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BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black vs Raspberry Pi 400

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

all judged against single-board computers at a similar price

The Raspberry Pi 400 scores 7.2/10 overall, ahead of the BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black at 5.0/10.

The BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black leads on storage.

The Raspberry Pi 400 leads on software support, performance, I/O and networking and value.

The biggest difference is value, where the Raspberry Pi 400 scores 7/10 to the BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black's 3/10.

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

Raspberry Pi 400

Raspberry Pi 400

7.2/10verdict: buy

The Raspberry Pi 400 is for anyone who wants a complete, compact Raspberry Pi desktop with the keyboard built in and no assembly. It suits learners, classrooms and homelabbers who want a small terminal or light desktop machine running Raspberry Pi OS. It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs easy GPIO access or fast internal storage.

Typically about £57.60 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

CriterionWeightBeagleBoard BeagleBone BlackRaspberry Pi 400
Software support30%7/1010/10
Performance25%3/106/10
Storage15%6/104/10
I/O and networking15%5/107/10
Value15%3/107/10
Overall5.0/107.2/10

Specifications

SpecBeagleBoard BeagleBone BlackRaspberry Pi 400
Processor (SoC)TI Sitara AM3358 (AM3358BZCZ100), 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8, SGX 3D graphics, NEON, 2x 200 MHz PRUsBroadcom BCM2711, quad-core Cortex-A72 64-bit, 1.8 GHz
Memory512 MB DDR3L 800 MHz4GB LPDDR4-3200
Storage options4 GB 8-bit eMMC onboard; microSD connectorMicroSD card slot; no eMMC, SSD or M.2 slot
Networking10/100 Mbit Ethernet (RJ45). No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on this board.Gigabit Ethernet; dual-band 2.4/5 GHz 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 5.0 and BLE
GPIOTwo 46-pin expansion headers (LCD, UART, eMMC, ADC, I2C, SPI, PWM)40-pin horizontal GPIO header on the rear of the case
Video outputsHDMI, LCD interface, stereo audio over HDMI2 × micro HDMI ports, up to 4Kp60; H.265 4Kp60 decode, H.264 1080p60 decode, OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0
Power input5 V DC via 2.1 mm barrel jack or mini-USB; a 1 A 5 V supply is typical5V DC via USB Type-C power input

Strengths and weaknesses

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 ›

Raspberry Pi 400

  • + Keyboard and computer in one compact case
  • + Raspberry Pi OS preinstalled on the SD card
  • + Gigabit Ethernet and two USB 3.0 ports
  • − microSD only, with no M.2 or eMMC
  • − GPIO access is awkward and needs an adapter
  • − Keyboard feels cheap and spongy to some owners

Skip it if:

  • Buyers who want M.2, SSD or eMMC storage on the board.
  • Makers who will use the GPIO header often and want easy access.
  • Anyone who wants a separate bare board to mount in their own case.
Read the full Raspberry Pi 400 review ›

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