In terms of sales, the Raspberry Pi is the king in the makers and hackers area with millions of copies sells around the world. The Pi represents the current cream of the crop and are used in robotics starting from simple projects and finishing with the most impressive applications where the robots combine the art with science and became truly benchmarks in the field.
In the last few years the communities of hobbyists and hackers has grown very rapidly with plenty of hardware and software manufacturers and even more options.
One option against Pi board is the HummingBoard I2eX. This single board computer can be an alternative to Raspberry Pi Model B or B+, and since was released on the market, the board generates attention with its powerful features.
In this article, I explore nine of the most important features for a single board computer and for Raspberry Pi Model B+ and HummingBoard I2eX.
Processor and Memory
The HummingBoard I2eX sets a new benchmark for single board computers design with a faster variant of the beastly i.MX6 dual-core processor. For I2eX the processor runs at 1.2 GHz and has available up to 1GB of RAM memory. With only 512MB of RAM, the Pi B+ still has the same 700 MHz Low Power ARM1176JZFS processor as the Model B.
Video
Both single board computers have HDMI output, which is the best way to transmit digitally audio and video files to a compatible digital audio device or computer monitor. The 1080p resolution with LVDS display out is an advantage for I2eX, but the 14 HDMI resolutions from 640×350 to 1920×1200 pixels for B+ is also familiar to us.
Audio
It isn’t a monumental difference, but the Pi model B+ has HDMI output, while the I2eX has just analog stereo output with the mention that the sound has the same benefit as vinyl to audiophiles.
Wired Network
No surprises here. If in your application is required three speeds to choose from, then you can choose the I2eX board with its 10/100/1000 Ethernet. The Pi B+ still has the base version with 10/100. The most common Ethernet speed is still 100 Mbps, while 1000 Mbps is gaining ground.
USB ports
The B+ has an advantage with a total number of four USB 2.0 ports, while the I2eX has two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 2.0 powered internal.
Memory Card
Both single board computers have an interface to memory card, and both uses the storage card to store the operating system and several other files. The Pi has Multimedia Card SDIO interface, while the HummingBoard is designed with a simple MicroSD interface.
GPIO Pins
The Pi model B+ is far away much more advanced than the I2eX with 40-pin header, while for inputs/outputs are available a total number of 26 pins. The same number, 26, is the lucky number for I2eX. But the 26-pin GPIO header is divided as: 8x GPIO, UART, SPI with 2 CS, and I2C.
Power Supply
Both development systems support power supply with an output of 5V.
Operating Systems
In order to help you obtain a good overview of operating systems with full support from both single board computers, I have to mention that Linux based OS’s are at the top of the list. Even you’ll choose the B+ from Raspberry or the I2eX from SolidRun, you can run a long list of operating systems including Android, Ubuntu, Debian, Linux, Raspbian, and more.
After you cover this article, it could be clear for you which board is better based on the comparisons. In this case, when both devices are powerful enough to run advanced algorithms and applications for artificial intelligence or computer vision, most probably is very hard to have a final decision and to choose one of these two single board computers.
