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Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry vs BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black

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

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black scores 5.0/10 overall, ahead of the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry at 4.4/10.

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

The BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black leads on software support and storage.

They score the same on performance.

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

BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black

BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black

5.0/10verdict: good, not the best

The BeagleBone Black is for people building embedded, hardware-interfacing or low-demand single-purpose projects. It suits those who want onboard eMMC, two large expansion headers and officially listed Debian images. It is a poor fit for anyone wanting a general-purpose desktop or a board with fast networking.

Typically about £74 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 BerryBeagleBoard BeagleBone Black
Software support30%5/107/10
Performance25%3/103/10
Storage15%4/106/10
I/O and networking15%6/105/10
Value15%4/103/10
Overall4.4/105.0/10

Specifications

SpecBanana Pi BPI-M2 BerryBeagleBoard BeagleBone Black
Processor (SoC)Allwinner A40i/R40/V40; quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU; dual-core Mali-400 MP2 GPU at 500MHzTI Sitara AM3358 (AM3358BZCZ100), 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8, SGX 3D graphics, NEON, 2x 200 MHz PRUs
Memory1GB DDR3 at 733MHz, shared with GPU512 MB DDR3L 800 MHz
Storage optionsMicroSD (TF) slot; SATA supported; no onboard eMMC; no M.2 or NVMe listed4 GB 8-bit eMMC onboard; microSD connector
Networking10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211E/D); WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (AP6212 module); Bluetooth 4.010/100 Mbit Ethernet (RJ45). No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on this board.
GPIO40-pin header with 28 GPIO; UART, I2C, SPI, PWM and I2S on some pins; matches Raspberry Pi 3 headerTwo 46-pin expansion headers (LCD, UART, eMMC, ADC, I2C, SPI, PWM)
Video outputsHDMI V1.4 TV-out; 4-lane MIPI DSI or RGB/LVDS panel; H.264 decode up to 1080p60HDMI, LCD interface, stereo audio over HDMI
Power input5V/2A via micro USB; no 3.7V battery support5 V DC via 2.1 mm barrel jack or mini-USB; a 1 A 5 V supply is typical

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 ›

BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black

  • + Official Debian 13.7 and 12.15 images with three kernel branches
  • + Two 46-pin expansion headers plus two 200 MHz PRUs
  • + 4 GB eMMC onboard alongside a microSD connector
  • − Only 512 MB of RAM
  • − Ethernet is 10/100 and there is no Wi-Fi
  • − USB host port is limited to 500 mA

Skip it if:

  • Buyers who need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on the same board
  • Anyone running several containers or VMs that need more than 512 MB of RAM
  • Users who need faster than 10/100 Ethernet or high-current USB devices
Read the full BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black review ›

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