August 2023 saw the launch of the Orange Pi 3B, a compelling single-board offering from Shenzen Xunlong in China. If you’re in the market for a single-board computer, it might strike you as a promising alternative to the venerable Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.
The two share many commonalities: a credit-card-sized form factor, a forty-pin GPIO header, a type-C USB power supply, and a wealth of connectivity options. If you’re deciding between the two, then it’s the differences that will matter more.
How Does Orange Pi Differ From Raspberry Pi?
Let’s look at the most striking differences between these two Pi models to help you decide which is right for you.
The Processor
Both boards are quad-core processors, factory-clocked at 1.8 GHz. The Orange Pi is powered by a Rockchip RK3566 with four ARM A55 cores. On the Raspberry Pi 4, it’s four cores again—but of the slightly beefier A72 variety. If you’d like more power, you might consider the Orange Pi 5—which made it intoour roundup of the most powerful single-board computers.
Connectivity
A glance at the Orange Pi reveals a few extra connectivity options. There’s a connector for a 5v fan, of the kind you might find on a desktop PC’s motherboard. Both boards come with four USB ports, but just one is USB 3.0 on the Orange Pi.
The Orange Pi has a full-sized HDMI 2.0 socket, rather than two miniaturized ones. There’s a slot for a miniature LCD on both boards—but flip the Orange Pi over, and you’ll find an extra EDP DisplayPort connector.
Raspberry Pi owners can easily mount a power button to their board. But Orange Pi owners needn’t bother: there’s one already ready to go. And there’s a reset switch in the center, too. Convenience on top of convenience!
The Orange Pi provides a few extra options when it comes to storage. There’s eMMC on the underside, as well as an M.2 slot, which can accommodate an NVMe drive. As such, it enjoys an enormous advantage in both capacity and read/write performance, even compared with a USB-booted Raspberry Pi.
Check the size of your M.2 drive before mounting—the longer ones will overhang the edge of the board, and the thicker ones might risk shorting against the SD card reader.As Orange Pi’s manufacturer warns: “This board is structured to fit only SSD with a completely smooth backside.”
There’s certainly no shortage of operating systems available for the Orange Pi, with Debian, Ubuntu, and the Orange Pi OS among the officially supported images. Raspberry Pi plays nicely with more OSs than you could reasonably list—as evidenced by ourlist of great Raspberry Pi operating systems.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a clear winner when it comes to cost: Orange Pi is around half the price of the equivalent Raspberry Pi 4.
What About the Support?
A few of the differences we’ve outlined here will be enough to tip the balance for many enthusiasts. But the Raspberry Pi does enjoy the benefits associated with market dominance: there are many, many Raspberry Pi owners out there, and comparatively few Orange Pi owners. You’ll get much more in terms of educational resources, tech support, and general inspiration if you stick with what’s popular. On the other hand, the Orange Pi is a board that’s certain to appeal to power users with particular needs.
So, Which Pi Is Better?
The simple (and predictable) answer here is: it depends. If you’re looking for something with lots of lightning-fast storage for your next project, then the Orange Pi 3B might well be it. If, on the other hand, you’d prefer a safe option that’s been thoroughly road-tested and comes with unparalleled support, then it’s probably better to stick with the Raspberry Pi.
