$50 2GB Raspberry Pi 5 comes with a lower price and a tweaked, cheaper CPU

Price and Value of Raspberry Pi 5 (2GB)

• Many see the $50 2GB Pi 5 as poor value for hobbyists; 2GB fits simple tasks, but the Pi 5’s performance is overkill for those, and underwhelming vs cheap x86 mini‑PCs.
• Several commenters would pay the extra $30 for 8GB “by default” for flexibility, especially for general‑purpose or evolving projects.
• Others argue SBCs are typically single‑purpose; if 2GB is enough for the application, extra RAM is wasteful, especially in volume deployments.
• Historical pricing is debated: inflation‑adjusted, the original $35 Pi is near today’s $50, but some argue tech should have gotten cheaper and that Pis “feel” expensive now.

Alternatives: ARM SBCs and Intel N100 Boards

• Orange Pi and Banana Pi are frequently cited as better price/performance, especially H618 and Zero‑form‑factor boards; software support is seen as weaker (Armbian, custom Ubuntu builds, flaky forums).
• Intel N100 mini‑PCs and SBCs are viewed as close in price to high‑end Pi 5 setups once PSU, case, and NVMe HAT are included, while offering far more CPU, RAM, GPU, and I/O.
• Counterpoints: N100 systems idle at higher power (roughly 4–10W vs ~3W claimed for Pi 5) and run hotter; some N100 SBC designs are criticized for thermals and software.

Ecosystem, GPIO, and Use Cases

• Broad agreement that Raspberry Pi’s main advantage is ecosystem: stable 40‑pin GPIO, HATs, tutorials, first‑party accessories, and large community.
• This makes Pis attractive for education, makers, and embedded products where time and support matter more than raw specs.
• GPIO and timing‑sensitive tasks are harder to replicate on USB‑GPIO adapters or generic x86 boards.
• Some see only Zero/Pico lines as truly compelling now; others run large fleets (hundreds–thousands) of 8GB Pis in kiosks, chargers, and industrial systems.

Performance, Thermals, and Video

• Reported Pi 5 power draw: ~3W idle and up to ~15W load, giving roughly similar efficiency to Pi 4 despite higher performance; active cooling often required.
• Loss of hardware video encoder vs Pi 4 is criticized, especially for camera‑heavy tasks (e.g., 3D printers, streaming), where Pi 4 remains preferred or x86 is recommended.

Microcontrollers vs Pi (ESP32, Pico, etc.)

• For ultra‑low‑power, single‑purpose IoT, many recommend ESP32/ESP8266 (with tools like ESPHome), sometimes even noting Linux‑on‑ESP32 use.
• Others stress these are different classes: an ESP can’t replace a Pi 5 where HDMI, USB, or full Linux workloads are required. Raspberry Pi Pico is seen as the more direct internal counterpart.

Business Direction and IPO Concerns

• Some fear post‑IPO “enshittification”: prices rising, focus shifting from hobbyists to industrial customers, and eventual erosion of community trust.
• Others argue that despite commercialization, competitors’ hardware, BSPs, and documentation are still so weak that Raspberry Pi retains a large safety margin.

Reliability and Practical Experience

• One commenter reports all their Pis crash after hours/days; multiple others counter with years‑long 24/7 uptime in roles like home servers, signage, home automation, cameras, and desktops.
• Suspected causes of instability include poor power supplies and SD card failures.

New SoC Stepping and Broadcom Relationship

• The new BCM2712 D0 stepping is noted as cheaper due to removing “dark silicon”; some are curious about die size and thermal improvements, and hope it might ease cooling needs.
• There is speculation that Broadcom failed to sell these SoCs widely and that Raspberry Pi may now be its only major customer, hinting at a somewhat tense or constrained supplier relationship.