It has been a while since I recommended development boards, and this time I bring you some affordable alternatives to the Raspberry Pi 3. Now that the Raspberry Pi 3 has reached a price of 900, this article still holds some reference value.

Here are some budget development boards for you to choose from.

The development boards I selected meet the following criteria:

1. Size is basically consistent with the Raspberry Pi, so there won’t be a problem of insufficient space when replacing the Raspberry Pi.

2. Performance is generally better than or on par with the Raspberry Pi 3B.

3. Relatively low price.

Some students say the Raspberry Pi is easy to get started with, so I also found a beginner-friendly development board for you. If you are trying out development boards for the first time and want to learn programming, you can take a look at this.

OrangePi PC2

Based on Allwinner H5, priced at 184.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A53 1.2G + ARM Mali450, with 1GB DDR3 memory. I think this price is quite attractive.

Orange Pi PC2

https://m.tb.cn/h.fsWstWQ?tk=ALFo28C0Shq

OrangePi 3LTS

Based on Allwinner H6, priced at 249.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A53 1.8G + Mali T720, with 2GB memory + 8GB eMMC.

I think this price is quite good, but the low cost comes with a trade-off: the I/O interface is not the Raspberry Pi’s 40-pin but rather 26 pins. Some chips have been replaced with cheaper alternatives. However, even so, it still offers a high cost-performance ratio.

Orange Pi 3 LTS

https://m.tb.cn/h.fr2MPFo?tk=4jUs28C0VY3

ROC-RK3328-CC

Based on RK3328, priced at 239.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A53 1.5G + Mali450, with 1G DDR4 memory, Wifi4, Bluetooth 4.2, and Gigabit Ethernet. It has no significant drawbacks and is relatively inexpensive among Firefly development boards.

Firefly ROC-RK3328-CC

https://m.tb.cn/h.fsWsJlV?tk=OCpw28C0Pl6

Pine64 Rock64

Based on RK3328, priced at 260.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A53 1.5GHz + Mali450, with 1GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 + 8GB eMMC.

The ecosystem is good, with many systems available. However, the images are no longer updated, which is something to note. You can search the model on its official website for more details.

Pine64 Rock64

https://m.tb.cn/h.fI29vh5?tk=L7DG28Cb76y

Radxa Rock 3A

Based on RK3568, priced at 270.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A55 2GHz + Mali-G52, with 1G DDR4, and 0.8TOPS NPU.

This is the one I recommend the most because it is a relatively new development board, the system supports Android 11, and its performance is very strong. It also has a 0.8TOPS NPU, making it quite impressive overall. The downside is that the documentation is in English, which may present a slight learning curve.

Radxa Rock 3A

https://m.tb.cn/h.fJ3RdIm?tk=HZUC28Cb0MR

VVBoard

Based on RK3328, priced at 299.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A53 1.5GHz + Mali-450MP2, with 1GB memory + 8GB eMMC, and it comes with an integrated Arduino UNO chip with ports exposed.

Many people have said how convenient and easy to use the Raspberry Pi is, but I believe these issues can be resolved. Ultimately, it is a software ecosystem problem. For example, VVBoard is a development board designed specifically for makers and the education field, with decent performance that surpasses Raspberry Pi 3. Moreover, its system comes with many applications needed for programming, and the language and input method in the system are already configured, making it quite user-friendly. It also features a convenient USB mode, allowing you to directly connect to a computer to configure the Wi-Fi password, which is very handy.

VVBoard

https://m.tb.cn/h.fJ3iP0l?tk=okC428CbsOu

Banana BPI M4

Based on Realtek RTD1395, priced at 305.

CPU is a 4-core Cortex A53 1.2GHz + Mali-470, with 1GB DDR4, and 100Mbps Ethernet.

This price is slightly higher, but I mainly recommend it because the crab’s SoC is not very common. Other differences are not significant.

Banana BPI M4

https://m.tb.cn/h.fr2pcQ2?tk=h87v28CYUl9

Banana BPI M5

Based on Amlogic S905X3, priced at 415.

CPU is a 4-core A55 2GHz + Mali-G31, with 4GB memory + 16GB eMMC, Gigabit Ethernet.

This performance is significantly stronger, with all kinds of configurations being complete and not outdated. Moreover, this configuration with 4GB memory and 16GB eMMC is quite good for the price.

Banana BPI M5

https://m.tb.cn/h.fsWHQG0?tk=y6GC28CYeK9

This concludes my recommendations for development boards that can replace the Raspberry Pi 3. You can choose based on your needs. I have selected these after careful consideration. If you find it useful, please give me a thumbs up.

Recently, we have created a development board selection website. Although it is not yet perfect, we have already entered around 300 development boards. If you are interested or have needs, you can take a look at our selection website. You can also share any good suggestions in our group or leave us a message.

The domain name of our website is: findboard.cn

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