Raspberry Pi 4 Offers 3X the Power, 4K Output and USB 3 for $35

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The Raspberry Pi 4 has arrived. With faster performance and new capabilities, this fourth-generation single-board mini PC will give hobbyists the ability to create advanced gadgets at a low cost.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation claims that the newest single-board computer is the first to "replicate the full range of capabilities of a traditional PC."

Raspberry Pi 4 pricing and availability

The Raspberry Pi 4 is available today starting at $35 (the same price as the Raspberry Pi 3) and will be offered in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB variants. An optional "Desktop Kit" will bundle a mouse, keyboard, SD card, power supply, case and cables. You can buy the Raspberry Pi 4 from element14 or OKdo.

MORE: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B-Plus – Full Review 

If you've never heard of a Raspberry Pi, these single-board computers have a range of uses, from teaching kids valuable STEM skills to helping hobbyists create unique gadgets, like DIY web servers, set-top boxes and security cameras. It also lets developers hone their coding skills using a range of programming languages, from Scratch to Python and C++.

“This is a significant development for the PC market as a whole," Raspberry Pi Co-Founder Eben Upton said. "Raspberry Pi is already one of the best-selling computers of all time. In Q4 of 2018, Raspberry Pi 3+ and earlier models accounted for 2.5% of the global PC market. The improved capabilities of Raspberry Pi 4 should allow us to address a much larger fraction of that market.”

Raspberry Pi 4 performance

Raspberry Pi claims this fourth-generation single-board computer offers three times the processing power and four times the multimedia performance of the Raspberry Pi 3.

The Raspberry Pi 4 will come with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 CPU running at 1.5Ghz, which can decode high-dynamic range 4Kp60 HEVC and drive two 4K screens simultaneously for powering monitors or digital signage.

“The vision behind Raspberry Pi 4 is to make a rich multimedia PC experience accessible to everyone,” Upton said. “By offering a ‘just right’ level of performance for most users, we’ve been able to do this at roughly a tenth the cost of a traditional desktop PC."

Raspberry Pi 4 new features

The credit-card-sized computer is also said to enable superfast file-transfer speeds, multi-tab web browsing and advanced video and editing. Connectivity has also been improved on the new model, with the debut of Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 5 and USB 3.0 support. Some of those features aren't even available on the latest premium laptops.

Best of all, the Raspberry Pi 4 will be backward-compatible, so most of your creations should work without making changes to the new device.

Read this Raspberry Pi 4 review by our sister site, Tom's Hardware, to find out how the new single-board mini PC stacks up against its predecessor.

Phillip Tracy
Phillip Tracy

Phillip Tracy is the assistant managing editor at Laptop Mag where he reviews laptops, phones and other gadgets while covering the latest industry news. After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Phillip became a tech reporter at the Daily Dot. There, he wrote reviews for a range of gadgets and covered everything from social media trends to cybersecurity. Prior to that, he wrote for RCR Wireless News covering 5G and IoT. When he's not tinkering with devices, you can find Phillip playing video games, reading, traveling or watching soccer.