06-29-2018, 04:30 PM
Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Tops Hacker Board Survey
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/raspberry-pi-3-b-tops-hacker-board-survey.jpg" width="1149" height="710" title="" alt="" /></div><div><div><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/raspberry-pi-3-b-tops-hacker-board-survey.jpg" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p><span><span>The </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-3-gets-revd-to-b-with-1-4ghz-wifi-ac-and-gbe-with-poe/"><span>Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+</span></a><span> won our 2018 reader survey as the most popular community-backed, Linux/Android hacker board under $200. The </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/2018-reader-survey-of-116-open-spec-linux-android-sbcs/"><span>survey</span></a><span>, 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 </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/catalog-of-116-open-spec-hacker-boards/"><span>hacker board catalog</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTgns7SAqMnbgr59tvSmbmhU-rS4vhI0tRejXYY39RZm0KJDOqgwx9bNY-zHgQBTNh6np7YUV-L4Hp3/pubhtml"><span>feature comparison spreadsheet</span></a><span>. (Downloadable versions of the spreadsheet may be found </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/2018-reader-survey-of-116-open-spec-linux-android-sbcs/"><span>here</span></a><span>.)</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The sample of 683 fell far short of the 1,705 survey respondents for the </span><a href="https://www.linux.com/news/survey/2017/6/hacker-board-survey-results-more-raspberry-pi-please"><span>June 2017 survey</span></a><span> and the 1,721 voters in 2015, but it beat out the 473 total for the </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-3-takes-the-cake-in-2016-hacker-sbc-survey/"><span>2016 survey</span></a><span>. Considering the modest sample, the survey may not be highly representative of market share, but it’s still indicative of enthusiasm. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>To rank the boards, we used </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borda_count"><span>Borda Count</span></a><span> 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:</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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) </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/udoo-spins-89-dollar-intel-braswell-hacker-sbc/"><span>UDOO X86</span></a><span>, which is one of the most powerful of the handful of x86 based hacker boards. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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 </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/rk3399-based-odroid-n1-sbc-doubles-up-on-sata-iii/"><span>Odroid-N1</span></a><span> with the expectation that it would ship on time in June, but Hardkernel’s Odroid project just </span><a href="https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=31277"><span>announced</span></a><span> 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. </span></span></p>
<h3><span><span>Reader buying priorities and goals</span></span></h3>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><em><span><span>Join us at </span><a href="https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/elc-openiot-europe-2018/"><span>Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference Europe</span></a><span> in Edinburgh, UK on October 22-24, 2018, for 100+ sessions on Linux, Cloud, Containers, AI, Community, and more.</span></span></em></p>
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<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/raspberry-pi-3-b-tops-hacker-board-survey.jpg" width="1149" height="710" title="" alt="" /></div><div><div><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/raspberry-pi-3-b-tops-hacker-board-survey.jpg" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p><span><span>The </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-3-gets-revd-to-b-with-1-4ghz-wifi-ac-and-gbe-with-poe/"><span>Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+</span></a><span> won our 2018 reader survey as the most popular community-backed, Linux/Android hacker board under $200. The </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/2018-reader-survey-of-116-open-spec-linux-android-sbcs/"><span>survey</span></a><span>, 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 </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/catalog-of-116-open-spec-hacker-boards/"><span>hacker board catalog</span></a><span> and </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTgns7SAqMnbgr59tvSmbmhU-rS4vhI0tRejXYY39RZm0KJDOqgwx9bNY-zHgQBTNh6np7YUV-L4Hp3/pubhtml"><span>feature comparison spreadsheet</span></a><span>. (Downloadable versions of the spreadsheet may be found </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/2018-reader-survey-of-116-open-spec-linux-android-sbcs/"><span>here</span></a><span>.)</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The sample of 683 fell far short of the 1,705 survey respondents for the </span><a href="https://www.linux.com/news/survey/2017/6/hacker-board-survey-results-more-raspberry-pi-please"><span>June 2017 survey</span></a><span> and the 1,721 voters in 2015, but it beat out the 473 total for the </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/raspberry-pi-3-takes-the-cake-in-2016-hacker-sbc-survey/"><span>2016 survey</span></a><span>. Considering the modest sample, the survey may not be highly representative of market share, but it’s still indicative of enthusiasm. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>To rank the boards, we used </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borda_count"><span>Borda Count</span></a><span> 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:</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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) </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/udoo-spins-89-dollar-intel-braswell-hacker-sbc/"><span>UDOO X86</span></a><span>, which is one of the most powerful of the handful of x86 based hacker boards. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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 </span><a href="http://linuxgizmos.com/rk3399-based-odroid-n1-sbc-doubles-up-on-sata-iii/"><span>Odroid-N1</span></a><span> with the expectation that it would ship on time in June, but Hardkernel’s Odroid project just </span><a href="https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=31277"><span>announced</span></a><span> 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. </span></span></p>
<h3><span><span>Reader buying priorities and goals</span></span></h3>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>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.</span></span></p>
<p><em><span><span>Join us at </span><a href="https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/elc-openiot-europe-2018/"><span>Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference Europe</span></a><span> in Edinburgh, UK on October 22-24, 2018, for 100+ sessions on Linux, Cloud, Containers, AI, Community, and more.</span></span></em></p>
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