Review: Top Singleboard Computers

0 - Introduction

If you are looking for the core of your next project you came to the right article! In here we will review a couple of Single Board Computers for the people that think the Raspberry Pi doesn’t quite suit their needs.

1 - NanoPi

The NanoPi is the cheapest single board computer we will review in this article. For it’s price, the ethernet connectivity it offers is unmatched, making it perfect for setting up your own PFSense router or a Pi-Hole container, or even both!

Due to the lack of RAM i would suggest against using this computer to run game servers even though the sellers say it can run a ‘Minecraft Server’. It can, just not a good one.

	Specs
CPU	1.3Ghz Quad-Core Cortex-A53
Memory	1GB DDR4
Storage	MicroSD Slot, up to 128GB
Connectivity	2x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB-C Power IN, 1x Serial Debug

2 - RockPi 4

The RockPi is the most similar to the Raspberry Pi, in this case, the Pi4, making it a great alternative if you can’t find any Raspberry Pis in stock.

	Specs
CPU	2Ghz Dual-Core Cortex-A72 + 1.4Ghz Quad-Core Cortex-A53
GPU	Mali-T864
Memory	4GB LPDDR4
Storage	64GB EMMC
Connectivity	1x Gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB-C Power IN, 40pin GPIO

3 - Jetson Nano Devkit

The Jetson Nano is a great devkit for AI on the edge, with it’s Maxwell GPU, object detection, facial recognition, these AI tasks are a breeze on it.

Besides AI, it’s processor is also pretty good for your homelab hosting needs, it can effortlessly run docker with some containers, for example, Jellyfin and game servers.

	Specs
CPU	1.43Ghz Quad-Core Cortex-A57
GPU	128 Core Maxwell
Memory	4GB LPDDR4
Storage	16GB EMMC + MicroSD Slot
Connectivity	1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x M.2 Slot, 4x USB 3.0, 1x USB-B Power IN, Extra Connectivity depends on the model.

4 - ASUS Tinker Edge T

The Asus Tinker Edge T is a single board computer made to run AI applications on the edge. With it’s TPU you can run many models in MediaPipe with ease. Training models should also be possible, but i wouldn’t recommend it, as it’s limited ram might cause crashes mid-train.

	Specs
CPU	1.5Ghz Quad-Core Cortex-A53
GPU	128 Core Maxwell
Memory	1GB LPDDR4
Storage	8GB EMMC
Connectivity	1x Gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI port, 1x USB-C, 1x DC PowerIn

5 - BananaPi BPI-W3

The BananaPi is a very powerfull board, with its Octa-Core cpu and 6Tops NPU, it can run many AI applications with ease and with its GPU with 8K support you can easely self host your own streaming service (Jellyfin).

	Specs
CPU	2.4Ghz Quad-Core Cortex-A76 + Quad-Core Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G610
NPU	6 Tops@INT8
Memory	8GB LPDDR4
Storage	32GB EMMC
Connectivity	1x 2.5Gbit Ethernet, 3x HDMI (2 out, 1 in), 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 2x M.2, 1x USB-C and more depending on the model you buy

6 - OrangePi RK3588

The OrangePi is a very complete board, it has a lot of IO and a lot of power too. It supports 8K video decoding making it perfect for hosting a service like Jellyfin, but also very good for AI applications and, with its two 2.5 gigabit ethernet ports, it can also be a good router with PFSense.

	Specs
CPU	2.4Ghz Quad-Core Cortex-A76 + Quad-Core Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G610
Memory	16GB LPDDR4
Storage	16 - 256GB EMMC
Connectivity	2x 2.5Gbit Ethernet, 3x HDMI (2 out, 1 in), 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 2x M.2, 1x USB-C and more depending on the model you buy

And these were the best single board computers we could find. We hope you found the one that fits your project the best!

As always, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more tech insights and tutorials. Until next time, keep exploring the world of tech!