5 ms·

Is this an exact clone? Why is it cheaper than a rpi?

by tra3 7y ago

beagle3 7y ago
Abilities are comparable but it is not compatible (other than using the same CPU architecture, but not e.g. the same GPU family) and definitely not a clone.
- ashtonkem 7y ago
  It also appears to be targeted more at micro-server work than the RPI is. The lack of a wifi chip wouldn’t be a factor for me, my RPI lives near ethernet cords, but would almost certainly be an issue for a lot of RPI uses.
JamesSwift 7y ago
Just scanning the listing, it looks like it lacks: - wifi - bluetooth - 1 HDMI port (pi4 has 2 ports, this has 1)
Koshkin 7y ago
Not a clone but a direct competitor.
eropple 7y ago
It's not an exact clone, and has some nice features: - hardware 1080p60 h264 encoding (the RPi4 is limited to 1080p30 encode) - I know the C4 supports VP9 decoding at 4K60, but I'm not sure that the RPi4 does? - Cortex A55 over an A72; in general usage you're likely to see the A72 beat out by the A55, though it's going to be close enough that you may not care I can see using one of these, for example, to build a much cheaper homebrew NewTek Spark[0], assuming I can get its hardware encode to play nicely. (It doesn't compete with the Spark Plus, which does 4K60, but for my purposes, 1080p60 is sufficient.) [0] - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1348898-REG/newtek_fg_001775_r001_connect_spark_hdmi.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1348898-REG/newtek_fg...
duskwuff 7y ago
No. It's a similar form factor and uses a compatible GPIO pinout, but the hardware is completely different -- the Raspberry Pi uses a Broadcom SoC; the Odroid-C4 uses an Amlogic part.
- Koshkin 7y ago
  "Completely" is a bit of an overstatement, CPU arch is the same.
  - duskwuff 7y ago
    Barely. The Broadcom BCM283x family is pretty weird -- it uses a programmable GPU which is (among other things) in charge of the early boot process. The Amlogic part is a much more conventional design.
adrian_b 7y ago
Like most other ODROID boards, less components are included in the base price, but everything that you might want is available as add-on accessories. For example 4 GB DRAM are soldered, so they are included in the $50, but the eMMC flash memory is on a socket, so you can choose any size between 8 GB and 128 GB, depending on how much you want to pay, or you may choose no eMMC and use just a microSD card. WiFi and Bluetooth are available as very cheap USB devices. I actually prefer that ODROID-C4 includes a 4-port USB 3.0 hub, which RPI 4 lacks, instead of including WiFi in the base configuration, because I always need as many fast USB ports as possible, but I do not always need WiFi. For about $100, you can buy an ODROID-C4 with 4 GB DRAM, 64 GB eMMC, case, power supply and adapters for writing the eMMC on another computer and for the serial console. For a similar configuration with RPI 4, you must pay $55 for the 4 GB variant and then you must buy a 64 GB microSD card, which will be much slower than the ODROID eMMC and you must also buy a case and a PSU. The total price will probably be similar, but the performance will be significantly lower for many applications, due to slower DRAM, slower non-volatile memory and bad cooling on RPI 4.

Is this an exact clone? Why is it cheaper than a rpi?

by tra3 7y ago

Is this an exact clone? Why is it cheaper than a rpi?

Abilities are comparable but it is not compatible (other than using the same CPU architecture, but not e.g. the same GPU family) and definitely not a clone.

ashtonkem 7y ago
It also appears to be targeted more at micro-server work than the RPI is. The lack of a wifi chip wouldn’t be a factor for me, my RPI lives near ethernet cords, but would almost certainly be an issue for a lot of RPI uses.

JamesSwift 7y ago

Just scanning the listing, it looks like it lacks: - wifi - bluetooth - 1 HDMI port (pi4 has 2 ports, this has 1)

Koshkin 7y ago

Not a clone but a direct competitor.

eropple 7y ago

It's not an exact clone, and has some nice features: - hardware 1080p60 h264 encoding (the RPi4 is limited to 1080p30 encode) - I know the C4 supports VP9 decoding at 4K60, but I'm not sure that the RPi4 does? - Cortex A55 over an A72; in general usage you're likely to see the A72 beat out by the A55, though it's going to be close enough that you may not care I can see using one of these, for example, to build a much cheaper homebrew NewTek Spark[0], assuming I can get its hardware encode to play nicely. (It doesn't compete with the Spark Plus, which does 4K60, but for my purposes, 1080p60 is sufficient.) [0] - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1348898-REG/newtek_fg_001775_r001_connect_spark_hdmi.html https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1348898-REG/newtek_fg...

duskwuff 7y ago

No. It's a similar form factor and uses a compatible GPIO pinout, but the hardware is completely different -- the Raspberry Pi uses a Broadcom SoC; the Odroid-C4 uses an Amlogic part.

Koshkin 7y ago
"Completely" is a bit of an overstatement, CPU arch is the same.
- duskwuff 7y ago
  Barely. The Broadcom BCM283x family is pretty weird -- it uses a programmable GPU which is (among other things) in charge of the early boot process. The Amlogic part is a much more conventional design.

adrian_b 7y ago

Like most other ODROID boards, less components are included in the base price, but everything that you might want is available as add-on accessories. For example 4 GB DRAM are soldered, so they are included in the $50, but the eMMC flash memory is on a socket, so you can choose any size between 8 GB and 128 GB, depending on how much you want to pay, or you may choose no eMMC and use just a microSD card. WiFi and Bluetooth are available as very cheap USB devices. I actually prefer that ODROID-C4 includes a 4-port USB 3.0 hub, which RPI 4 lacks, instead of including WiFi in the base configuration, because I always need as many fast USB ports as possible, but I do not always need WiFi. For about $100, you can buy an ODROID-C4 with 4 GB DRAM, 64 GB eMMC, case, power supply and adapters for writing the eMMC on another computer and for the serial console. For a similar configuration with RPI 4, you must pay $55 for the 4 GB variant and then you must buy a 64 GB microSD card, which will be much slower than the ODROID eMMC and you must also buy a case and a PSU. The total price will probably be similar, but the performance will be significantly lower for many applications, due to slower DRAM, slower non-volatile memory and bad cooling on RPI 4.