Radxa ROCK 5C 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 Radxa ROCK 5C at 6.5/10.

The Radxa ROCK 5C leads on performance and storage.

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

They score the same on value.

The biggest difference is software support, where the Raspberry Pi 400 scores 10/10 to the Radxa ROCK 5C's 5/10.

Radxa ROCK 5C

6.5/10verdict: good, not the best

The ROCK 5C is for homelabbers and developers who want a lot of CPU and RAM in a small board. It suits people who are happy to follow Radxa's own Debian and Android images or the third-party systems listed for it. It is a weaker fit if you want native M.2 storage.

Check price at Amazon UK

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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

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Scores, criterion by criterion

Criterion	Weight	Radxa ROCK 5C	Raspberry Pi 400
Software support	30%	5/10	10/10
Performance	25%	9/10	6/10
Storage	15%	5/10	4/10
I/O and networking	15%	6/10	7/10
Value	15%	7/10	7/10
Overall		6.5/10	7.2/10

Specifications

Spec	Radxa ROCK 5C	Raspberry Pi 400
Processor (SoC)	Rockchip RK3588S2	Broadcom BCM2711, quad-core Cortex-A72 64-bit, 1.8 GHz
Memory	4GB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB; V1.1 uses LPDDR4X, V2.1 uses LPDDR5	4GB LPDDR4-3200
Storage options	1x eMMC connector, 1x microSD card slot, no SPI flash; no native M.2 slot; PCIe 2.1 1-lane via FPC connector	MicroSD card slot; no eMMC, SSD or M.2 slot
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet (PoE via optional HAT), WiFi 6, BT 5.4 with external antenna connector	Gigabit Ethernet; dual-band 2.4/5 GHz 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 5.0 and BLE
GPIO	40-pin header, Raspberry Pi-style layout, 3.3V logic, up to 27 GPIO	40-pin horizontal GPIO header on the rear of the case
Video outputs	1x HDMI 2.1 up to 8K, 1x MIPI DSI up to 2K	2 × micro HDMI ports, up to 4Kp60; H.265 4Kp60 decode, H.264 1080p60 decode, OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0
Power input	5V via USB Type-C; at least 10W recommended, 25W with full USB and PCIe load	5V DC via USB Type-C power input

Strengths and weaknesses

Radxa ROCK 5C

+ Eight-core RK3588S2 with 6 TOPS NPU
+ RAM options from 4GB up to 32GB
+ Raspberry Pi-style 40-pin header
− No native M.2 slot; microSD bottlenecks storage
− No power supply in the box
− PCIe drive stays powered when board is off

Skip it if:

Buyers who want a native M.2 NVMe slot on the board
Buyers who want a power supply included in the box

Read the full Radxa ROCK 5C 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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