Raspberry Pi, SBC Projects & Maker Hardware for 2026

The Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) is the default choice for most projects — 2-3x the CPU/GPU of Pi 4, PCIe M.2 HAT support, and mature Linux ecosystem. For battery-powered or ultra-low-cost builds the Pi Zero 2 W still wins. For Windows / x86 workloads the LattePanda Sigma (Intel Core i5) is the better SBC.

Orange Pi 5 Plus (RK3588, 16GB option, 6 TOPS NPU, HDMI-in, 2.5Gb Ethernet) has objectively stronger specs and usually costs less. Raspberry Pi 5 still wins on software support, community, and peripheral ecosystem. Pick Orange Pi if you need the raw specs; pick Pi 5 if you value "it just works".

Yes, with caveats. Small 1–4B models at 4-bit quantization run on a Pi 5 (8GB) through Ollama or llama.cpp, but throughput varies a lot with the model, the quantization, cooling and the boot drive. Our Raspberry Pi 5 8GB benchmarks page (specpicks.com/benchmarks/raspberry-pi-5-8gb) lists measured tok/s figures, each with its source. Useful for prototyping and edge inference but not practical for daily chat use — get a dedicated GPU rig for that.

Pi-hole (network-wide ad blocker) is the classic: 30-minute setup, immediately useful, teaches networking basics. Other top starters: RetroPie handheld, home Plex server, MagicMirror², Home Assistant on Pi 4.

Yes — the Pi 5 will thermal-throttle under sustained load without active cooling. The official Raspberry Pi Active Cooler is the cheapest fix; aftermarket options (Argon ONE V3, Waveshare ICE Tower) are better for 24/7 workloads.