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Banana Pi BPI-M5 vs Sipeed Lichee RV: Comparison
Banana Pi BPI-M5 and Sipeed Lichee RV differ on cpu architecture: Banana Pi BPI-M5 at ARM, Sipeed Lichee RV at RISC-V. They match on has ai accelerator / npu and gpio header. On price, Sipeed Lichee RV sits at $9.00 against $65.00 for Banana Pi BPI-M5.
Specs
| Specification | ![]() | ![]() |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Banana Pi | Sipeed |
| CPU Architecture | ARM | RISC-V |
| Memory | 4 | 64MB or 256MB onboard DDR2 |
| Storage Type | eMMC | microSD |
| Has AI Accelerator / NPU | false | false |
| Wireless | WiFi 5 | None (Ethernet only) |
| GPIO Header | true | true |
| Price | 65 | $9 |
| Use Case | General Purpose | Ultra-Compact / Budget |
| Model | BPI-M5 | Lichee RV |
| Processor | Amlogic S905X3, Quad-Core Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz | Single-Core XuanTie C906 up to 1GHz |
| GPU | Mali-G31 MP2 | None (integrated video decode only) |
Price comparison
| Retailer | Banana Pi BPI-M5 | Sipeed Lichee RV |
|---|---|---|
| Consumercarts listing | $65.00 View on Consumercarts listing | $9.00 View on Consumercarts listing |
Disclaimer: The price and specification of the given product may differ from the actual product. Please confirm on the retailer's website before buying.
Verdict
Banana Pi BPI-M5
6.9 / 10 Expert Rating
A solid, GPIO-compatible Pi alternative for media and general tinkering, though the driver ecosystem needs more patience than the official Raspberry Pi line.
Sipeed Lichee RV
6.5 / 10 Expert Rating
Not a general-purpose computer, but an excellent teaching and embedded-Linux tool at an unbeatable price.




