Credit-card sized single-board computers (SBCs) are powerful. They can fit in the palm of your hand. They have enabled the DIY fraternity to reach unprecedented levels of creativity. And there is a new player in the community of tinkerers. Aptly named as the Tinker Board, this SBC marks the Taiwanese company, Asus’s, entry into this domain. In this post, we will figure out the best in Raspberry Pi 4 vs Tinker Board.
Contents
What is it?
It is a mini-computer that you can use to build anything from home media centers to drones to IoT-enabled devices. If you are working on a project that requires computing of input data from anywhere (sensors, the internet, etc.) to provide any output and at low power, this is your device.
Akin to a lot of other boards in its domain, like the Raspberry Pi, the Tinker Board comes with
- an onboard processor
- Graphical Processing Unit (GPU)
- RAM
- USB ports, HDMI port, General Purpose Input/Output pins to interface external components (sensors, motors, etc.)
- built-in WiFi
- Bluetooth
It comes with its own OS based upon the same Debian Linux distribution as the Raspberry Pi. Asus has reportedly announced that support for Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, and Android will be available shortly.
Tinker Board vs. Raspberry Pi. Why?
The Tinker Board is being heavily pitted against the last installment of the Raspberry Pi.
Consequently, the Tinker Board is physically similar to the Raspberry Pi, the positioning of the GPIO pins and the mounting holes are convenient enough in case users wish to install the Tinker Board in an RPi encasing. It has an OS built on the same Debian distro as the Raspberry Pi, ensuring that the code and assemblies migration would be easy.
What’s new about the Asus Tinker Board?
What sets the Tinker Board apart from the popular boards available in the market today is its ability to decode and stream 4K video with H.264 or H.265 encoding, SDIO 3.0 support, and Gigabit Ethernet. Let’s compare it with the Pi 3.
Tinker Board vs Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
| SPECS | ASUS TINKER BOARD | RASPBERRY PI 4 |
| Processor | Rockchip RK3288 1.8Ghz Quad-Core ARM Cortex – A17 – 32 bit | Broadcom BCM2711, Quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz |
| Benchmark Score (Geekbench) | 3925 | 2092 |
| RAM | 2GB LPDDR3 | 1GB, 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM (depending on model) |
| GPU | Mali T764 @ 600Mhz | Broadcom VideoCore VI @ 500Mhz |
| Display | HDMI with H.264 and H.265 4K decode capability | 2 x micro-HDMI ports supporting 4K@60Hz displays via HDMI 2.0, MIPI DSI display port, |
| Storage | MicroSD | MicroSD + USB boot mode |
| Ports | 4 x USB 2.0 40 x GPIO 1 x HDMI 1 x Camera Serial Interface (CSI) 1 x Display Serial Interface (DSI) 3.5mm audio jack |
2 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 40 x GPIO 1 x HDMI 2-lane MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI) 2-lane MIPI Display Serial Interface (DSI) 3.5mm audio-video jack |
| LAN | Gigabit | Gigabit |
| Wi-Fi and Bluetooth | Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n with swappable antenna
Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR |
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4/5GHz
Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Audio | 192K/24 bit | 48K/16 bit |
| SDIO | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| Power Supply | Micro USB 5V/2A | |
| Board Dimensions | 3.37″ x 2.215″ | 3.37″ x 2.21″ |
| Supported OS | Linux – Debian, KODI | Linux – Debian |
| Cost | $70 | $45-$65 (depending on the RAM) |
You can buy the Raspberry Pi 4 here.
Tinker Board vs Raspberry Pi 3
| SPECS | ASUS TINKER BOARD | RASPBERRY PI 3 (MODEL B) |
| Processor | Rockchip RK3288 1.8Ghz Quad-Core ARM Cortex – A17 – 32 bit | Broadcom BCM2837 Quad-Core 1.2Ghz – 64 Bit |
| Benchmark Score (Geekbench) | 3925 | 2092 |
| RAM | 2GB LPDDR3 | 1GB LPDDR2 |
| GPU | Mali T764 @ 600Mhz | Broadcom VideoCore IV @ 400Mhz |
| Display | HDMI with H.264 and H.265 4K decode capability | HDMI – 1080p |
| Storage | MicroSD | |
| Ports | 4 x USB 2.0 40 x GPIO 1 x HDMI 1 x Camera Serial Interface (CSI) 1 x Display Serial Interface (DSI) 3.5mm audio jack |
4 x USB 2.0 40 x GPIO 1 x HDMI 1 x Camera Serial Interface (CSI) 1 x Display Serial Interface (DSI) 3.5mm audio-video jack |
| LAN | Gigabit | 10/100M |
| Wi-Fi and Bluetooth | Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n with swappable antenna
Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR |
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Audio | 192K/24 bit | 48K/16 bit |
| SDIO | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| Power Supply | Micro USB 5V/2A | |
| Board Dimensions | 3.37″ x 2.215″ | 3.37″ x 2.21″ |
| Supported OS | Linux – Debian, KODI | Linux – Debian |
| Cost | $70 | $35 |
When compared by hardware, the Tinker Board edges the Raspberry Pi in many key areas.
- The 2GB RAM along with the more powerful CPU removes many bottlenecks of the Raspberry Pi.
- The GL852G manages the four USB 2.0 ports from Genesys Logic. And the Rockchip RK3288 processor has dual host capable USB interfaces. This will ensure proper data passing bandwidth when all the ports are engaged.
- Dedicated RTL8211E for Gigabit Ethernet will deliver high speeds.
- H.265 4k video decoding capability with a better GPU and support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, DirectX11 will be perfect for enhanced 3D performance. Moreover, it will open up possibilities for Android developers seeking something better than the Pi 3.
Will it beat the Raspberry Pi?
In terms of sheer power, there are a lot of other options apart from the Tinker Board. Boards like the Pine A64 (2GB), which also supports 4K decoding, and ridiculously powerful Odroid XU4
However, the Tinker Board’s enhanced processing power, better USB and GPU performance, and most importantly its code and hardware compatibility with the Raspberry Pi, gives it the potential to create a new niche of users. These adapters could be people who are ready to shell out twice the money for the extra features.
People buy Raspberry Pi
Similarly, the Tinker Board’s success is largely predicated on the level of SW and HW support expected from Asus. They need to create a community around it and engage proactively with the first wave of users. Their responsiveness to market demands will decide if the board lives up to its potential. There will, most likely, be a Pi 4 coming out and the next version of the Tinker Board has to evolve to maintain its superiority and price to performance ratio.
You can buy the Tinker Board here and get its official documentation and OS releases here.
