When comparing MinnowBoard Max vs esp32, the Slant community recommends MinnowBoard Max for most people. In the question“What are the best single-board computers?” MinnowBoard Max is ranked 29th while esp32 is ranked 45th. The most important reason people chose MinnowBoard Max is:
MinnowBoard is a non-profit backed by Intel. meaning it gets advice for its architecture by Intel. But all hardware and software parts, including all drivers are completely free and open source.
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Pros
Pro Completely open source
MinnowBoard is a non-profit backed by Intel. meaning it gets advice for its architecture by Intel. But all hardware and software parts, including all drivers are completely free and open source.
Pro USB 3.0 available
The MinnowBoard Max has 2 USB ports, one of which is a USB 3.0.
Pro Great for hacking away
Other than releasing all drivers as open source, Intel has also made the schematics of the board available to download. This way, hackers can give it a try and build anything they want without restrictions.
Pro Many variants available
Many different variants are available depending how good you are at soldering or how small it needs to be.
Pro Very small
Can fit inside small devices.
Pro Very cheap
Without case can be below $5.
Pro Has ultra-low power mode
Pro Has bluetooth and wifi modules
Cons
Con Multi-USB hub almost a necessity
Because it has only two USB ports, one of which to be used for charging, a multi-USB hub is needed to connect a keyboard and mouse which are the absolute minimal external devices to be able to use and configure the MinnowBoard.
Con No official OS images have the kernel with GPIO enabled
Although this is not the board's fault per-se, no official OS image has enabled support for GPIO. But if the kernel is compiled from source, it can be compiled with GPIO and PWM enabled.
Con Some variants require soldering
Not all variants include easily plugable pins. Usually only the more expensive variants include these.
