Raspberry Pi 5 vs Orange Pi 5 Max

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi 5 — Raspberry Pi 5

For advanced users

Editorial opinionOur verdict

Same size. The Orange Pi 5 Max has eight cores, 2.5 GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, an NVMe slot and a hardware video encoder; the Raspberry Pi 5 has far better software, documentation and accessories. Pick the Pi to learn or for HATs, the Orange Pi if you want more hardware and can handle Armbian.

Factual data	Raspberry Pi 5	Orange Pi 5 Max
Processor	Broadcom BCM2712	Rockchip RK3588
Cores / threads	4 / 4	8 / 8More
RAM	16 GB	16 GB
Drive slots	0	1More
Network	1 × 1 GbE	1 × 2.5 GbEAdvantage
Video engine (encode)	None	H.264, HEVC 8-bit
Processor power	—	—
Size	85 × 56 × 17 mm	89 × 57 mm
Price from	$78Advantage	$95

What each one is good forDerived from the specs

Uses	Raspberry Pi 5	Orange Pi 5 Max
Home Assistant	GoodOfficial or well-supported Home Assistant OS image	GoodHome Assistant OS needs a community build
Media server	LimitedNo hardware video encoder: direct play only, or slow software transcoding	GoodHardware encoder (Rockchip MPP): supported by Jellyfin, not by Plex
Homelab / Proxmox	LimitedArm processor: Docker works, Proxmox VE does not	LimitedArm processor: Docker works, Proxmox VE does not
Router / firewall	LimitedOne network port: only as a 'router on a stick' with VLANs and a managed switch	LimitedOne network port: only as a 'router on a stick' with VLANs and a managed switch
NAS	LimitedNo internal drive slot: USB drives only	Limited1 internal drive slots (1× M.2)
Desktop	LimitedLinux desktop on Arm: fine for browsing, coding and learning, slow with heavy sites	LimitedLinux desktop on Arm: fine for browsing, coding and learning, slow with heavy sites
Electronics / GPIO	Great fit40-pin GPIO header	GoodGPIO header

Software supportEditorial opinion

Windows 11	Not supported	Not supported
Linux (Debian, Ubuntu or vendor image)	Excellent	Good
Proxmox VE	Not supported	Not supported
Home Assistant OS	Excellent	Works with effort
OPNsense / pfSense / OpenWrt	Good	Works with effort