10 Best Raspberry Pi 4 Alternatives to Buy

Feb. 17, 2023

For tech hobbyists and tinkerers, Raspberry Pi 4 is the one machine they can’t live without. Whether you want tobuild an audio streaming deviceorset up a web server, Raspberry Pi gets everything done. However, of late, users have been looking for Raspberry Pi 4 alternatives in search of a more powerful single-board computer. Apart from that, the recentfaulty Type-C designforced many users to look south. So, if you are still on the lookout, we have put together a list of the best Raspberry Pi 4 alternatives, which are powerful and come with several ports. Now having said that, let’s begin the article without any delay.

In this article, we have included the 10 best alternatives to Raspberry Pi 4 that are not only powerful but also power-efficient. Apart from that, we have used low pricing as a key factor before finalizing the list, so you get similar performance without breaking the bank. Having said that, if you are looking for a truly powerful Raspberry Pi-like board and the price isn’t an issue, we have some new options as well, so go through the list below. Now without further ado, let’s get started with the first pick.

Coming to connectivity, the SBC has a 40-pin header for functions like SPI, I2C, PWM, UART, and more. Not to mention, you can run both Raspbian and Ubuntu on this board. Yes, it comes with2GB DDR3 RAMonly, but for this price, you can’t expect more. All in all, for users who want an inexpensive board like Raspberry Pi 4, the Libre Computer Board checks all the boxes.

Buy from Amazon($35)

2. Orange Pi 5

Orange Pi 5 is a very capable alternative to Raspberry Pi 4 that comes with powerful hardware and offers excellent performance. It packs the ARM-based Rockchip RK3588S processor which is based on 64-bit architecture and haseight cores clocked up to 2.4GHz.

For comparison, RPi4 speeds up to 1.5GHz so Orange Pi 5 clearly has much more horsepower. With 4x A76 and 4x A55 cores, the SBC is far more powerful than the competition. Not just that, it comes with amassive 16GB of LPDDR4 RAMwhich is just amazing. Along with that, Orange Pi 5 features the Mali-G610 GPU which can decode even 8K videos.

Further, the boardpacks an NPU unitthat can perform up to 6 TOPS. As for connectivity, it comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port, and Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 can be added via a separate module. Apart from that, Orange Pi 5 houses a 3.5mm audio jack, onboard mic, several GPIO pins, HDMI, Type-C, USB 3.0, and USB 2.0 ports. Simply put, Orange Pi 5 is a bit costly, but if you are looking for a powerful alternative to Raspberry Pi 4 then you should definitely pick it.

Buy from Amazon($131.99)

Successor to the Tinker Board S, Asus has released a new SBC like Raspberry Pi 4 called Asus Tinker Board S R2.0. While it’s not as low-cost as Raspberry Pi 4, theAsus single-board computer offers a powerful and stable experiencebecause of its solid internals.

It’s packed with Rockchip RK3288 SoC which can go to 1.8GHz (RPi4 is clocked at 1.5GHz) and has2GB of DDR3 RAMon the base variant. The board is equipped with Mali–T764 GPU which is said to have better rendering capability. However, the best part is that it comes with 16GB eMMC storage which the Raspberry Pi 4 lacks.

In terms of port selection, you don’t have to worry as there are plenty of options available.You have Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, HDMI, and lots of GPIO portsfor your tinkering purpose. In addition, it now supports 192/24bit HD audio playback through the audio jack.

Buy from Amazon($129)

Odroid N2+ is one of the best single-board computers out there and easily rivals Raspberry Pi 4 in terms of both specs and pricing. The N2+ comes with a quad-coreARM Cortex-A73 CPU with a dual-core Cortex-A53cluster integrated into the main board which is clocked at 1.8GHz.

In essence, it’s more powerful than RPi 4’s A72 CPU which is clocked at 1.5GHz. On the RAM front, it comes with4GB of DDR4 memoryso that is great for multi-taskers. And the best part about the processor is that it’s built on the 12nm fabrication process so it’s much more power-efficient than RPi 4’s 16nm chipset.

Apart from that, the board is equipped with Mali-G52 GPU which is powerful enough to stream 4K content at 60FPS. Further,there is ametal heatsink at the bottomwhich can minimize throttling by dissipating heat. In terms of port selection, you have a Gigabit LAN port, headphone jack, HDMI port, 4 USB 3.0 ports, and more. Considering all the points, Odroid N2+ seems a powerful single-board computer and it can easily serve as an alternative to Raspberry Pi 4.

Buy from Amazon($126.95)

It also comes with a new Imagination GE9920 GPU for smooth graphics rendering which is on par with Raspberry Pi 4. Other than that, the board comes with built-in4GB of LPDDR4 RAMand 16GB of onboard storage. In addition, you can expand the storage up to 256GB using a microSD card. What’s unique about Banana Pi BPI-M6 is that it features an NPU for AI operations which can perform up to 6.75TOPS. You don’t usually see an NPU in an SBC so that is great. Even the RPi4 board doesn’t have it.

Talking about the ports, the board is equipped with onemicro HDMIin and one micro HDMI out port. Moreover, it packs a Gigabit Ethernet port and 4x USB 3.0 ports. The only con is that it does not come with onboard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support. So, given the powerful internals, Banana Pi BPI-M6 is an excellent single-board computer and a worthy alternative to Raspberry Pi 4.

Buy from Banana-Pi(TBA)

RockPro64 is another great alternative to Raspberry Pi 4. And I say this because RockPro64 enjoys similar community support andhas excellent documentation for all the hardware and software SDKs.Apart from that, RockPro64 has a powerful Hexa-core Rockchip RK3399 SoC which comprises dual A72 and quad A53 cores clocked up to 2GHz. Looking at the specs on paper, the RockPro64 is definitely a powerful tiny machine. Besides that, you have Mali T860 MP4 GPU which is powerful enough to run graphics-heavy content.

Having said that,it comes withdual-channel 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and with a module socket for eMMC card storage. Moreover, the board is packed with Gigabit Ethernet, USB Type C, USB 3.0, HDMI, a headphone jack, and several other ports. All in all, RockPro64 is among the best single-board computers and I have qualms in recommending it over the Raspberry Pi 4.

Buy from Pine Store(79.99)

NanoPi R4S is a popular Raspberry Pi 4 alternative that is built by anotheropen-source company, FriendlyARM. The single-board computer comes with Rockchip RK3399 CPU which is clocked up to 2GHz. The Rockchip SoC is using a dual-core Cortex-A72(clocked up to 2.0GHz) and quad-core Cortex-A53( clocked up to 1.5GHz) which essentially means that NanoPi R4S is on par with Raspberry Pi 4 in terms of performance. On the GPU side, it has a powerful Mali-T864 GPU which is capable of rendering 4K content without any issues.

The board comes in two variants of 1GB DDR3 RAM and4GB of LPDDR4 RAMwithout any onboard storage. In terms of port selection, the NanoPi R4S is housed with USB 3.0, USB Type-C, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Having said that, the best part about NanoPi R4S is that it can play 4K video content at 60FPS. To sum up, if you want an SBC board like Raspberry Pi 4 with all the modern features and tech then NanoPi R4S is a decent pick.

Buy from FriendlyARM(starts at $50)

If you need a low-powered machine to run Linux distros or cloud IDEs then BeagleBone Black is a great pick. The single-board computer comes with an AM3359 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with a dedicated 3D graphics accelerator. You also getonboard storage of 4GB and 512MB of DDR3 RAM.

While there is no WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity, it has USB connectors for enabling radio communication. You can simplyattach a WiFi or Bluetooth adapterand you can use radio services without any problem. Apart from that, you get a few ports including Ethernet, HDMI, USB 2.0, and more. Simply put, if you want a low-configuration single-board computer, you can give BeagleBone Black a shot.

Buy from Amazon($84.99)

Buy from Amazon($138)

If you are a developer and use Raspberry Pi 4 for testing AI applications then let me offer you a better alternative. Nvidia, a popular GPU manufacturer has createda low-cost single-board computer thatis capable of running AI tests without needing much power and resources. The Jetson Nano can deliver high performance with its powerful GPU without taking much time.

Buy from Amazon($149)

So that’s our list of the best small-board computers like Raspberry Pi 4, ranked on the basis of performance-to-price ratio. We have tried to include single-board computers, which are modern and come with newer cores, Type-C ports, and powerful GPUs. Be assured, with the top 5 picks, you will get a top-notch performance like Raspberry Pi 4. That said, if you want tobuild your own Android TV Box with Raspberry Pi, follow our linked tutorial. And toset up Raspberry Pi without a PC, we have a guide ready for you. Finally, if you liked our selection, do comment down below and let us know.

Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.