Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO vs Raspberry Pi 5 4GB

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

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The Raspberry Pi 5 4GB scores 7.9/10 overall, ahead of the Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO at 4.6/10.

The Raspberry Pi 5 4GB leads on software support, performance, storage, I/O and networking and value.

The biggest difference is software support, where the Raspberry Pi 5 4GB scores 10/10 to the Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO's 5/10.

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

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Raspberry Pi 5 4GB

7.9/10verdict: buy

The Raspberry Pi 5 4GB is for homelabbers and developers who want a small Linux board with official OS support and a standard 40-pin GPIO header. It suits people moving up from a Pi 4 who want more CPU performance for services, projects or display output. Buyers should be ready to sort out a proper 5A power supply and think about cooling.

Typically about £105.60 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK

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Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO	Raspberry Pi 5 4GB
Software support	30%	5/10	10/10
Performance	25%	5/10	8/10
Storage	15%	3/10	6/10
I/O and networking	15%	4/10	7/10
Value	15%	5/10	6/10
Overall		4.6/10	7.9/10

Specifications

Spec	Banana Pi BPI-M2 ZERO	Raspberry Pi 5 4GB
Processor (SoC)	Allwinner H3 quad-core Cortex-A7	Broadcom BCM2712, quad-core Arm Cortex A76 processor @ 2.4GHz, 512KB L2 per core and 2MB shared L3 cache
Memory	512 MB DDR3, shared with GPU	LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM, offered in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB variants
Storage options	microSD (TF) card up to 64 GB; no onboard flash	microSD card slot with SDR104 support; M.2 storage needs a separate adapter over PCIe 2.0 x1
Networking	Onboard Wi-Fi 802.11n via AP6212/K016 (SDIO); no onboard Ethernet	Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0/BLE, Gigabit Ethernet; PoE+ needs a separate HAT
GPIO	40-pin header, pin-compatible with Raspberry Pi 3	Standard 40-pin header
Video outputs	Mini HDMI 1.4, 1080p30 output; decodes 1080p60 H.264, encodes 1080p30 H.264	Dual 4Kp60 HDMI output with HDR support; VideoCore VII GPU; micro-HDMI connector
Power input	Micro USB, 5V/2A	5V/5A DC via USB-C with Power Delivery support

Strengths and weaknesses

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 ›

Raspberry Pi 5 4GB

+ Official Raspberry Pi OS images built for the Pi 5
+ Quad Cortex A76 cores at 2.4GHz; owners report big gains
+ Standard 40-pin header, two USB 3.0 ports, dual 4K HDMI
− Owners report high temperatures, throttling and shutdowns
− Needs a 5A supply; some 3A and laptop chargers fail
− M.2 storage needs a separate adapter; Ethernet is Gigabit only

Skip it if:

Buyers who need 2.5GbE or faster wired networking on the board
Anyone who wants native M.2 NVMe without buying an adapter
Buyers who cannot supply a 5A USB-C power supply or plan for cooling

Read the full Raspberry Pi 5 4GB review ›

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