Raspberry Pi is kind of a new concept in the world of technology. It was originally made in the UK with the aim of providing a cost-efficient method of teaching basic computer science in schools. The first release blew up in the market and became more popular than expected. Since then, more versions of this credit card sized single board computer has been released.
As the market grew, so did the inflow of the technology from other companies. The latest version is the Raspberry Pi Zero, a great computer that comes at a low cost. Despite the cost, some might not be satisfied with what it has to offer. So here are the top 5 Raspberry Pi Zero alternatives.
Best Alternatives to the Raspberry Pi Zero
#1. C.H.I.P.
To kick off our list of the raspberry pi zero alternative is C.H.I.P. Funny enough, this device doesn’t have an acronym, but it has a lot to offer in terms of features. In comparison to the raspberry, the device offers wireless connections such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In addition, it has the VGA support, so you can connect it to a display. It does have its downsides, but it’s still a great alternative.
#2. Orange Pi PC2
Another alternative to the Raspberry Pi Zero is the Orange Pi PC2. The device packs a powerful 64-bit quad-core Cortex A53 processor paired with 1GB of RAM. On top of that, it does also offer more ports than the Raspberry Pi with an Ethernet port as well as 3 USB ports all featured in the device makeup.
#3. Onion Omega2
I find this one to be the most interesting of all the Raspberry Pi alternatives. Why? Well, it’s because of the control you have over the SBC. You can use a web browser and mess with the APIs to control hardware and software interactions. This is all made possible by the cloud-based service they offer known as Onion Cloud. Apart from that, it’s bested the Pi Zero by having a Wi-Fi module that runs at 150 Mbps. You also get support for USB 2.o and Ethernet cable.
#4. VoCore 2
This is an interesting one. Get this, it’s the size of a coin. Don’t underestimate this device by its size as it packs a ton of features that make it fully functional. VoCore 2 runs on Linux and can function as a wireless router as well. On top of that, like every other SBC on this list, you get an Ethernet port as well as USB 2.0 support and an audio jack. Amazing, isn’t it.
#5. NanoPi 2 Fire
The last on our list of SBC alternatives to the Raspberry Pi zero has to be this one. The price is higher than the Raspberry Pi, but it does offer 1GB of DDR3 RAM, Ethernet cable support, and an A9 quad-core SoC A power management unit is also included with the device. It allows you to make it sleep, wake up and power off software as well.
These top 5 alternatives to the Raspberry Pi Zero are awesome in my opinion. They offer just as much if not more. That’s just my opinion though, do you think there are other alternatives I missed? Have you ever tried any of these devices? Feel free to let me know in the comments section below.