Raspberry Pi Zero vs. RISC-V MangoPi MQ Pro #PiDay @Raspberry_Pi @bretweber
Putting the ARM Raspberry Pi Zero against the RISC-V based MangoPi MQ Pro was something Bret wanted to do since seeing the MQ Pro’s announcement and specifications. It just seemed to make sense. On paper, they’re largely similar, with 1GHz single-core CPUs, and 512MB of RAM.
The issue at this point though is that due to MangoPi being a smaller, newer manufacturer with limited resources, they’re not churning out as many units and due to the initial buzz, they’re being snapped up quickly. This means that whilst yes, the MQ Pro is a very valid alternative to the Pi Zero if your software/interests will run on a RISC-V architecture, annoyingly, you still need to wait to get your hands on one.
That also ignores the price side of things. The Raspberry Pi Zero W retails for around £10GBP (keep an eye out on rpilocator if you’re currently in the market) in the UK through authorised retailers whereas the Mango Pi MQ Pro 1GB model tested here will run you around £23 if you manage to get one through the official store when they have stock (these prices both include GST/VAT at 20%). At £23 I still think it’s worth it to get your hands on a small RISC-V based board that offers twice as much, faster RAM and better performance in a lot of areas but if you’re purely interested in the price this may not appeal to you.
Note that this tested the original Raspberry Pi Zero W and not the newer Raspberry Pi Zero 2W
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