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Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry vs Raspberry Pi Zero WH

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

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The Raspberry Pi Zero WH scores 5.9/10 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.

The Raspberry Pi Zero WH leads on software support, performance and value.

They score the same on storage.

The biggest difference is software support, where the Raspberry Pi Zero WH scores 9/10 to the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry's 5/10.

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

Raspberry Pi Zero WH

Raspberry Pi Zero WH

5.9/10verdict: good, not the best

The Raspberry Pi Zero WH is for people who want a small, low-power board with GPIO ready to use straight away. It suits single-purpose projects that need Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and header-based add-ons rather than much processing power. It is not aimed at anyone who needs wired networking, fast storage or several services running at once.

Typically about £15.40 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 BerryRaspberry Pi Zero WH
Software support30%5/109/10
Performance25%3/104/10
Storage15%4/104/10
I/O and networking15%6/105/10
Value15%4/106/10
Overall4.4/105.9/10

Specifications

SpecBanana Pi BPI-M2 BerryRaspberry Pi Zero WH
Processor (SoC)Allwinner A40i/R40/V40; quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU; dual-core Mali-400 MP2 GPU at 500MHzBroadcom BCM2835 with a 1 GHz single-core 32-bit ARM11 CPU and 400 MHz VideoCore IV GPU
Memory1GB DDR3 at 733MHz, shared with GPU512 MB LPDDR2 RAM at 450 MHz
Storage optionsMicroSD (TF) slot; SATA supported; no onboard eMMC; no M.2 or NVMe listedmicroSD slot only
Networking10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211E/D); WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (AP6212 module); Bluetooth 4.02.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0 with BLE per Raspberry Pi (4.1 per The Pi Hut); no wired Ethernet port
GPIO40-pin header with 28 GPIO; UART, I2C, SPI, PWM and I2S on some pins; matches Raspberry Pi 3 header40-pin GPIO header, pre-soldered on this model, 0.1in (2.54 mm) pin pitch
Video outputsHDMI V1.4 TV-out; 4-lane MIPI DSI or RGB/LVDS panel; H.264 decode up to 1080p60Mini HDMI port and composite video (via 2 unpopulated pins)
Power input5V/2A via micro USB; no 3.7V battery support5V via micro USB port; two micro-USB ports, one for input power and one for external devices

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 ›

Raspberry Pi Zero WH

  • + 40-pin GPIO header comes pre-soldered
  • + Same header as flagship Model B boards, so HATs fit
  • + Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in
  • − Single-core 32-bit CPU with 512 MB RAM
  • − No wired Ethernet; 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only
  • − microSD is the only storage option

Skip it if:

  • Buyers who need wired Ethernet or 5 GHz Wi-Fi
  • Anyone running several containers or VMs on one board
  • Users who want storage beyond a microSD card
Read the full Raspberry Pi Zero WH review ›

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