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Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry vs Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO scores 4.6/10 overall, ahead of the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry at 4.4/10.

The Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry leads on storage and I/O and networking.

The Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO leads on performance and value.

They score the same on software support.

Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry

Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry

4.4/10verdict: skip

The Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry is for hobbyists who want a small quad-core board with gigabit Ethernet, WiFi and a Raspberry Pi 3-style GPIO header. It suits light single-purpose jobs such as a sensor hub, a small network service or a GPIO project. It is less suited to anyone who needs more than 1GB of RAM, USB 3 or NVMe storage.

Typically about £46.99 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO

Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO

4.6/10verdict: skip

The Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO is for people who want a small, wireless board for light, single-purpose jobs. It suits builders who already have Raspberry Pi Zero cases or GPIO accessories to reuse. It is a poor fit for anyone who needs wired networking, fast storage or a lot of memory.

Typically about £23.93 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Scores, criterion by criterion

CriterionWeightBanana Pi BPI-M2 BerryBanana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO
Software support30%5/105/10
Performance25%3/105/10
Storage15%4/103/10
I/O and networking15%6/104/10
Value15%4/105/10
Overall4.4/104.6/10

Specifications

SpecBanana Pi BPI-M2 BerryBanana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO
Processor (SoC)Allwinner A40i/R40/V40; quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU; dual-core Mali-400 MP2 GPU at 500MHzAllwinner H3 quad-core Cortex-A7
Memory1GB DDR3 at 733MHz, shared with GPU512 MB DDR3, shared with GPU
Storage optionsMicroSD (TF) slot; SATA supported; no onboard eMMC; no M.2 or NVMe listedmicroSD (TF) card up to 64 GB; no onboard flash
Networking10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211E/D); WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (AP6212 module); Bluetooth 4.0Onboard Wi-Fi 802.11n via AP6212/K016 (SDIO); no onboard Ethernet
GPIO40-pin header with 28 GPIO; UART, I2C, SPI, PWM and I2S on some pins; matches Raspberry Pi 3 header40-pin header, pin-compatible with Raspberry Pi 3
Video outputsHDMI V1.4 TV-out; 4-lane MIPI DSI or RGB/LVDS panel; H.264 decode up to 1080p60Mini HDMI 1.4, 1080p30 output; decodes 1080p60 H.264, encodes 1080p30 H.264
Power input5V/2A via micro USB; no 3.7V battery supportMicro USB, 5V/2A

Strengths and weaknesses

Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry

  • + Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 on board
  • + 40-pin header matches Raspberry Pi 3
  • + SATA supported alongside microSD
  • − Only 1GB RAM, shared with the GPU
  • − USB 2.0 only, no USB 3
  • − No eMMC, M.2 or NVMe

Skip it if:

  • Buyers who need more than 1GB of RAM for containers or VMs
  • Anyone who wants USB 3 or NVMe storage
  • Projects that need direct 3.7V battery power
Read the full Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry review ›

Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO

  • + Pin-compatible 40-pin GPIO header, matching Raspberry Pi 3
  • + Onboard 802.11n Wi-Fi
  • + Owners report Raspberry Pi Zero cases and accessories fit
  • − No onboard Ethernet; wired networking only via GPIO
  • − 512 MB of RAM, shared with the GPU
  • − microSD only, with a single USB 2.0 OTG port

Skip it if:

  • Anyone who needs onboard wired Ethernet or gigabit networking
  • Buyers wanting NVMe, M.2 or storage beyond a 64 GB microSD card
  • Homelabbers planning several containers or VMs on more than 512 MB of RAM
Read the full Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO review ›

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