Raspberry Pi 500 Hands On First Look, It's Finally Here!

Summary

ETA Prime introduces the Raspberry Pi 500, a substantial upgrade from the Pi 400, which was released in November 2020. The new Pi 500 boasts improved performance due to its updated chip architecture reminiscent of the Raspberry Pi 5, along with 8GB of RAM. It features new design elements suitable for a range of keyboard preferences and offers robust connectivity options with dual micro HDMI, USB ports, and Ethernet. Accompanied by a new 15.6-inch portable Raspberry Pi monitor, the setup is neat and functional. While running on the Raspberry Pi OS, it enhances user experience with efficient web browsing, document editing, and media playback. Priced affordably, the Pi 500 is an exciting prospect for tech enthusiasts and hobbyists alike.

Highlights

• ETA Prime is thrilled to review the new Raspberry Pi 500 after a long wait! 📦
• The Pi 500 shares its core with the Pi 5, promising a significant performance boost! ⬆️
• Introducing a portable Raspberry Pi monitor that pairs beautifully with the Pi 500! 🖥️
• With 8GB RAM and an upgraded CPU, the Pi 500 is a powerhouse in a keyboard's shell! 💪
• Multiple languages keyboard variants to cater to international users soon. 🌍
• Efficient cooling system ensures the device stays silent and cool, even under pressure! ❄️
• Great for browsing, streaming, and basic productivity tasks right out of the box! 🖱️
• Ran benchmarks showing massive improvements over its predecessor, the Pi 400! 📊
• ETA Prime is prepping more videos, including overclocking and gaming on the Pi 500! 🎮

Key Takeaways

• Raspberry Pi 500 is finally here, four years after the last major update! 🎉
• Comes with a nifty portable 15.6-inch monitor, perfect for on-the-go entertainment and work. 📺
• Packed with 8GB RAM and sporting the powerful Broadcom CPU, this tiny beast is ready for serious multitasking! 🚀
• Fully equipped with modern connectivity options including dual micro HDMI, USB ports, and Ethernet, making it versatile for various setups. 🔌
• Priced at $90, it’s a steal for anyone in need of a compact yet powerful computing solution. 💸

Overview

ETA Prime brings us an exhilarating first look at the much-anticipated Raspberry Pi 500! Unveiled with extensive improvements over its predecessor, the Pi 500 ensures enthusiasts and hobbyists have a new gadget to admire. The similarities with the Pi 5 chip mean you can expect seamless performance capabilities, especially with its 8GB of RAM. The compact yet efficient keyboard design houses a powerful mini-PC within, with a robust cooling system that offers silent operation. Costing just $90, it’s a significant leap for those looking to upgrade from previous models.

One exciting addition to the Pi 500 setup is the 15.6-inch Raspberry Pi monitor. Designed with portability in mind, this monitor complements the Pi 500 perfectly, making it a great tool for both work and play. The monitor features user-friendly controls and supports HDMI connectivity, promising vivid visuals and quality audio, despite the smaller portable size. Even though it's geared towards Pi 500 use, it remains versatile enough for other HDMI-enabled devices, pushing it to be an all-around excellent choice for tech enthusiasts.

With demonstrations of performance benchmarks, ETA Prime illustrates how the Pi 500 outshines the Pi 400 with ease. Engaging in stress tests and sharing tips on overclocking, the channel prepares more content for those eager to push the Pi 500 to its limits. The video concludes with a promising outlook on the Pi 500’s capabilities and potential, hinting at future deep dives into gaming and emulation. As a compact, cost-effective alternative computing solution, the Pi 500 excites both seasoned Raspberry Pi fans and new adoptees.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction In this introductory chapter, the excitement of exploring a new Raspberry Pi product, the Pi 500, is shared. This product is a long-awaited update, being the first new version in nearly four years since the Raspberry Pi 400 released in November 2020, which was a favorite. The anticipation is further fueled by the enhancements made in the Pi 500, and its launch is accompanied by another product release, a 50.6 inch accompanying tool or accessory.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Raspberry Pi 500 Features The chapter discusses the features of the Raspberry Pi 500, highlighting its compatibility with a portable monitor that supports HDMI video output. This monitor can be connected to various devices such as Xbox, PlayStation, PC, or Switch. However, the focus is on its use with the Raspberry Pi 500. The chapter explains that the Raspberry Pi 500 is built around the same chip as the Raspberry Pi 5, similar to how the Pi 400 was built around the Raspberry Pi 4 chip, suggesting a significant performance improvement over previous models.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Design and Specifications The chapter titled 'Design and Specifications' discusses the characteristics and features of a particular ARM-based Linux PC integrated within a keyboard form factor. It highlights that the device, referred to as 'pi 400,' comes with 8GB of RAM, an upgrade from the previous 4GB version. The device is noted for its silence due to its use of a passive heat sink for cooling. The text also mentions testing conducted with stock and overclocked settings without encountering thermal throttling, even under extreme load conditions. Additionally, the availability of this PC with different keyboard layouts (US and UK) is discussed.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Teardown and Observations The chapter provides a preview of different keyboard variants that will be launched in the upcoming months, including German, Spanish, French, Italian, Nordic, and Japanese versions. It also details some physical features of the device, mentioning the presence of rubber feet to prevent sliding, and various input and output options. These include gigabit Ethernet, dual micro HDMI, a USB type-c port for powering the unit, a micro SD card slot, two USB 3 ports, and one USB 2.0 port.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Raspberry Pi Monitor Overview This chapter provides an overview of running an operating system on a Raspberry Pi, noting that while it traditionally operates from a micro SD card, it's also possible to run it from USB. The speaker discusses a teardown revealing a potential plan to add an m.2 drive. Specifications are detailed, highlighting the Pi 500's similarities to the Pi five, featuring a quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex A76 Broadcom CPU with a stock clock of 2.4 GHz, which can be overclocked.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Performance and Overclocking The chapter focuses on the specs of a device with 8 GB of RAM, two micro HDMI ports that support 4K at 60 fps, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, gigabit Ethernet, a micro SD card slot, and a horizontal 40-pin GPIO header. It also features 802.11bgn AC Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5) and Bluetooth 5.0. The discussion parallels with the Pi five, highlighting the capability to run hundreds of Linux operating systems, with a preference for Raspberry Pi OS.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Benchmarks The chapter titled 'Benchmarks' delves into the internals of a device, with a focus on its testing phase. It begins with the procedure of removing the keyboard using a clip system, which involves separating and folding it over to unplug the ribbon cable. This reveals a US version keyboard that can be easily replaced with different language versions such as US or UK. Beneath the keyboard, a Heat play is identified, which is passively cooled and notably lacks fans.
• 05:30 - 06:10: Conclusion The chapter discusses concerns regarding CPU heat management in a specific system, mentioning a massive heat plate designed to prevent thermal throttling despite being enclosed. It notes the use of thermal conductive tape, which required effort to remove but will be reused. A noteworthy spot on the board is pointed out, suggesting potential for further discussion or modification.

Raspberry Pi 500 Hands On First Look, It's Finally Here! Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 what's going on everybody it's ETA Prime back here again today I am super excited because we get to take a look at a brand new Raspberry Pi product that we haven't seen a new revision of in nearly 4 years what I've got here is the brand new Pi 500 and when it comes to the pi 400 that one released in November 2020 it turned out to be one of my favorite products that Raspberry Pi has ever released and with the new upgrades to the pi 500 I'm super excited about this one and right along with the release of the pi 500 they're also releasing a 50 .6 in
• 00:30 - 01:00 Raspberry Pi monitor so this is pretty cool it's a portable monitor that can go right along with this unit it'll also work with other devices that support HDMI video out so you could theoretically connect this to an Xbox PlayStation PC or switch but we're going to be using it here with the new Raspberry Pi 500 as the name suggests Pi 500 this is kind of based around the same chip in the raspberry pi5 just like the pi 400 was based around the chip in the Raspberry Pi 4 so we can definitely expect nice jumping performance over the
• 01:00 - 01:30 pi 400 and another thing we have here is 8 gigs of RAM instead of four like the pi 400 shipped with and again this is a full-blown arm-based Linux PC inside of a keyboard it's totally silent because it uses a passive heat sink internally and I've done a little bit of testing here with the stock clocks and a little bit of an overclock I have not had this thing hit thermal throttle even under extreme load and just taking a look over the unit itself I've got the US keyboard version at launch we'll have the UK and
• 01:30 - 02:00 us but in the coming months they will be launching several different keyboard variants like German Spanish French Italian Nordic and Japanese so keep an eye out for those on the bottom here I have some rubber feet so I won't slide around on the desk plus a little bit of inhilation here and of course around back we've got our IO gigabit Ethernet dual micro HDMI we've got USB type-c to power the unit up micro SD card slot two USB 3 ports and one USB 2.0 Port your
• 02:00 - 02:30 operating system is meant to run from the micro SD card but of course with the Raspberry Pi you can always run it from USB and I did a tear down it looks like they may have planned to add an m.2 drive to this once we tear it down I'll show you exactly what I'm talking about here but before we move over there I did want to give you kind of a rundown on the specs here so again the pi 500 kind of following the same lines as the pi five we've got a quadcore 64bit arm cortex a76 broadcom CPU stock clock here was 2.4 but you can overclock if you
• 02:30 - 03:00 want to it's got 8 GB of RAM two micro HDMI ports both do 4K 60 out two USB 3.0 ports One USB 2.0 Port gigabit Ethernet micro SD card slot it's got a horizontal 40 pen gpio header round back 802.11bgn AC Wi-Fi so we've got Wi-Fi 5 here and bluo 5.0 and just like the pi five there's hundreds of Linux operating systems that we can run on this but I've been been running Raspberry Pi OS to do
• 03:00 - 03:30 all of my testing right now I was personally interested to take a look at the internals here so I wanted to give you a look at that and to get the keyboard off it uses a clip system once we've got that kind of separated we can just fold it over and unplug that ribbon cable we've got the US version keyboard here it'd be easy enough to get a different language keyboard and replace one of the US or the UK versions the way it looks right now but underneath here we've got our Heat play this is passively cool there's no fans
• 03:30 - 04:00 to worry about and for the CPU we're working with here this heat plate is pretty massive I don't worry about this thing thermal throttling even though it's all enclosed I mean there's plenty of room here to pull more heat out of that CPU but one thing I did notice here is it's using thermal conductive tape so it did take a little bit to kind of pry it off but once I got that out of there not a problem uh I'm actually going to reuse this tape here I just needed to pull it off one time if we take a closer look at this board there's a spot in this area that looks like it should have
• 04:00 - 04:30 housed an SSD but the m.2 slot is missing personally I don't want to go probing in this one because I didn't want to break the unit but I know a guy who's probably going to do a lot with this thing and if you're into raspberry pies you know exactly who Jeff is but I'll leave a link to his Channel Down Below I'm sure he's releasing a video same time same day as this and he's got a lot of knowledge about these Raspberry Pi products so definitely check his stuff out but yeah this does look really interesting and when the pi 400 was released they did kind of a behind the
• 04:30 - 05:00 scenes or designing the pi 400 uh hopefully they do the same for the pi 500 if I find anything I'll leave a link down below but now I want to move over to the new Raspberry Pi monitor because this is going to go hand inand with the pi 500 these are sold separately the pi monitor is coming in at $100 over on the website Pi 500 is 90 but basically what we've got here is a 15.6 in IPS display pie colors around back we've got that red and white I think it looks really good we've got our power button volume
• 05:00 - 05:30 buttons brightness button and it's got this foldout kickstand this does have fulls sizee HDMI it's also got a 3.5 mm audio jack and USB type-c in and there are a couple things to note here you can power this directly from the Raspberry Pi's USB port but you're only going to get a maximum of 60% brightness and 50% volume but if you're using a standalone USB type-c adapter from the wall we can Max this out at 100% And 100% personally I love the design of
• 05:30 - 06:00 this Monitor and once it's set up with that Raspberry Pi 500 it's pretty clean it's got enough room to Route those wires directly underneath the front of the unit all I've added here is a keyboard and obviously plugged in the Raspberry Pi 500 I've already started the boot process with the Raspberry Pi 500 and I am running Raspberry Pi Os from a 64 GB micro SD card anti-glare screen 15.6 in 1080p not a bad little setup here and with those front-facing speakers they do sound pretty good now
• 06:00 - 06:30 they're not going to be super loud a little bit Tenny but that's kind of a given with these portable monitors but one thing I do like about this is we've got the front-facing speakers most of the time when I see portable monitors over on Amazon or even eBay the speakers are downward facing sidew firing these are right in your face so it can send that sound directly to you so far I've been having a pretty good time with the pi 500 and I will have more videos coming up in this video we're just going to be taking a look at performance with the stock 2.4 GHz clock on the CPU but I
• 06:30 - 07:00 have done some testing with some overclocking here I've managed to get this up to 3.1 and I thought it was stable but about 45 minutes into testing it did crash on me so I need to do a little bit of tweaking to the overclock profile that I'm using here but a lot of people out there are just going to be using the pi 500 at the stock clocks and at the stock clocks super stable web browsing here is great I want to show off a little bit of video playback but I also ran some benchmarks and I did want to face this off against the pi 400 to see if it would be worth upgrading to
• 07:00 - 07:30 and one thing to keep in mind is we're seeing the same performance as the Raspberry Pi 5 here I mean we've basically got that same CPU here it is a few revisions newer than the ones I've tested so with that little more efficient and software updates over time have increased performance by a bit but just everyday normal use with this thing has been really awesome I mean a normal person just needing something for web browsing email checking document editing video playback could definitely get by using the pi 500 as their main desktop
• 07:30 - 08:00 not a bad experience so far and with this Pi monitor I mean it all just kind of ties together one thing I wish I could have found was the white micro HDMI cable just to keep it super clean but unfortunately couldn't find the one that I have so yeah running some stress tests here I've been running some benchmarks installing some applications for a later video I want to get some emulation out of the way on this show you some overclocking and everything like like that but the way it sits in its stock
• 08:00 - 08:30 form factor stock settings it's a pretty quick little machine here's some benchmarks that I ran and again we're facing this off against the pi 400 first one here is the photo editor resize test lower is better for this one and you can see that on the pi 500 28 seconds versus the pi 400 61 seconds next we've got a browser Benchmark speedometer 2.1 65.8 with the Pi 500 22.7 with the pi 400 and with
• 08:30 - 09:00 this one Higher is better I also ran CIS bench here's some single threaded performance Pi 500 coming in with the 1,61 pi 400 721 and I also tested multithreaded CIS bench performance Pi 500 4,238 Pi 400 2,840 3 so on average the pi 500 is around 2.5 to 2. eight times faster than the pi 400
• 09:00 - 09:30 at those stock clocks and of course if we overclock both we could get more out of each but I wanted to take a look at stock performance here and it's looking really good with the new Pi 500 I'm willing to bet that Jeff has already solved the missing m.2 slot dilemma we have going on here he probably knows a lot more about this than I do so definitely check his video out but coming in with a price tag of $90 I think this would be well worth it to a lot of people out there super slim form factor great performance given that we've got an arm-based Mini PC here
• 09:30 - 10:00 shoved inside of a keyboard and keep in mind you don't need that Pi monitor to get this up and running you could use a monitor that you already have you could use a TV if you want to get everything to match it is available over on their website but I do like this unit and I will have more videos coming so definitely keep an eye on the channel overclocking emulation we'll do some gaming on this thing and if there's anything else you want to see running on the new Pi 500 just let me know in the comments below but that's going to wrap it up for my first look video and like
• 10:00 - 10:30 always thanks for watching