This guide covers the Asus Tinker Board vs. Raspberry Pi.
Arduino and Raspberry Pi are the biggest names in the dev board industry.
However, ASUS is famous for making some of the best PC gaming technology.
Thus, it was no surprise when they started making dev boards too.
It makes sense. Especially with the rising popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT).
And artificial intelligence. But how does ASUS’s flagship dev board compare against Raspberry Pi?
Table of Contents
- What is The Asus Tinker Board?
- What is The Raspberry PI?
- ASUS Tinker Board 3 vs. Raspberry Pi 4: Spec Comparison
- Conclusion
What is The Asus Tinker Board?
[Electronic Lab With SBCs and Components]
ASUS/Asus released its first Tinker Board in 2017. It was a basic SBC. But it was compatible with the Raspberry PI and its accessories.
This was due to its GPIO configuration and placement. Regardless, the ASUS Tinker Board only found notoriety in the 2020s.
Why Choose the Asus Tinker Board?
[Electronic Boards]
Raspberry Pi is still more popular among consumers and hobbyists. However, it doesn’t own much of the SBC market share.
The biggest current key player is Aaeon Technology Inc.
They are one of ASUS’s daughter companies.. Aaeon Technology manufactures industrial-grade embedded computing systems.
Thus, there is a precedent for choosing the ASUS Tinker Board over the Raspberry PI.
Since 2017, ASUS has released a new Tinker Board every year. There were at least eight versions at the time of writing this guide. They included:
- Tinker Board (2017)
- Tinker Board S (2018)
- Tinker Edge T (2019)
- Tinker Edge R (2019)
- Tinker Board (2020)
- Tinker Board 2 S (202)
- Tinker Board R2.0 (2021)
- Tinker Board S R2.0 (2021)
- Tinker Board 3 (2023*)
There were no new releases or updates in 2022. This was largely due to the PCB and Chip shortage. However, in 2023 ASUS listed the Tinker Board 3 on its website. Unfortunately, the company has yet to announce a definitive release date. The Tinker Board 3’s specs make it look like an SBC that could finally compete with the Raspberry PI 4.
What is The Raspberry PI?
[Raspberry Pi Projects]
The Raspberry Pi by the Raspberry Pi Foundation is one of the most well-known brands of SBCs. Their products are largely popular because of their affordability.
Why Choose The Raspberry PI?
[Raspberry Pi 4]
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity whose aim is to promote the study of computer science. Hence, many of their products are educational and affordable.
Essentially, you’re supporting a charitable organization by purchasing and using the Raspberry Pi. Another advantage of Raspberry Pis is that they have been around longer than ASUS Tinker Boards.
They’ve garnered a massive following throughout this time. As such, If you run into any problems while using an RPi SBC, you can visit one of the community’s many forums.
Raspberry Pi users can also access many resources, including tutorials and other documents.
So far, there have been five generations of Raspberry Pis. The main families of SBCs are:
- Raspberry Pi (2012)
- Raspberry Pi 2 (2014)
- Raspberry Pi Zero (2015)
- Raspberry Pi 3 (2016)
- Raspberry Pi 4 (2019)
- Raspberry Pi Pico (2021)
The RPi Foundation released the Raspberry Pi 400 in 2020. It was noteworthy because it was a fully functional computer shaped like a keyboard.
This made it a milestone release. However, many in the community were still waiting for the release of the Raspberry Pi 5.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the 2021 chip shortage, stagnated all release plans.
The RPi Foundation confirmed it would not launch any brand-new SBCs in 2023.
They see this as a rebuilding period. Regardless, RPi users still have more options than Asus Tinker Board users.
However, this may not be enough to sway you.
Thus, expanding and comparing both companies’ flagship products on a spec-to-spec level is important. This is what the next section covers.
ASUS Tinker Board 3 vs. Raspberry Pi 4: Spec Comparison
| Specifications | ASUS Tinker Board 3 | Raspberry Pi 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date: | 2023 (Estimation) | 2019 |
| SOC: | Rockchip RK3568 | BCM2711 |
| Memory: | 2GB / 4GB / 8GB | 1GB / 2GB / 4GB / 8GB |
| Models: | 1 (so far) | B,400 (2) |
| Ethernet: | Dual LAN built-in | Gigabit Ethernet |
| Wireless: | 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6 available via an expansion module) | 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 5.0, BLE |
| GPIO: | 40-PIN | 40-PIN |
| Storage: | 32GB / 64GB eMMC Micro SD(TF) card slot | Micro SD Card Slot |
| Sim Slot: | 1 | N/A |
The ASUS Tinker Board 3 uses a Quad-core Arm® Cortex®-A55 CPU, while the Raspberry Pi 4 uses an older ARM Cortex-A72. The Cortex-A72 is slightly faster than the A55. However, the A55 takes less power.
Conclusion
Asus Tinker Board vs. Raspberry Pi: which one should you get?
The ASUS Tinker Board is a good alternative to the Raspberry Pi.
However, it should be seen as that. Raspberry Pi should be your first choice.
Despite the impending release of the ASUS Tinker Board 3, the Raspberry Pi 4 remains the best option.
It would be best to consider waiting for the RPi 5 or purchasing a second-hand RPi 4.
The Tinker Board should be your last resort until ASUS gets the formula right.
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