When comparing ODROID-C2 vs ASUS Tinker Board S, the Slant community recommends ASUS Tinker Board S for most people. In the question“What are the best single-board computers?” ASUS Tinker Board S is ranked 10th while ODROID-C2 is ranked 20th. The most important reason people chose ASUS Tinker Board S is:
The Asus Tinker Board S is a more powerful single-board computer than a Raspberry Pi Model B since it has a more powerful microprocessor as well as larger and faster RAM memory.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Good support for Ubuntu
The C2 has pretty decent support for Ubuntu and it can be used with it for basic day-to-day operations such as browsing the web and editing documents with LibreOffice among others.
Pro Superior performance compared with other boards
Pro Built-in heatsink
The ODROID C2 has a built-in heatsink which covers the CPU and two of the RAM chips.
Pro Can fit inside Raspberry Pi cases
Since its shape and size closely mimic that of Pi 3, it can fit on most Raspberry Pi cases available.
Pro Will have mainline kernel support
Pro Relatively low power requirements
The board by itself needs about 0.5A to run, but it's advised to use a 2A power supply for when peripherals are attached.
Pro Fair performance
The Asus Tinker Board S is a more powerful single-board computer than a Raspberry Pi Model B since it has a more powerful microprocessor as well as larger and faster RAM memory.
Pro Stays cool
The ASUS Tinker Board S doesn't have problems related to overheating because it comes with a massive heatsink that can dissipate all heat generated by the board's powerful microprocessor.
Pro Simple setup
All you need to do to set this board up and running is to upload the appropriate Android or Linux image. Both images can be obtained from the ASUS's official web resource in the form of downloadable .zip files. Simply download the files and drivers on your computer and use the Etcher to flash the Tinker Board S. Overall, the process takes around 10 minutes to complete.
Pro Has on-board WiFi and Bluetooth
You'll have no problem connecting to a WiFi network or Bluetooth peripherals with the Tinker Board S since it comes with an onboard 802.11 b/g/n - compliant WiFi and Bluetooth transceiver.
Pro Has some on-board storage
Unlike the previous version of the ASUS's Tinker Board, the model S comes equipped with a 16GB eMMC storage which means that you'll always have some space to store the computer's OS as well as some extra applications.
The eMMC memory performs on par with the more commonly known SD memory used on the majority of other single board computers out there since both of those are based on NAND.
Pro Fits the Raspberry Pi's case
You'll not have to tinker around finding the case for this single-board computer since it has the same form factor as the Raspberry Pi 3. You can find a variety of cases that start at around $6.50 here.
Pro Multi-OS platform
Right now, Tinker Board S can run both Android and Linux. Linux comes in the form of TinkerOS_Debian that is based on a well-known Debian distribution while the TinkerOS_Android is based on the Android 6.
Pro Outputs in 4K
This single board-computer has enough juice to stream the 4K media at the frame rate of 30Hz through its HDMI port.
Pro Less risk to fry a board with a cheap power supply
You're less likely to fry this SBC than some of the other ones because the Tinker Board S has the low-voltage detection circuitry which will shut down the computer if it detects inappropriately low voltage coming from the power supply. Usually, cheaper power adapters are the ones that fail to reach the needed 5V mark.
Pro Better build
Clear and colorful design.
Cons
Con No built in WiFi
There is no built-in WiFi, and kernel headers for 3.14 are almost impossible to find, making driver compiling very difficult.
Con Old kernel available
Only the 3.14 branche is available
Con Early revisions use a 2.5mm power socket instead of a USB port
Early revisions of the C2 use a 2.5mm power socket instead of the micro USB port available on the board or any of the other USB ports. While not a drawback in terms of strength of the board, it's a bit annoying having to order a new power supply to work with the C2.
Later revisions of the board can use the USB port for charging. However, ODROID recommends using the power socket if there are several devices attached to the board because they can increase the draw up to 2A and a lot of cheaper USB power adapters won't do 2A.
Con Might have problems with default HDMI resolution when first starting up
It's not unusual for the C2 to have a "Mode not supported" message when first booted up and connected to a monitor through the HDMI port. This can be fixed by logging through SSH and editing the boot.ini on a FAT partition on the SD card to set the correct HDMI resolution and the process is detailed pretty well on the ODROID wiki but it may be out of scope for some users and pretty annoying for the rest.
Con Comes without a power supply
You'll need to spend some extra money on a power supply unit since this board doesn't come with the one.
Con Once eMMC gets stuck it’s a headache
Once you get the eMMc stuck with switching operating system it’s a real nightmare to fix it
Con MicroUSB power connector
Con Power-hungry
This single-board computer is quite demanding when it comes to power since it is recommended to be used with a 3A power supply.