Raspberry Pi 4 Alternatives: Five ARM Contenders

Low-cost ARM SBC review, including the Banana Pi M5, VIM1s, Odroid C4, Rock 3A, and the Orange Pi 5 4GB. All of these boards have their own, full ExplainingComputers review video as follows:

Banana Pi 5:

VIM1s:

Odroid C4:

Rock 3A:

Orange Pi 5:

You can also find my interview with Eben Upton from December 2022 here:

And the Rock 5B review that I refer to here:

Banana Pi M5:

Khadas VIM1s:
(Note that software can be downloaded and installed using the onboard OOWOW firmware -- so no website download pages are necessary).

Odroid C4:

Rock 3A:

Orange Pi 5:

More videos on SBCs and wider computing and related topics can be found at:

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:54 Banana Pi M5
04:41 VIM1s
07:57 Odroid C4
11:28 Rock 3A
16:35 Orange Pi 5
19:23 Wrap

#RaspberryPi #BananaPiM4 #VIM1s #OdroidC4 #Rock3A #OrangePi5 #explainingcomputers

[WidgeonT]

It would definitely be good to see a RPi Zero alternatives video. I would also be interested in a review of SBCs that might compare with what an RPi 5 might look like today if development hadn't stalled in recent years.

[richcurtin]

Great video, thanks. It’s so good to see alternatives available and improving. The last 2 years has shown how important it is to have more than one option for makers, students, start ups and design engineers

[jimlynch]

I just wonder why they continue to include GPUs on these boards but never seem to provide software to use them. Thanks for the great review as usual.

[lesliedeana]

Always a wonderful, unbiased comparison across the board. (Pun Intended.) Can't wait to see other SBC's, especially posting their availability!

[alanthornton]

Hardware acceleration still seems to be the issue with SBC's, maybe one day it'll get sorted out! I'm looking forward to the Reborn OS video. Thanks Chris for another interesting Sunday video :)

[RAZR_Channel]

Well done Sir... you are nearly to 1 Million Subs...
Maybe your not a Pop ICON....
But you are Clear and Precise in everything you do...
This is appreciated by Senior Level people...
I look forward to Congratulating you when you exceed 1 Million...

[FlagstaffslowTV]

Thank you for making this video. I need to move on from Pi because I just can't find them and will not pay crazy Amazon mark-ups. There are many good alternatives, but they need larger communities to become anything like the Pi. It has to start somewhere.

[patriot]

I think community support is more important for a SBC platform than raw compute power. Most of my compute projects in this space can be performed by my original PI and PI2 . I am exited though that there are multiple options available.

[TheDarkelvenangel]

I still love Raspberry Pi I was lucky enough to get my last one before demand out stripped supply. One thing not touched on was community support behind these alternatives, Raspberry Pi has a strong community behind it. When choosing an alternative the availability of help is just as important as price in my mind. I think so of these alternatives are well worth a look. Something many comments say about price in regards to Raspberry Pi board if you get them from the authorized sellers you pay the best prices, third parties sell for more to line their own pockets.

[kurtweber]

Thanks again, as always well done. Keep up the good work I learn a great deal from your productions.

[jls]

Have a good rest of your weekend Christopher. Love your top 5s. As Always, Be Smart and Stay Safe.

[dioneto]

holy cow! i was looking for rasp pi 4 alternatives yesterday. Thanks for the video Chris.

[techman]

Thank you for the RasPi alternative update. It's good to know there is much progress with these SBCs to run Linux distros efficiently. Please do the Pi Zero alterantive video!

[devinhedge]

Great video. I appreciate how much time it takes to produce it. Thank you!

[sbc_tinkerer]

Blessed Sunday all! Great job as always sir. Nice to see some SBC manufacturers are getting better at sodftware support. Until next time... happy Explaining Computers!

[richarddade]

Very interesting comparisons, please keep the good work up !

[realharo]

I recently got an Odroid C4, and was surprised how well and effortlessly Armbian works on it (much better than the official images). Hardware acceleration out of the box with the Panfrost driver, decent performance, no issues whatsoever. I have further plans for it as a Pi replacement, so will see how far the compatibility goes when it comes to some 3rd party hardware with its own drivers (I am able to make some adjustments if necessary).

[christiancabrera]

I just love your reviews. Makes it easier for us enthusiasts to decide for the right SCB for our projects.

[dougr.]

Orange pi is really a good contender in the SBC market. Maybe I will give it a try for my next project. I am not a big fan of built-in Wi-Fi. I rather buy a dongle. Thanks for the video. A nice Sunday to all.

[Dbean]

Enjoy your commentary on the Raspberry pi boards and alternative boards and extended capabilities, as the video stream consist frames and loss of frames .. very good clip.. sending it on to my friends as adapt or more so than I..Keep them coming, they at least keep me up to date on what is available for medium to modest prices for on board performance..