Radxa Zero 3W vs. Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

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Radxa’s new tiny single-board computer packs extra processing power and more into the Zero form factor, but is it really a better buy than a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W?

First up, let’s take a look at the main tech specs of the Radxa Zero 3 W and Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W side by side.

Radxa Zero 3W

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

Rockchip RK3566 64-bit SoC with quad‑core Arm Cortex‑A55 @ 1.6GHz

Broadcom BCM2710A1 64-bit SoC with quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1GHz

Radxa Zero 3W rear

1GB, 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4

512MB LPDDR2

Arm Mali‑G52‑2EE (supports OpenGL ES 1.1 / 2.0 / 3.0 / 3.1 / 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, OpenCL 2.0)

Broadcom VideoCore IV (supports OpenGL ES 1.1 / 2.0)

Micro HDMI (1080p@60fps), USB-C 2.0 OTG, USB-C 3.0 Host, MIPI CSI camera connector

Mini HDMI (1080p@30fps), micro USB 2.0 OTG, micro USB 2.0 power, MIPI CSI-2 camera connector

Networking

Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with BLE, or Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 with BLE

Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 with BLE

MicroSD card slot, optional on-board eMMC (8GB, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB)

MicroSD card slot

65 x 30mm (2.56 x 1.18in)

Processing Power and RAM

In terms of raw processing power, the Radxa Zero 3W outclasses the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W with a far more capable system-on-chip (SoC). The Zero 3W’s Arm Cortex-A55 CPU can run up to 1.6GHz, considerably faster than the Pi Zero 2 W’s Arm Cortex-A53 CPU at 1GHz.

The Zero 3W’s Arm Mali‑G52‑2EE GPU (graphics processing unit) also firmly beats the Pi Zero 2 W’s Broadcom VideoCore IV—the same chip used in earlier Pi models. So, if your project requires graphical power, this is a major advantage. The Radxa board also supports more graphics APIs, including Vulkan. It can also output 1080p HD video at up to 60fps, compared to 30fps on the Pi Zero 2 W.

Even more significant is the difference in the amount of RAM. The Pi Zero 2 W’s performance is somewhat hampered by its lowly 512MB of RAM, so it can soon run out of memory for complex tasks, especially when using a GUI and multitasking. The Radxa Zero 3W should have no such problems, with a minimum of 1GB and up to 8GB. Not only that, but it uses the faster LPDDR4 type of RAM.

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is limited tomicroSD card storage, although you could use a USB hub to add an external drive. It’s not a huge problem since, in theory, cards of up to 256GB can be used—not that you’re likely to need anywhere near that much for most projects. The Radxa’s microSD card slot supports up to 128GB cards, according to the official spec, but you’re able to also buy the Zero 3W with on-boardeMMC storageof 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB, which typically has faster read/write speeds compared to microSD.

Ports and Connectivity

In terms of physical ports and connectors, the two boards have a similar layout. Both have a single MIPI CSI port to attach a ribbon connector for a camera module. Both have an HDMI video output, although the Radxa Zero 3W features a smaller micro HDMI port, while the Pi Zero 2 W has a mini HDMI port. The Radxa also has a pair of USB-C ports (for power and data), compared to the Pi Zero 2 W’s micro USB ones.

Since neither board has an Ethernet port (not surprisingly, given the size), you’re limited to wireless connectivity. The Pi Zero 2 W features standard Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n, backward compatible), while the Radxa Zero 3W comes in both Wi-Fi 4 and the faster Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) variants. Both feature Bluetooth connectivity and BLE, although the Radxa uses the more up-to-date Bluetooth 5 or 5.4 standard (depending on the board variant).

GPIO and Add-ons

As you can see from the photos, both boards have a 40-pin GPIO header for connecting electronic components and breakouts. The Radxa Zero 3W benefits from color-coded pins to help you identify each pin’s basic functionality—ground pins are black, for instance, while 5V power pins are red.

At first sight, the Zero 3W’s pinout looks identical to the Pi Zero 2 W, with the 5V, 3.3V, and GND pins all in the same places. The mapping of the numbered GPIO pins and their extra functionality—such as for UART and SPI interfaces—is slightly different, however. This poses a problem if you’re hoping to useRaspberry Pi HATs and breakout boardswith a Radxa Zero 3W, as will the lack of software support to use them on anything else but a Raspberry Pi.

Software Support

This is the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W’s trump card. The sheer popularity of Raspberry Pi boards (with over 40 million units sold in total) means a wealth of software and support is available. This extends from the electronics hobbyist/maker realm to the educational and industrial sectors, where Raspberry Pi boards are commonly used.

The Raspberry Pi global community is huge, so you can easily seek help and find solutions to any issues you have with a project, as someone has inevitably made something similar.Raspberry Pi’s official documentationis also excellent.

While the Pi Zero 2 W can run the official Debian-based Raspberry Pi OS—althoughother operating systems can be installed on a Raspberry Pi—which is custom-created for the board and easy to use, the Radxa supports standard Debiarn or Ubuntu flavors of Linux. On either board, the OS can be run headless or with a GUI.

One interesting feature of the Zero 3W is the Maskrom button on the rear, which puts the board into a special boot mode in which you can sideload binaries from a computer connected via USB. This can also be used to install a retro gaming system such as RetroPie or EmuELEC.

Price and Availability

During the greatRaspberry Pi supply shortage, which led to scalpers charging sky-high prices, the Pi Zero 2 W was one of the hardest boards to get hold of and is still in limited supply in some localities. The Radxa Zero 3W is also in great demand and may be out of stock at times unless you live in China.

At their official prices, the Pi Zero 2 W and basic 1GB model Radxa Zero 3W both sell for $15. The other Zero 3W variants can cost up to $65 for the 8GB RAM model with 64GB eMMC storage.