Best Raspberry Pi alternatives

OK, OK, I know that technically the Zero W is a member of the Raspberry Pi family, but this one is too awesome to not list!

Why?

Because for only $10 it offers a very impressive feature set:

• 1GHz, single-core CPU
• 512MB RAM
• Mini-HDMI port
• Micro-USB On-The-Go port
• Micro-USB power
• HAT-compatible 40-pin header
• Composite video and reset headers
• CSI camera connector
• 802.11n wireless LAN
• Bluetooth 4

The NanoPi NEO Plus2 is less than half the size of the Raspberry Pi, but it packs a performance and storage punch

• H5 quad-core A53 ARM Cortex processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB eMMC storage
• 2 x USB ports
• Gigabit ethernet

All that for $25.

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A coin-sized Linux computer that is totally open-source, and costs $20. This is a small, low-cost, totally open-source (both the hardware and software) computer that's ideal for projects such as IoT or building your own custom router.

• MT7628AN, 580 MHz, MIPS 24K
• 128MB, DDR2, 166MHz
• 16M NOR on board, support SDXC up to 2TB
• 802.11n, 2T2R, speed up to 300Mbps
• 1 port/5 ports, up to 100Mbps
• Support USB 2.0, up to 480MBit/s

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The Huawei HiKey 960 is essentially a PC running Android.

At a whopping $239 it's not cheap, but it certainly has the horsepower to handle whatever task you want to throw at it.

• Kirin 960 SoC Quad Core ARM (4 x 2.3GHz ARM A73 cores, and 4 x 1.8GHz ARM A53 cores)
• ARM Mali G71 MP8 GPU
• 3GB LPDDR4 RAM
• 32GB of UFS flash storage

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At $9, C.H.I.P. is a perfect demonstration of how cheap computing has become. You get what would only a few years ago have been desktop power on a tiny board.

• 1.0GHz CPU
• 512MB of RAM
• 4GB of storage
• Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

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ODROID-XU4 is a new generation of computing device with more powerful, more energy-efficient hardware and a smaller form factor, and costing only $59.

Offering open source support, the board can run various flavors of Linux, including the latest Ubuntu 16.04 and Android 4.4 KitKat, 5.0 Lollipop and 7.1 Nougat.

• Samsung Exynos 5422 Cortex-A15 2Ghz and Cortex-A7 Octa core CPUs
• Mali-T628 MP6 (OpenGL ES 3.1/2.0/1.1 and OpenCL 1.2 Full profile)
• 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM PoP stacked
• eMMC5.0 HS400 Flash Storage
• 2 x USB 3.0 Host, 1 x USB 2.0 Host
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• HDMI 1.4a for display
• Size : 83 x 58 x 20 mm approx.(excluding cooler)
• Linux Kernel 4.9 LTS

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Not only does the Cubieboard4 pack a punch, it can output 4K video, making it a great choice for those wanting to build a media center or a gaming platform.

At $160, this board doesn't come cheap, but it's a solid basis on which to build a project on.

• Octa-core big.LITTLE Cortex-A15/7 processor
• 64-core IMG PowerVR G6230 GPU
• 2 GB RAM
• 64 GB storage
• 2x USB Host, USB 3.0/2.0 Dual-Role (host/device)
• Ethernet MAC
• 4x SPI, 7x TWI, 7x UART
• 4x SD/MMC

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The Parallella computer is a high performance, credit card sized computer based on the Epiphany multi-core chips from Adapteva. Starting at $99, the Parallella can be used as a standalone computer, an embedded device or as a component in a scaled out parallel server cluster.

• 16-core Epiphany RISC SOC
• Zynq SOC (FPGA + ARM A9)
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 1GB SDRAM
• Micro-SD storage
• Up to 48 GPIO pins
• HDMI, USB (optional)

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While the BBC micro:bit is primarily aimed at schools, its low price (about $16) and ease of use makes it a great tool for learning and prototyping on.

The micro:bit is powered by a 32-bit ARM Cortex processor and comes with a built-in accelerometer, magnetometer and Bluetooth.

A unique feature of the micro:bit is the integrated 5x5 LED matrix that offers 25 individually programmable red LEDs to use as a basic display or output.

The NanoPC-T3 is the bigger brother of the NanoPi 2 Fire, and features an octa-core processor which has enough power for commercial and industrial applications.

• Samsung S5P6818 octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 up to 1.4GHz
• 1-2GB of RAM
• 8GB of flash storage
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 2.0

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A cheap, $23 quad-core powered board that's ideally suited for hobbyists.

• Samsung S5P4418 quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 up to 1.4GHz
• 1GB of RAM
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 2.0

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The MinnowBoard MAX is an update of the popular MinnowBoard, and features a 64-bit Intel Atom E3800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and Intel HD Graphics.

There's also a SATA port allowing the MinnowBoard MAX to be hooked up to a hard drive.

At $139 it's not a cheap board, but it does offer a number of high-end features.