Raspberry Pi 4 has a new competitor.
FriendlyElec has updated its NanoPi M4 single-board computer with 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, microphone input via the audio jack and new power/recovery buttons. In addition to releasing the aptly named NanoPi M4V2, the company also dropped the price of several configurations of the original NanoPi M4 by $15 to better compete with the Raspberry Pi 3.
NanoPi M4V2 Specs
The NanoPi M4V2 comes with LPDDR4--the company didn't specify the frequency--instead of its predecessor's DDR3 or LPDDR3 options. The new version also lacks a 2GB option to focus solely on a 4GB model. Aside from that upgrade, along with the changes we mentioned up top, the NanoPi M4V2 is identical to its predecessor. But it's also slightly more affordable from the start--FriendlyElec is selling the NanoPi M4V2 via its online store for just $70.
A similarly specced Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB of DDR4 memory starts around $55 depending on retailer. Anyone choosing the NanoPi M4V2 would likely do so because they want more USB 3.0 ports (the NanoPi M4V2 has four to the Raspberry Pi 4's two) or microphone input. The Pi 4 also usues four cores, compared to the M4V2's six cores. Otherwise, it mostly comes down to preference; although, there are almost certainly more resources devoted to Raspberry Pi projects.
NanoPi M4 Price Drop
FriendlyElec released the NanoPi M4 in August 2018. It featured a Rockchip RK3399 system-on-a-chip (SoC) with a dual-core Cortex-A72 and quad-core Cortex-A53 in a big.Little configuration. Two models were available: one featured 2GB of DDR3-1866 for $65; the other 4GB of LPDDR3-1866 for $90. Those models are now available for $50 and $75, respectively.
