Hardkernel, a single-board computer manufacturer, has released a direct and cheaper rival to the top-of-the-line Raspberry Pi 4 4GB model, claiming that its new board called the Odroid-C4 surpasses the Pi in speed and performance.
The new Amlogic-based Odroid-C4 features a quad-core Cortex A55 processor with a new generation Mali-G31 GPU and 4 GB of DDR4 memory.
The A55 cores run at 2GHz, and according to Hardkernel they operate without thermal throttling and utilize the heatsink, allowing the computer to be powerful and quiet.
The Odroid-C4's CPU is about 40% faster and DRAM performance is 50% faster than the quad-core Odroid-C2, but it's also more power efficient, thanks to the 12nm Amlogic S905X3 processor.
While the $50 Odroid-C4 is a great upgrade for Odroid-C2 fans, the $55 Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB) is a real weapon for Hardkernel.
The new Pi competitor comes as the Raspberry Pi Foundation saw a big spike in sales of the Raspberry Pi 4 in March, which it attributed to people looking for cheap computing while staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Hardkernel's CPU tests, the Odroid-C4's Amlogic S905X3 module outperformed the Raspberry Pi 4 in two out of four benchmarks.
The Odroid-C4 is not as fast as Hardkernel's Amlogic S922X Odroid-N2, but the N2 is much more expensive than the Raspberry Pi 4 and the Odroid-C4.
The Odroid-C4 also outperformed the Raspberry Pi 4's Broadcom VideoCore VI GPU in a GPU performance benchmark and beat it in a memory benchmark.
But the Odroid-C4 doesn't have the same capabilities as the Raspberry Pi 4, so users will have to weigh what works for their application.
The Odroid-C4 features four USB 3.0 host ports, an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.0 display port up to 4K @ 60Hz, a Micro USB 2.0 port, and a power connector.
Notably, unlike the Raspberry Pi 4, it lacks built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Instead, optional adapters are available for this connectivity. Also, the Raspberry Pi's Broadcom Coretex-A72 runs at 1.5GHz.
The Odroid-C4's eMMC storage slot supports 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB, and there are green and orange networking LEDs to indicate data traffic at 100Mbps and 1Gbps, respectively.
Two more red and blue LEDs indicate whether DC power is connected and display kernel activity, respectively. The computer measures 85mm x 56mm and weighs 59 grams with the heatsink.
There is a 64bit Ubuntu 20.04 LTS distribution available with Linux kernel version 4.9.218 LTS. It also supports Google's Flutter UI framework on Ubuntu for building home automation apps. And there is support for LineageOS, CoreELEC, and Android 9.
Hardkernel offers discounts for multiple purchases. Buyers who want 25 to 99 Odroid-C4 units get a 4% discount. Those who want 500 or more get a 7% discount.
