1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,719
the launch of the Raspberry Pi started a chain reaction of

2
00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:14,440
innovation and today it offers more functionality than ever before for next

3
00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:16,359
to nothing you can play old games build

4
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:19,840
a media center block Internet advertising on your network build up

5
00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:24,080
your own digital camera learn to program remotely access your PC even replace

6
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:29,039
your computer alt together but there's one small problem it's been almost

7
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:34,320
impossible to buy a Raspberry Pi 4 at MSRP for three years and while the

8
00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:39,040
Raspberry Pi Foundation assures us it should get better in six months we've

9
00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:43,320
heard that before luckily for us and anyone else with cool project Envy the

10
00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:48,840
success of the Raspberry Pi has inspired an entire Bakery of CopyCat ARM-based

11
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:54,960
single board computers or sbcs there's your banana pie your orange pie your

12
00:00:50,879 --> 00:00:57,440
rock pie the potato who is running this

13
00:00:54,960 --> 00:01:01,640
Bakery anyway the names aren't important what is important is that some of the

14
00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:06,080
raspberry pies competitors are so cool that the original name brand one may not

15
00:01:04,119 --> 00:01:10,119
be your best option anyway so whether you're looking for a dropin replacement

16
00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:14,479
something that's more performant or even if you want to save a buck I think we're

17
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:19,840
going to have something to Pike your interest okay that was a labored joke

18
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:24,280
just uh like this labored segue to our sponsor hetner hetner offers high

19
00:01:22,439 --> 00:01:27,840
performance cloud service for a great price they Now cover the east and west

20
00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:35,399
coast of the United States with their latest location in Hillsboro Oregon use

21
00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:35,399
code lt23 at the link below for €20

22
00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:50,040
off before we can explore Alternatives it's worth doing a brief overview of the

23
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:52,200
latest name brand SBC the Raspberry Pi 4

24
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:57,280
model B it packs a quad core ARM processor s so up to 8 gigs of memory

25
00:01:54,799 --> 00:02:02,520
flexible high-speed I/O and support for up to two 4K displays and it does all of

26
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:06,200
this without betraying the Raspberry Pi foundation's mission of democratizing

27
00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:12,720
Technology by making computers affordable to everyone it starts at just

28
00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:16,400
$35 of course Hardware is nothing without software but the Raspberry Pi

29
00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:20,840
Foundation has got you covered there to with raspberry pios it's based on debb

30
00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:24,959
and Linux and comes bundled with a web browser development tools some

31
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:28,319
educational software and a user-friendly package manager for installing

32
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:33,760
additional programs most importantly it's open- source and free this has led

33
00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:38,640
to the proliferation of specialized versions of Raspberry Pi OS like Libra

34
00:02:36,879 --> 00:02:44,000
for example is designed for Media Center use while retro Pi is all about game

35
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:48,319
emulation and it's also enabled the manufacturers of other pies as we'll be

36
00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:53,000
calling them to quickly Roll Out versions of Raspberry Pi OS for their

37
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:59,840
own Hardware let's look at our first Alternatives The dropin Replacements at

38
00:02:56,319 --> 00:03:01,879
$55 the banana P M5 starts off strong up

39
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:07,319
upgrading all of the onboard USB ports to USB 3 it has a similar amount of

40
00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:11,879
processing power on tap and adds an IR receiver and 16 gigs of onboard storage

41
00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:16,760
as an alternative to the micro SD slot unfortunately it trades away the

42
00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:22,159
Raspberry Pi's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth along with its dual display outputs but at

43
00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:24,920
least its single HDMI port is full size

44
00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:30,920
and still capable of 4K 60 HZ output also at $55 the ooid C4 includes the

45
00:03:27,879 --> 00:03:34,319
same four USB 3 ports receiver and

46
00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:36,640
full-sized HDMI port capable of 4K 60 it

47
00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:40,200
doesn't have onboard storage but it does have a connector on the bottom for an

48
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:45,000
emmc module should you wish to add your own like the M5 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

49
00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:48,560
capabilities are not included but it has a slight Edge and CPU performance over

50
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:52,799
the banana thanks to its higher clock speeds and included passive CPU Cooler

51
00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:56,720
the single micro USB port on the board is for

52
00:03:53,799 --> 00:04:00,360
usbg making the C4 one of the few models we tested that cannot get power via a

53
00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:05,000
USB connector instead it uses a DC Barrel Jack that

54
00:04:02,519 --> 00:04:09,519
can take anywhere from 5.5 to 12 volts DC worth noting is that the ooid is the

55
00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:13,120
only non- raspberry flavored Hardware that's officially supported by retropie

56
00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:17,280
while neither of our drop in Alternatives managed to hit the

57
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:21,680
impressive $35 starting price of the Raspberry Pi 4 model B given that those

58
00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:27,320
are only available through scalpers for over $100 I consider 55 a win here or at

59
00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:34,080
least I would if I didn't know that I could go even lower at just

60
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:37,080
$30 Li potato from Libra Computing is

61
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:39,720
almost cheaper than actual pie like the

62
00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:44,520
M5 and the C4 that we just discussed it uses high efficiency ARM cores but

63
00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:49,600
unlike those ones they're an older design and can't run clock speeds higher

64
00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:55,039
to compensate hence the name this model is actually from 2017 which is why it

65
00:04:52,199 --> 00:05:02,240
feels a little last gen four USB ports is good USB 2.0 not so good Ethernet is

66
00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:05,199
good 100 megabit Ethernet not so good

67
00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:10,360
you get the idea it also uses micro USB instead of USBC for power and DDR 3

68
00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:15,199
memory in whatever capacity you want as long as it's 2 GB lip potato was meant

69
00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:19,120
to take on the Raspberry Pi 3 so it's not surprising that it doesn't quite

70
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:23,520
stack up against the pi 4 but still it does bring some interesting features to

71
00:05:20,639 --> 00:05:27,960
the table an IR receiver an emmc port for storage and it even includes a USB

72
00:05:26,199 --> 00:05:33,960
dongle in the Box for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth one pleasant surprise was

73
00:05:30,039 --> 00:05:36,280
Hardware h265 decoding at up to 4K 60

74
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,600
which made it stand out against the pi 3 and would help it still be servicable as

75
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:45,960
a media player running something like libc or coral for just $5 more though

76
00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:48,000
Libra Computing also offers the Renegade

77
00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:52,800
given the name it is surprisingly similar to its starchy cousin though

78
00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:57,919
with micro USB for power but at least it trades two of those USB 2 ports for a

79
00:05:55,479 --> 00:06:02,479
single USB 3 and in exchange for a slightly lower clock speed it bumped

80
00:05:59,639 --> 00:06:08,199
bumps the RAM up to 4 gigs of ddr4 adds gigb Ethernet and even adds Hardware

81
00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:10,440
encoding for up to 2 h265 streams for

82
00:06:08,199 --> 00:06:14,639
the $5 difference from Li potato it's a pretty big upgrade though either would

83
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:20,479
do you just fine as a media player the last of our lower cost options is the

84
00:06:16,599 --> 00:06:23,000
$35 orange Pi 3 LTS which is yet another

85
00:06:20,479 --> 00:06:28,720
unit that uses efficiency course with higher clock speeds on this one we've

86
00:06:25,319 --> 00:06:30,840
got two USB 2s and a single USB 3 we're

87
00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:36,240
back to using USB PC for power though with gigabit Ethernet and onboard Wi-Fi

88
00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:38,639
and Bluetooth and while it uses DDR3 for

89
00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:43,880
its memory it's still managed solid performance and the 3 LTS even includes

90
00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:47,759
8 gigs of emmc storage that comes pre-loaded with a custom Android 9 image

91
00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:52,639
this is the first device we've looked at though that only has the 26 pin general

92
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:57,639
purpose IO header which could limit your DIY project and making matters worse it

93
00:06:55,479 --> 00:07:02,479
doesn't appear to be pin compatible with the first gen Raspberry Pi 2 six pin IO

94
00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:06,520
so you'll have to take a close look at the documentation before you plug things

95
00:07:04,479 --> 00:07:10,280
into it while none of these offer the whole package flexibility of the pi4

96
00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:14,599
whatever it is you're trying to accomplish at least one of them should

97
00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:18,639
be able to get you there at the same price that is unless you're trying

98
00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:24,039
something really ambitious then you might need to spend a bit more at

99
00:07:20,759 --> 00:07:26,360
$85 the ooid N2 plus is the first model

100
00:07:24,039 --> 00:07:31,080
we've looked at that doesn't basically copy the Raspberry Pi form factor it's

101
00:07:28,759 --> 00:07:35,240
roughly twice the size of the pi4 and has a giant passive heat sink on the

102
00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:39,919
bottom that cools the first s so we've seen that combines both performance and

103
00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:44,440
efficiency cores in a 4 plus2 configuration it also has the most

104
00:07:42,039 --> 00:07:48,520
powerful GPU that we've seen so far by the way if you've seen our GPU plush

105
00:07:45,879 --> 00:07:52,240
available at LTD store.com it's adorable in addition to its excellent CPU and

106
00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:56,639
memory performance the N2 plus has a highquality 32-bit stereo out with

107
00:07:54,400 --> 00:08:00,479
better than 100 DB signal to noise ratio and less than

108
00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:06,240
.6% total harmonic Distortion put together with four USB 3 ports and a

109
00:08:02,759 --> 00:08:08,000
micro usb OTG an IR receiver and an emmc

110
00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:12,199
port for additional storage it's no wonder that the N2 plus is a popular

111
00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:17,440
option for media players and for emulation back to an almost back to an

112
00:08:15,599 --> 00:08:22,879
almost Raspberry Pi form factor we've got our second offering from orange piie

113
00:08:19,599 --> 00:08:25,840
the orange piie 5 starting at $75 you

114
00:08:22,879 --> 00:08:31,440
get eight ARM V2 cores again in a big little configuration and up to 32 gigs

115
00:08:28,599 --> 00:08:36,680
of ddr4 memory and a built-in npu for machine learning acceleration there's a

116
00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:38,560
ton of IO both USB 3.1 type-c and

117
00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:45,120
DisplayPort 1.4 are making their first appearances here and the full-sized HDMI

118
00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:47,160
2.1 Port can push 8K at 60 HZ there are

119
00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:54,200
also enough myy connectors for another two 4K 60 displays and three cameras an

120
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:57,120
m.2 slot supports NVMe ssds or Wireless

121
00:08:54,200 --> 00:09:01,560
modules and a 26 pin gpio rounds things out all of this comes with a fairly

122
00:08:58,959 --> 00:09:05,640
Hefty power draw though it requires 4 amps at 5 volts on the USBC connector so

123
00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:10,000
you're going to need to budget for an adequate wall wart with that said it

124
00:09:08,079 --> 00:09:15,079
blows away the rest of our boards in performance getting the top score in

125
00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:20,120
well everything and usually by a pretty good margin now I know that both of

126
00:09:17,279 --> 00:09:23,760
these premium pies are significantly more expensive than the pi4 model B

127
00:09:22,279 --> 00:09:27,480
almost to the point where including them as Alternatives could be considered kind

128
00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:32,000
of disingenuous but I still think they belong in our list because both were

129
00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:36,560
significantly better than the pi 4 in a number of ways while costing less than

130
00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:41,440
what scalpers are charging on eBay for freaking Pi fours now in any Roundup

131
00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:47,480
there's bound to be an oddball or two so meet the misses not that

132
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:50,760
kind that kind back down at $60 we've

133
00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:52,720
got the rock Pi 4C plus which frankly we

134
00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:57,240
expect it to perform quite a bit better than it did combining two high

135
00:09:54,480 --> 00:10:02,360
performance cores the same a72 cores from the pi 4 with four High efficiency

136
00:09:59,959 --> 00:10:08,040
cores this is a board that we thought would be close to the original like the

137
00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:10,360
pi4 it has two micro HDMI ports but it

138
00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:15,600
can't run both of them at 4K 60 like the pi4 it has two USB 2s and two USB 3s it

139
00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:19,440
also includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board and even one UPS the pi4 with a

140
00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:24,920
connector for an external antenna an emmc port and an m.2 slot they even

141
00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:28,839
colorcoded the 40 pin gpio so you don't go and plug things in where you

142
00:10:26,079 --> 00:10:33,360
shouldn't but ultimately The Rock pie 4C ended up getting let down by poor

143
00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:37,839
performance from its ddr4 memory and poor CPU performance that just couldn't

144
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:44,800
quite match the four high power cores in the pi 4 at $75 the nanop m4b uses the

145
00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:50,959
same 2 plus4 core architecture as The Rock Pi but at higher clock speeds and

146
00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:53,160
in addition to its 40 pin gpio the m4b

147
00:10:50,959 --> 00:10:58,279
has a PCIe by2 interface that can be used for daughter boards that can add

148
00:10:55,200 --> 00:11:01,160
features like extra usb3 ports an NVMe

149
00:10:58,279 --> 00:11:04,920
SSD adapter and even a four port SATA controller that can turn it into a nice

150
00:11:02,839 --> 00:11:09,000
little Nas device for your home network this board also supports emmc storage

151
00:11:07,399 --> 00:11:13,680
though it uses a different layout from the others that we've seen so far it's

152
00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:18,639
got dual mppy CSI ports enabling dual cameras for robotics or AI use and even

153
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:24,600
includes switchable Android ADB support but again the m4b falls short of the pi4

154
00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,519
in CPU performance and its aging DDR3

155
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:31,000
didn't make up that lost ground making it a tough sell compared to the rest of

156
00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:38,519
the competition unless you really want that PCI E by2 interface next up is the

157
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:40,639
seed that's with three e router its most

158
00:11:38,519 --> 00:11:44,639
obvious standout feature is obviously its dual network Jacks because as you no

159
00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:49,480
doubt guessed from the name it's meant to be used as a tiny router running

160
00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:54,040
something like open wrrt now it can run any OS the Raspberry Pi can and it can

161
00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:57,839
be used for random projects like any other board we've tested so far the

162
00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:02,560
rerouter even managed solid performance coming in almost identically to our pi4

163
00:12:00,519 --> 00:12:08,000
which is probably because it actually is a pi4 kind of inside the casing you'll

164
00:12:05,959 --> 00:12:13,320
see that we have this kind of motherboard with IO ports on it and then

165
00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:19,279
a daughter board that is actually a Raspberry Pi compute module 4 or cm4 for

166
00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:22,800
short essentially it's a Raspberry Pi 4 without the physical IO and it's meant

167
00:12:21,079 --> 00:12:26,920
to be embedded in other devices providing the brains for things like

168
00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:32,360
digital signage thin clients Industrial Automation and yes routers but just like

169
00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:37,519
the normal pies um these are basically impossible to get right now and they

170
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:39,880
want $160 for the package so it's not

171
00:12:37,519 --> 00:12:45,600
really a great alternative the linkstar h68 K is an interesting one though it's

172
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:48,199
sort of a traveling Network Appliance

173
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:52,800
media player Nas router and server all rolled into one robust little package

174
00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:57,320
while it too can run more general purpose operating systems it's obviously

175
00:12:55,120 --> 00:13:03,240
meant for networking with dual 2 and 1/2 gig land ports and then two more 1 gig

176
00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:06,120
land ports alongside support for Wi-Fi 6

177
00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:11,480
and a basic npu for simple AI tasks with 32 gigs of emmc storage on board an SD

178
00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:15,160
card slot and a USBC Port you've got plenty of storage options in a device

179
00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:21,760
with pretty similar performance to the banana M5 or the ooid C4 but at

180
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:24,000
$129 the best value argument for it is

181
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:28,959
hey at least it looks a lot better than the seed router now to be clear all of

182
00:13:26,839 --> 00:13:33,199
these were good enough to be included we just just didn't feel that they fit in

183
00:13:30,199 --> 00:13:35,440
with the rest of the pi4 Alternatives as

184
00:13:33,199 --> 00:13:40,000
well as we might have liked as for rpix if we had to buy just one for a first

185
00:13:37,399 --> 00:13:44,920
SBC it's hard to say no to the orange Pi 3 LTS at 35 bucks decent overall

186
00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:48,880
performance plenty of wired and wireless connectivity and built-in emmc storage

187
00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:53,079
means you don't have to go and buy a Micro SD card on the other hand if you

188
00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:57,040
were already considering paying the scalper inflated prices for a Raspberry

189
00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:02,800
Pi 4 then our pick has got to be the orange Pi 5 at 7 bucks for the 4 Gig

190
00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:07,600
model it is a big jump in price from the MSRP of the pi4 but it blew away all of

191
00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:11,120
our other contenders in terms of performance and with the additional

192
00:14:09,279 --> 00:14:15,959
connectivity and expansion options over the pi 4 it seems like a no-brainer if

193
00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:21,240
you guys enjoyed this video maybe go check out our PI KVM video where we show

194
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:25,440
you how to turn a pi into a remote access KVM so you can do anything you

195
00:14:23,639 --> 00:14:29,480
would need to do on a remote computer even things like updating the BIOS