Difference Between Raspberry Pi zero vs 3

Raspberry Pi is a small single-board series of a computer which is based out of the United Kingdom. The Raspberry Pi Foundation created it in order to promote basic computer science teaching in schools and developing countries. It is an ARM credit card-sized Single Board Computer (SBC) that runs on Debian based Linux Operating system.

The name knows raspberry pi Zero of a $5 computer and thereby a very popular small computer among its competitors. This incredibly cheap computer is smaller than a credit card with the dimensions of 65mm X 30mm X 5mm with the thickness and weighing just 9 gms. This product doesn’t lack any feature which its competitors have. Its single-core CPU is clocked higher to 1GHz, thereby increasing the speed by 40 percent higher than the original. If you factorize based on the 512 MB, then the speed can be three times higher than the original Raspberry Pi.

The new version of Raspberry Pi is Pi 3. It has onboard support for Bluetooth and WiFi and a 64-bit processor. It is indeed an exciting board for Engineers, Students, and makers as it also has enhanced USB boot capabilities with a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor and three times faster gigabit Ethernet internet network. Let us now understand the differences between Raspberry Pi Zero vs 3 in detail.

Head to Head Comparison Between Raspberry Pi Zero and 3 (Infographics)

Below is the top 34 difference between Raspberry Pi Zero vs 3:

Key differences between Raspberry Pi Zero and 3

Let us discuss some of the major Difference Between Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi 3:

Raspberry Pi Zero has the size of half of the Raspberry A+ model with a low-cost mini-computer. It is also less powerful, whereas Raspberry Pi 3 is the third generation computer system of the Raspberry series, which has replaced its predecessor Raspberry Pi 2 Model B.
The features of Pi Zero include 1 GHz of CPU, micro USB power, 512 MB of RAM, micro USB OTG cable, mini HDMI port, composite video and reset headers, CSI camera connectors, HAT compatible pin header, whereas Raspberry 3 has the features such as 1 GB of RAM, full HDMI port, micro HD card slot, Ethernet port, four USB ports, 40 pins and a combination of a composite video and a 3.5 mm audio jack, display and camera interface with VideoCore IV 3D graphics core.
If you need an analog video output, they both Raspberry Pi Zero vs 3 have different systems to cater to the needs in their own way. With Raspberry pi Zero, you will find an unpopulated pin, whereas, in the case of Raspberry Pi 3, the shared audio pin is used.
LCD panels are not supported in Raspberry Pi Zero, but they are supported in Raspberry Pi 3. This means that a touchscreen can be added easily on the Pi 3 model as it already provides the support for it and has a dedicated connection for it.

Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry pi 3 Comparison Table

The primary comparison between them are discussed below:

Basis of Comparison between Raspberry Pi Zero vs 3	Raspberry Pi Zero	Raspberry 3
Definition	A small cheap computer which consists of a micro SD card slot, a mini-HDMI socket, and a video header	It is the newer version of Raspberry Pi, which supports Bluetooth and WiFi along with a 64-bit processor.
Price	$5 USD	$35 USD
Release Date	30 Nov 2015	29 Feb 2016
Core Type	ARM1176JZF-S	Cortex-A53 64 bit
GPU	VideoCore IV	VideoCore IV 1080p@30
CPU Clock	1 GHz	1.2 GHz
RAM	512 MB	1 GB DDR2
No. of cores	1	4
Soc Type	Broadcom BCM2835	Broadcom BCM2837
USB ports	Micro + micro OTG	4x USB 2.0
Provision for Ethernet	No	Yes
HDMI port	Mini port	Yes
Analog Audio Out	HDMI audio	Yes
Analog Video Out	Via unpopulated pin	Shared with audio pin
I2C	Yes	Yes
SPI	Yes	Yes
GPIO	40 pin header with pinout identical to Model A+, B+, 2B	40 pins (IIC, UART, SPI,IIS (audio))
Camera	Yes	Yes
LCD Panel	Yes	No
SD/MMC	Micro SD	Micro SD
Bluetooth	No	4.1 LE
WiFi	No	802.11n
Power Ratings	160 mA	1.34A @ 5V
Power Consumption	160 mA (USB)	350 mA (USB)
Power Sources	microUSB or GPIO	microUSB or GPIO
Width	2.55 in (65 mm)	2.22 in (56.5 mm)
Height	1.18 in (85.6 mm)	3.37 in (85.6 mm)
Depth	0.19685 in (5 mm)	0.66929 in (17 mm)
Weight	0.31746 oz (9 gm)	1.58 oz (45 gm)
LCD Panel	Not Supported	Supported
OS Supported	Linux	Linux, Windows 10 IoT Core, Android Things
Camera Interface	Yes	Yes
Advantages	Largest and most active community Extremely portable Extremely Cheap Easily chargeable Capable of running full HD display at 60FPS Official OS is easy to install If OS is compiled properly, then it is fast	The active and largest community Built-in Wifi Affordable Default OS is great for learning to create software Great legacy gaming support Easy setup Fully functional multimedia center Good GPIO functionality A wide range of OS It can be used as an everyday PC Native Bluetooth Capability Can perform daily operations Good documentation A wide range of apps available Upgrading storage facility
Disadvantages	Difficult to find a seller selling for $5 No Ethernet port Needs Micro-B USB to USB-A converter Only two micro USB ports No built-in storage No built-in WiFi facility	Combined USB and NIC controller GPU and closed source bootloader Slow WiFi No built-in storage Limited onboard NIC facilities GPIO voltage too low for some projects No Analog to digital converter No onboard microphone No Analog to digital converter You cannot easily boot from a USB Power-hungry Lacks mainlined Linux ARM processor

Conclusion

There are many Raspberry products, and choosing the right product as per your need can be a difficult task at times. But this should be done based upon the kind of requirement your project has and the amount of capital you can invest. Raspberry Pi zero can be recommended for users who are thinking of doing some form of embedding in their mini-computer related to low power. Stay tuned to our blogs for more articles like this.

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