Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Tops Hacker Board Survey

Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Tops Hacker Board Survey - Printable Version

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Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Tops Hacker Board Survey - xSicKxBot - 06-29-2018

Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Tops Hacker Board Survey

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The <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-3-gets-revd-to-b-with-1-4ghz-wifi-ac-and-gbe-with-poe/">Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+</a> won our 2018 reader survey as the most popular community-backed, Linux/Android hacker board under $200. The <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/2018-reader-survey-of-116-open-spec-linux-android-sbcs/">survey</a>, run in partnership with LinuxGizmos.com, asked readers to select their favorite boards from among 116 community-backed SBCs that run Linux or Android and sell for under $200. All 116 SBCs are summarized in LinuxGizmos’ recently updated <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/catalog-of-116-open-spec-hacker-boards/">hacker board catalog</a> and <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTgns7SAqMnbgr59tvSmbmhU-rS4vhI0tRejXYY39RZm0KJDOqgwx9bNY-zHgQBTNh6np7YUV-L4Hp3/pubhtml">feature comparison spreadsheet</a>. (Downloadable versions of the spreadsheet may be found <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/2018-reader-survey-of-116-open-spec-linux-android-sbcs/">here</a>.)
The sample of 683 fell far short of the 1,705 survey respondents for the <a href="https://www.linux.com/news/survey/2017/6/hacker-board-survey-results-more-raspberry-pi-please">June 2017 survey</a> and the 1,721 voters in 2015, but it beat out the 473 total for the <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-3-takes-the-cake-in-2016-hacker-sbc-survey/">2016 survey</a>. Considering the modest sample, the survey may not be highly representative of market share, but it’s still indicative of enthusiasm. 
To rank the boards, we used <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borda_count">Borda Count</a> scoring, in which we tripled the number of first choices, then doubled the number of second place selections, and added the two results to the unadjusted third-choice amount. The top 10 boards are shown in the chart below:
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, which builds upon the RPi 3 Model B design with a faster Broadcom SoC, faster WiFi and Ethernet, and optional PoE, earned a Borda score of 811. This was about twice the score of the second place (414) <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/udoo-spins-89-dollar-intel-braswell-hacker-sbc/">UDOO X86</a>, which is one of the most powerful of the handful of x86 based hacker boards. 
There was a big drop to the next three boards, including the Odroid-XU4 (278), the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B (277), which was last year’s runaway winner, and the tiny Raspberry Pi Zero W/WH (255). The remainder of the top 10 list includes the venerable sixth place BeagleBone Black (126) and the Raspberry Pi like Asus Tinker Board (112) and Odroid-C2 (95). The Raspberry Pi Zero (85) came in 9th and the BeagleBone Black Wireless (67) was 10th.
If you prefer a top 10 list based on first choice only, the top 7 rankings would stay the same, but the Odroid-C2, RPi Zero, and BB Black Wireless would drop lower. This would make way for the UP Squared, Odroid-N1, RockPro64, Orange Pi Zero H2+/Zero Plus 2 H3/Zero Plus 2 H5, and the Rock64, all of which had higher first-pick scores.
Although the small size of the sample makes it difficult to read too much into the rankings, two trends seem clear: First, SBCs with Raspberry Pi like dimensions and 40-pin expansion connectors continue to do well. Second, it’s tough for a new board to break into the top ranks, at least among LinuxGizmos readers. Seven of the top 10 Borda-ranked boards were also in last year’s top 10, and the RPi 3 B+ was the only top 10 board that was not available a year ago.
A few newcomers did, however, break into our 11-20 ranked group, including the RockPro64, Orange Pi Zero H2+, and DragonBoard 820c. The top 10 list also includes a board that will never see the light of day. We included the <a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/rk3399-based-odroid-n1-sbc-doubles-up-on-sata-iii/">Odroid-N1</a> with the expectation that it would ship on time in June, but Hardkernel’s Odroid project just <a href="https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=31277">announced</a> that the Rockchip RK3399 based SBC has been cancelled in favor or an Odroid-N2 model with an unnamed new SoC within 5-6 months. 
<h3>Reader buying priorities and goals</h3>
In addition to asking survey participants to list their favorite boards, we asked about buying criteria and intended applications. The year-to-year consistency we’re seeing in the answers suggests that a 683 sample may be more significant than we thought. In ranking buying criteria, for example, the rankings were very similar. High-quality open source software again led the list as the top priority, while networking/wireless I/O swapped with community ecosystem for second and third places.
When asked about intended applications, home automation was again on top, but the previous second-ranked education category dropped several levels. Home multimedia and special function servers advanced to second and third place, and data acquisition and control also jumped considerably, suggesting a growing role for hacker boards in industrial settings.
In a separate question about more general usage, the maker/hobbyist segment once again led the way, but by a smaller margin. The other three categories increased, with the research and commercial categories seeing the largest gains.
Fifteen randomly selected survey participants will receive a free hacker board in the coming weeks. Many thanks to all the participants who voted, as well as the vendors who donated boards.
Join us at <a href="https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/elc-openiot-europe-2018/">Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference Europe</a> in Edinburgh, UK on October 22-24, 2018, for 100+ sessions on Linux, Cloud, Containers, AI, Community, and more.
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