Raspberry Pi 3 Model B review

The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B came out in February 2016 and replaced the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. It uses a Broadcom BCM2837 with four 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores at 1.2 GHz, and it has 1GB of RAM. That is the only memory configuration in the research, so there is no larger tier to step up to.

Its strengths are the connectors for hardware projects and its place in the Raspberry Pi range. Its limits are in networking and storage. If you know which of those matter to you, the decision is straightforward.

Four cores at 1.2 GHz give the board enough to run a handful of light tasks side by side. The research does not list benchmark figures, so any claim about speed beyond the core count and clock would be guesswork. What the specifications do show is a fixed 1GB of RAM. With that ceiling, the board suits a few small services, a single-purpose appliance or a teaching machine better than several memory-hungry workloads running together.

The 64-bit Cortex-A53 design is noted in the specification. The research does not cover which operating systems use that, so check your chosen OS before you buy.

Storage is a microSD slot, used for both the operating system and your data. The research states that no M.2 or NVMe support is published. There is no other storage interface in the specification, so everything lives on the card.

That shapes how you would use it. A project that logs a lot of data or needs a separate data drive has no obvious home for it on this board's listed hardware. The board has four USB 2.0 ports, but the research does not say how they work as storage.

Wired networking is 10/100 Ethernet, not gigabit. The research is explicit on this point. Wireless LAN and Bluetooth are built in, so the board can join a wireless network without an adapter.

There are four USB 2.0 ports and no USB 3. With 100Mb wired networking and USB 2.0 only, the board is a poor choice for moving large files around a network or for fast external disks. It is better matched to small traffic: sensor data, control signals, lightweight web pages or remote shell access.

This is where the board does most of its work. It has a 40-pin extended GPIO header, a CSI camera port and a DSI display port. Video output is a full-size HDMI port, plus a 4-pole connector that carries stereo audio and composite video.

The header is the main reason to pick it for electronics, home automation or a camera project. The camera and display ports let you attach compatible modules without going through USB. The research does not list specific modules, so check compatibility for the exact camera or screen you plan to use.

Power comes in through Micro USB, and the specification lists up to a 2.5 A switched supply. Several sources in the research cover power consumption, but the figures are not reproduced here, so there is no draw number to quote. Plan for a supply that meets the 2.5 A rating and check the current needs of anything you attach.

Raspberry Pi Ltd says the Model B will stay in production until at least January 2028. That is a production commitment. It is not a software support end date, and the research does not give one.

The research does not describe the software ecosystem in detail, so this review does not list particular operating system releases or kernel versions. Check the manufacturer's current software pages before you commit.

Choose this board if the 40-pin header, camera and display ports and built-in wireless matter more to you than raw throughput. It suits a learning project, a small controller or a light always-on service. Look elsewhere if you need gigabit Ethernet, USB 3, more than 1GB of RAM or storage beyond a microSD card.