Yes, it does cost a bit more than Raspberry Pi 4 but if we consider the power then simply Orange Pi wins the fight.
2. Libre AML-S905X-CC Board
This is one of the most reasonable, affordable, and best Raspberry Pi 4 alternatives in the current year. It just costs you $35 and gives you a quad-core 64-bit ARM processor. It clocks at 1.5GHz that has 4x Cortex with an A53 core. Not 8K, but you can work with 4K videos with Mali-450 ARM GPU. Just like RB Pi 4, it can also run 4K videos on 60FPS. Speaking of RAM, it has 2GB with DDR3 speed.
It has low memory but looking at the price you can’t ask for much. If you want to run Ubuntu and Raspbian then this board can handle both. Also, for VP9 and HEVC decoding, you get an HDR engine for display.
3. ODROID N2+
One of the best in the market, ODROID N2+ is a good competition to Raspberry Pi 4 when it comes to price and performance. It also has a Quad-core processor with ARM cortex-A73. Also, A53 is installed on the board with a 1.8GHz speed. This board is much more powerful than Raspberry and gives a good 4GB RAM with DDR4 speed.
Now, for power efficiency let’s look at the fabrication of both processors. The ODROID has 12nm of fabrication whereas the Raspberry has 16nm. This means ODROID has better power control. MALI-G62 GPU is good enough to work with 4K videos at 60FPS. It has an HDMI port, Audio jack, LAN port, USB 3.0 port, etc.
4. Asus Tinker Board S R2.0
This is a new model in the series S. You will need to invest some money if you want a board that gives high performance at a stable rate. It has RK3288 Rockchip which has a speed of 1.8GHz. But clocked speed is 1.5GHz. It has a RAM of 2GB DDR3. With a GPU of Mali T764, you get good rendering speed.
The only thing you can’t find in Raspberry is the eMMC of 16GB. It can support 192 HD audio with 24 bits of playback from the audio jack. Ethernet of Gigabit, HDMI port, GPIO ports, and USB 2.0 is available. Also, Bluetooth and WiFi are available.
5. ROCKPro64
This might be the most loved board PC. ROCKPro64 has good community feedback and up-to-date software and hardware documentation. Talking about the processor, we get a Hexa-Core Rockchip RK3399.
It is better than A53 and A72 with 2GHz. GPU is MALI T860 MP4, which is highly effective for heavy working. Writing down the specs will definitely give you an idea about this tiny machine’s speed. For memory, you get 4GB of RAM with all the common ports.
6. BANANA BPI-M6 Pi
This board was released in 2022 and since then everyone eyed it as a Raspberry replacement. The previous version, the M5 was already great for its price, and looking at the M6 says it again. With ARM Cortex-A73 the quad-core processor works like butter. The speed cuts off at 2.1GHz which is significantly high than RB Pi 4.
The GPU however is equal to Raspberry. 16GB of storage with RAM of 4GB DDR4 is offered. If you want more storage you can add your microSD card. You can tweak some settings to get a 6.75 TOPS. It even offers micro HDMI and HDMI ports. You get four USB 3.0 ports for multitasking.
7. Beagle Bone Black
If you are a person who wants to work with Cloud IDEs and Linux Distros, then here is a low-powered board. It has an ARM Cortex-A8 with a 1GHz speed processor. Also, a 3D graphics accelerator is installed. The storage space is 4GB and RAM is 512MB DDR3.
Sadly, there are no Bluetooth or WiFi connections available but it still has a USB connector for radio signals. But if you want a connection, you can use third-party adapters. Talking about ports, you get USB 2.0, HDMI, Ethernet, etc. If you don’t have heavy work and want something cheap and simple then Beagle is a good choice.
8. Dell Wyse 3040 Thin Client
Companies like Lenovo, HP, and Dell create these thin models for enterprise use. But looking at the market this Dell 3040 Wyse is the best out there. This is the only board PC that has an intel processor inside. It has a 1.44 GHz clock speed which comes close to RP Pi 4 performance. The power pull is below 5watt which is great considering it has an x86 structure.
It has a RAM of 2GB and an eMMC storage of 8 GB. If you want a dual display feature, this board can do that with its GPU. You get both mic and audio ports on the client. USB 2.0 and 3.0 are available, there is a display port, and Bluetooth and WiFi are available.
9. NanoPi R4S
This is a popular board as well which is manufactured by an open company. It has a friendly ARM and the Rockchip RK3399 processor has 2GHz speed. It has MALI T864 GPU which is good for 4K video working without any lags. There are two models that you can buy.
One has 1GB of RAM of DDR3 and the other is 4GB RAM of DDR4. There is no inbuilt storage in either of the models. There are many USB 3.0 and Type-C ports with Ethernet ports. Even though the price is quite low, you can run 4K Video at 60FPS which is really good.
10. NVIDIA Jetson Nano Developer Kit
Best board for hardcore developers and those who want to test AI apps on their board. As you know, Nvidia is a high-standard GPU manufacturer. They have made this board that pulls less power and gives out more at a low cost. The GPU is very powerful and doesn’t need much time to process and render.
You also get a developer kit to work on this small computer. For ports, you get HDMI, USB, and Ethernet with plenty of GPIO ports. GPIO ports come in handy when you have to use hardware to test the AI. This board is fighting hard in 2023 because of its GPU.
Final Words
So, this is it. These were some of our picks, hope you liked them and hopefully they can help you in this. If you have any other suggestions for other best Raspberry Pi 4 alternatives then do make sure to tell us.