Raspberry Pi 2 Model B board has just been released, and although it’s not a direct answer to ODROID-C1, as Broadcom started the design for BCM2836 SoC for RPI2 a long time ago, both low cost development boards have similar specifications, with a quad core processor, 1GB RAM, Ethernet, and four USB ports, as well as the exact same price: $35. So I’ve decided to compare both in details to find out the actual differences, and which one may be more suitable to a particular application.
Let’s get straight to the comparison table. [Updated on November 24 to use ODROID C1+ instead of ODROID C1]
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Hardkernel ODROID C1+
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Raspberry Pi 2 Model B
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Comment
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|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex A5 @ 1.5 GHz (Overclockable to 1.7 GHz or more) | Broadcom BCM2836 quad core Cortex A7 @ 900 MHz (Overclockable to 1.1GHz or more) |
Despite the architecture advantage for Cortex A7 (1.9 DMIPS/MHz) against Cortex A5 (1.57 DMIPS/MHz), the frequency difference means ODROID-C1 has the edge here with about 40% extra integer performance |
| GPU | Quad core ARM Mali-450MP2 | VideoCore IV | I don’t have data for comparison here, but Mali-450MP2 is much more recent. |
| Video Decoder | Unknown IP. 1080p (60Hz??) video decoding for H.264, H.265, MPEG2, MPEG4, VC1, Xvid, Dvix. 720p decoding for RealMedia1080p video encoding |
VideoCore IV 1080p30 video decoding for H.264, MPEG2* and VC1* 1080p video encoding (H.264)* Extra license required |
ODROID-C1 supports more codecs, and codec licenses are included |
| RAM | 1GB DDR3 @ 792MHz | 1GB LPDDR2 @ 400 MHz |
Same amount of RAM, but ODROID-C1 is clocked at twice the speed.. However, LPDDR2 will consume less power than DDR3. |
| Storage | eMMC module socket for 8GB/64GB Toshiba eMMC, or 16GB/32GB Sandisk iNAND Extreme, and micro SD slot (UHS-1 SD models supported) | micro SD card slot | At equivalent cost, ODROID-C1 and RPI 2 should have the same performance, but ODROID-C1 also supports higher performance SD cards, and eMMC modules |
| Ethernet | Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211F) | 10/100M (USB to Ethernet chipset) | Gigabit Ethernet vs Fast Ethernet, and the R PI does so via USB, so the USB bandwidth is shared with USB storage and Ethernet. |
| USB | 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG | 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB for power | Draw. |
| Video | HDMI (with CEC) | HDMI (with CEC), Composite (AV) |
RPI2 adds composite |
| Audio | Via HDMI | Via HDMI and AV jack |
ODROID-C1 lacks a stereo output jack |
| I/Os and other peripherals | 19 GPIOs, 2x I2C, 1x SPI, 2x UART, 2x ADC. Extra debug port. (UART) RTC clock IR Receiver |
26 –GPIOs, 1x UART (debugging), 1x SPI, 2x I2C, PCM/I2S, 2x PWM CSI (camera serial interface) and DSI (display serial interface). | I’ll give the win to RPI 2 here, as it features more I/Os, but if you need ADC then ODROID-C1 is better, or you need an add-on board for RPI 2 |
| Power | 5V via DC jack. Typical power consumption: 0.5A @ 5V |
5V via micro USB Typical power consumption: 0.8A @ 5V |
Typical power consumption may not mean much, but from the numbers released by each company, ODROID-C1 might consume less power. We’ll need people to test power consumption independently to find out. |
| Linux Support |
Ubuntu 14.04 with XBMC/Kodi |
Raspbian, Snappy Ubuntu Core, OpenELEC, RaspBMC, Pidora | I’ve just listed Linux distributions listed on the download sections of R-Pi and Hardkernel. RPI 2 has more choices, but both support hardware video decoding and 3D graphics acceleration.Other unofficial distributions are also supported. For example Snappy Ubuntu Core for ODROID-C1 is coming. |
| Android Support |
Android 4.4.2 |
N/A. At least no image worth talking about. | For Android go with ODROID-C1, at least for now. |
| Windows Support |
N/A |
Windows 10 IoT will be available for RPI 2 | For Windows go with RPI 2. This is a special version of Windows for Internet of Things applications, not the “full Windows 10 desktop experience” |
| Community | Very active community on ODROID-C1 forums and #odroid IRC channel. | Largest community so far for a development board. Mostly on Raspberry Pi Forums. | Both boards are pretty good in that area, but RPI (2) is much more popular. |
| Documentation, source code and hardware files. | Documentation can be found on ODROID-C1 Wiki. Schematics are available in PDF format, autocad files too, as well as Amlogic S805 datasheet. No PCB layout or gerber files. | Documentation is available via eLinux RPI Wiki. The schematics are available in PDF format only, and, AFAIK, the PCB layout and gerber files are not available. Broadcom BCM2835 datasheet has been release, and should be nearly identical to BCM2836, except the CPU part. | – |
It’s possible I’ve made some mistakes in the table above, so feel free to comment for corrections.
Nevertheless, the takeaways are that ODROID-C1 board still have more CPU processing power than RPI 2, it will perform much better to move data between a USB drive to the network (probably 2 to 3 times faster) thanks to Gigabit Ethernet, and is the only board to currently support Android. If you need ADC inputs, ODROID-C1 will be preferable, although you can also add an add-on board to RPI 2. ODROID-C1 is potentially better as a media player, as it supports more codecs (with license fees already paid), including H.265, and I understand it also support 1080p60 video decoding, while BCM2836 is limited to 1080p30. The latter point is not that critical as many videos are recorded at 24 to 30 fps.
The Raspberry Pi 2 on the other hand has a larger community, officially supports Windows 10 (and it’s free), features more I/Os and connectors including I2S and MIPI CSI and DSI connectors, as well as an AV jack with composite and stereo audio signals which are missing on ODROID-C1.
The board with the lower power consumption could be ODROID-C1, as per the power consumption figures released by both companies but more testing is certainly needed.
In conclusion, I can’t give an overall winner, since both boards have their pros and cons, and you have to think about your particular application(s) to select the board that matches your requirements the best.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
