Raspberry Pi 4 Benchmarks & Mini Review

Raspberry Pi 4 has just been released with many improvements over Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ including a faster processor, a proper Gigabit Ethernet port, USB 3.0 interfaces, and 4K video support. That’s the theory, but how does it work in practice? I can now let you know as I’ve received a Raspberry Pi 4 sample courtesy of Cytron, and ran some tests and benchmarks on the very latest boards from the Raspberry Pi foundation. System Info Before starting with the benchmarks, let’s go through some basic system info:

For reference, you’ll find Raspberry Pi 4 Linux boot log here. Phoronix benchmarks Let’s go ahead and install the latest version of Phoronix benchmarks:

Now let’s run the test to compare the performance of Raspberry Pi 4 model B to some other Arm Linux boards including Raspberry Pi 3 Model B.

For reference, my office has an […]

Raspberry Pi 4 vs Pi 3 – What are the differences?

So now that the Raspberry Pi 4 model B has just been launched, it may be worth checking out the differences against the previous latest single board computer from the Raspberry Pi foundation, namely Raspberry Pi 3 model B+. Let’s get straight to the Raspberry Pi 4 vs Pi 3 B+ comparison table. Features/Specs Raspberry Pi 4B Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Release date 24th June 2019 14th March 2018 SoC Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 @ 1.5 GHz Broadcom BCM2837B0 quad-core Cortex-A53 @ 1.4 GHz GPU VideoCore VI with OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, 3.0 VideoCore IV with OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 Video Decode H.265 4Kp60, H.264 1080p60 H.264 & MPEG-4 1080p30 Video Encode H.264 1080p30 Memory 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB LPDDR4 1GB LPDDR2 Storage microSD card Video & Audio Output 2x micro HDMI ports up to 4Kp60 3.5mm AV port (composite + audio) MIPI DSI connector 1x HDMI 1.4 port up […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

Raspberry Pi 4 Features Broadcom BCM2711 Processor, Up to 4GB RAM

Long expected, the Raspberry Pi 4 model B has finally launched, and it should not disappoint with a much more powerful Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor clocked at up to 1.5 GHz, 1 to 4GB LPDDR4, 4K H.265 video decoding and output support, a proper Gigabit Ethernet port, as well as USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports. Raspberry Pi 4 comes with all those extra features, but the form factor remains the same, and importantly the price is still $35 for the version with 1GB RAM, making Raspberry Pi alternatives suddenly much less interesting. Raspberry Pi 4 specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARMv8) @  1.5GHz with VideoCore VI GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics System Memory – 1GB, 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – microSD card slot Video Output  & Display I/F 2x micro HDMI ports up to 4Kp60 (Currently 1080p60 max. in dual-display configuration, although 2x 4Kp30 is […]

Obsidian ESP32 Board Follows Raspberry Pi Model A Form Factor (Crowdfunding)

When Thomas McKahan‏ had been playing with ESP32 for a while, he found the need to use Raspberry Pi HAT boards and enclosure with his new hardware,  so he went ahead and designed his own ESP32 board compatible with Raspberry Pi accessories, and following the smaller Raspberry Pi Model A / 3 Model A+ form factor. Obsidian ESP32 specifications: Wireless module – Espressif Systems  ESP32-WROVER-B 802.11 b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth 4.2 / BLE module with 16 MB flash, 8 MB PSRAM USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming Audio – 3.5mm TRS audio jack connected to ESP32 DACs Expansion 40-pin GPIO header compatible with popular HAT expansion boards with 3.3 V signalling,  I²S for audio DAC, I²C and SPI, Serial UART available on header or via microUSB, I²C GPIO expander with interrupts & address selection 8-pim unpopulated header from remaining I/Os accessible through GPIO expander 5-pin unpopulated […]

Strawberry4Pi Enables Home Automation on Raspberry Pi Boards (Crowdfunding)

Strawberry4Pi is an ecosystem of hardware, firmware, and software to create home automation and IoT projects with for Raspberry Pi boards. The project offers a pre-configured Linux operating system, a mobile app for Android and iOS, as well as two boards with four relays: Strawberry4Pi baseboard Zero for Raspberry Pi Zero (W), and Strawberry4Pi shield A/B for the larger boards such as Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ or Model A. Strawberry4Pi boards specifications: 4x SONGLE relays Misc – Temperature sensor and Wifi configuration button Power Supply Baseboard Zero – 100V-220V via 3-pin terminal block Shield A/B – 5V via 2-pin terminal block Dimensions Baseboard Zero – 97 x 75 mm Shield A/B – 65 x 56 mm Certifications – CE/FCC A 3D printed case and a DIN rail mount are also offered as options. There’s no a whole lot of information about the operating system as most people won’t need […]

MOVI Shield Enables Offline Speech Recognition of 150 Sentences on Arduino and Raspberry Pi

Smart speakers normally work both offline and online, but their offline ability is usually limited to just one or two wake words, that when detected let the speakers listen to speech that it will send the cloud for further processing. It’s done that way because the speakers would not have enough resources, e.g. processing power, storage to contain the whole data required for natural speech processing, and wake words reduce the number of requests to the cloud, and improve privacy. But in some cases, you may not need the full language, and instead would like to use several voice commands to control a device without the need or the ability to connect to the Internet/Cloud. So Audeme has designed an Allwinner A13 based Arduino shield named MOVI (My Own Voice Interface), and that can recognize and/or synthesize up to 150 full sentences of your choice in English, Spanish or German. […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and Rock64 1GB SBCs Promotions

Ameridroid has some promotions for two of the most popular single board computers on the market. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B (not B+) is now offered for $33.95, or $32.95 with CNXSUPPORTER1 coupon, with a free 16GB class 10 micro SD card pre-loaded with NOOBS. The company also discounted Rock64 board (1GB RAM model), with the same form factor as Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, but a faster Rockchip RK3328 processor, and high-speed interfaces like USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet, making it one of the best alternatives to Raspberry Pi 3 board. You can now get it for $24.95, a discount of $5 compared to the normal price on Ameridroid. $24.95 also happens to be the price the board is sold on Pine64, but you may save on shipping depending on where you live. You’ll also be able to save a bit more by using one of the following […]

HKCam is a Raspberry Pi Zero W based DIY HomeKit IP Camera

HKCam is an IP camera based on Raspberry Pi Zero W board and compatible with any HomeKit apps. The developer, Matthias Hochgatterer, did not make the hardware himself, and instead purchased a Raspberry Pi Zero W + camera kit sold for around $30 on Aliexpress. His main work was to design a 3D printed case and write the software running in the camera, as well as his own Home 3 smart home automation app for iOS compatible with HomeKit. The only hardware needed is the Raspberry Pi Zero W with a power supply, the official Raspberry Pi camera module with is flat cable, and a microSD card, so you could also get those locally instead of purchasing them from Aliexpress. The firmware is based on Raspbian, FFmpeg to access the camera stream, as well as hc, a lightweight framework to develop HomeKit accessories in Go. You’ll find the documentation, source […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC