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BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black 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 BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black at 5.0/10.

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

They score the same on storage.

The biggest difference is performance, where the Raspberry Pi 5 4GB scores 8/10 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 5 4GB

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 (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 5 4GB
Software support30%7/1010/10
Performance25%3/108/10
Storage15%6/106/10
I/O and networking15%5/107/10
Value15%3/106/10
Overall5.0/107.9/10

Specifications

SpecBeagleBoard BeagleBone BlackRaspberry Pi 5 4GB
Processor (SoC)TI Sitara AM3358 (AM3358BZCZ100), 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8, SGX 3D graphics, NEON, 2x 200 MHz PRUsBroadcom BCM2712, quad-core Arm Cortex A76 processor @ 2.4GHz, 512KB L2 per core and 2MB shared L3 cache
Memory512 MB DDR3L 800 MHzLPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM, offered in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB variants
Storage options4 GB 8-bit eMMC onboard; microSD connectormicroSD card slot with SDR104 support; M.2 storage needs a separate adapter over PCIe 2.0 x1
Networking10/100 Mbit Ethernet (RJ45). No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on this board.Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0/BLE, Gigabit Ethernet; PoE+ needs a separate HAT
GPIOTwo 46-pin expansion headers (LCD, UART, eMMC, ADC, I2C, SPI, PWM)Standard 40-pin header
Video outputsHDMI, LCD interface, stereo audio over HDMIDual 4Kp60 HDMI output with HDR support; VideoCore VII GPU; micro-HDMI connector
Power input5 V DC via 2.1 mm barrel jack or mini-USB; a 1 A 5 V supply is typical5V/5A DC via USB-C with Power Delivery support

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 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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