Hardkernel ODROID XU4 Review
There’s a new kid in town… and here is a close look at what he can do!
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Hardkernel has released a cost-reduced yet still feature-full version of their pricey but very nice ODROID XU3 … the new ODROID XU4
I have purchased Hardkernel products in the past, namely the ODROID-W (discontinued before I had time to write a review (R.I.P.)) and the ODROID C1 (which I quite liked, See ODROID C1 Review)
I was tempted to get an ODROID-XU3, but the price was unappetizing, and while the XU3-Lite was less expensive, I had gotten used to ~$35 ARM SBC’s for my projects.
Full Disclosure: Ameridroid.com provided the ODROID-XU4, XU4 Shifter Shield and a 16GB eMMC loaded with Ubuntu used in this review, but please be assured my reviews are always unbiased!
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Does the ODROID-XU4 look like an ODROID-C1? Or Raspberry Pi 2?
While there is some general resemblance due to similar size, the ODROID-XU4 is a little larger and has the connectors in different locations.
Frankly, it is very difficult to make a small single board computer this small without some general resemblance.
After all, they all need similar I/O connectors (HDMI, USB etc), and have some GPIO.
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I was happy to see that the ODROID XU4 now has a full size HDMI connector, getting micro HDMI to HDMI cables was an added inconvenience and expense for every C1 owner.
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The XU4 does resemble the C1 a bit more than the Raspberry Pi 2, especially if you mount the optional heat sink on the C1.
Review Index
- Page 1: Introduction, Does XU4 look like a C1 or RPi2?
- Page 2: A Closer look at the ODROID XU4
- Page 3: ODROID-XU4 Tour (continued)
- Page 4: Feature Comparison
- Page 5: Operating Systems, Multimedia
- Page 6: Software Compatibility & Hardware Compatibility
- Page 7: WiFi Compatibility & Documentation
- Page 8: XU4 Benchmarks: Booting, Apps, Compiling Emacs
- Page 9: XU4 Benchmarks: SysBench, iperf, nBench
- Page 10: XU4 Benchmarks: Unix Bench, hdparm, dd
- Page 11: Power Utilization, Support, Conclusion