Khadas VIM3 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 Khadas VIM3 at 6.6/10.

The Khadas VIM3 leads on storage.

The Raspberry Pi 5 4GB leads on software support, performance and value.

They score the same on I/O and networking.

The biggest difference is software support, where the Raspberry Pi 5 4GB scores 10/10 to the Khadas VIM3's 6/10.

Khadas VIM3

6.6/10verdict: buy

The Khadas VIM3 is for tinkerers who want a six-core Arm board with NVMe support and a 40-pin header. It suits media, display and embedded projects where the NPU and flexible storage matter. It is less suited to anyone who wants a board that runs cool with no extra cooling.

Check 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	Khadas VIM3	Raspberry Pi 5 4GB
Software support	30%	6/10	10/10
Performance	25%	7/10	8/10
Storage	15%	8/10	6/10
I/O and networking	15%	7/10	7/10
Value	15%	5/10	6/10
Overall		6.6/10	7.9/10

Specifications

Spec	Khadas VIM3	Raspberry Pi 5 4GB
Processor (SoC)	Amlogic A311D, four Cortex-A73 cores at 2.2GHz and two Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz, with 5 TOPS NPU	Broadcom BCM2712, quad-core Arm Cortex A76 processor @ 2.4GHz, 512KB L2 per core and 2MB shared L3 cache
Memory	2GB or 4GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X	LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM, offered in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB variants
Storage options	eMMC 5.1 16GB or 32GB, micro-SD slot, M.2 2280 socket for NVMe (PCIe 2.0 x1)	microSD card slot with SDR104 support; M.2 storage needs a separate adapter over PCIe 2.0 x1
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet with Wake-on-LAN; AP6398S 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0	Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0/BLE, Gigabit Ethernet; PoE+ needs a separate HAT
GPIO	40-pin GPIO header, 2.54mm pitch	Standard 40-pin header
Video outputs	HDMI with CEC, MIPI-DSI display interface, touch-panel connector	Dual 4Kp60 HDMI output with HDR support; VideoCore VII GPU; micro-HDMI connector
Power input	VIN connector 5–12V; USB-C port 5–20V USB Power Delivery input	5V/5A DC via USB-C with Power Delivery support

Strengths and weaknesses

Khadas VIM3

+ M.2 NVMe socket alongside eMMC and microSD
+ Six-core A311D with NPU; owners praise efficiency
+ Several official OS images, including mainline Linux
− Owners report heat and instability without a fan
− Power delivery quirks reported, including bootloops and shutdowns
− RAM stops at 4GB

Skip it if:

Buyers who want a fanless, cool-running board with no extra cooling
Anyone needing more than 4GB of RAM
Builders who can't test and choose their power supply carefully

Read the full Khadas VIM3 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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