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Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry vs IceWhale ZimaBoard 2

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

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The IceWhale ZimaBoard 2 scores 6.3/10 overall, ahead of the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry at 4.4/10.

The IceWhale ZimaBoard 2 leads on performance, storage, I/O and networking and value.

They score the same on software support.

The biggest difference is performance, where the IceWhale ZimaBoard 2 scores 7/10 to the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Berry's 3/10.

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

ZimaBoard 2

IceWhale ZimaBoard 2

6.3/10verdict: good, not the best

The ZimaBoard 2 is for homelabbers who want a compact x86 board for a small NAS or Docker host. It offers an Intel N150, dual 2.5GbE and two SATA ports, with 8GB or 16GB of soldered RAM. It suits people who value low power draw and quiet running over upgradeability.

Typically about £288.89 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 BerryIceWhale ZimaBoard 2
Software support30%5/105/10
Performance25%3/107/10
Storage15%4/107/10
I/O and networking15%6/108/10
Value15%4/105/10
Overall4.4/106.3/10

Specifications

SpecBanana Pi BPI-M2 BerryIceWhale ZimaBoard 2
Processor (SoC)Allwinner A40i/R40/V40; quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU; dual-core Mali-400 MP2 GPU at 500MHzIntel N150 (4 cores, 4 threads, up to 3.6GHz)
Memory1GB DDR3 at 733MHz, shared with GPU8GB (832) or 16GB (1664) LPDDR5 4800 MHz, soldered and not upgradable
Storage optionsMicroSD (TF) slot; SATA supported; no onboard eMMC; no M.2 or NVMe listed32GB (832) or 64GB (1664) onboard eMMC; two SATA 6Gbps ports
Networking10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211E/D); WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (AP6212 module); Bluetooth 4.0Dual 2.5GbE
GPIO40-pin header with 28 GPIO; UART, I2C, SPI, PWM and I2S on some pins; matches Raspberry Pi 3 headernot listed
Video outputsHDMI V1.4 TV-out; 4-lane MIPI DSI or RGB/LVDS panel; H.264 decode up to 1080p60One Mini DisplayPort 1.4, up to 4K at 60Hz
Power input5V/2A via micro USB; no 3.7V battery support12V DC barrel input, 60W adapter

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 ›

IceWhale ZimaBoard 2

  • + Dual 2.5GbE with about 275 to 280 MB/s reported real-world
  • + Low idle power draw, and silent without the fan
  • + Two SATA 6Gbps ports plus a PCIe 3.0 x2 lane
  • − RAM and eMMC are soldered and cannot be upgraded
  • − Throttling and 90s C package temperatures in passive tests
  • − UK buyers can only pay in US dollars on Zima's store

Skip it if:

  • Buyers who want to upgrade RAM or onboard storage later
  • Anyone planning sustained heavy load with passive cooling
  • Projects that need a Raspberry Pi-style GPIO header
Read the full IceWhale ZimaBoard 2 review ›

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