Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Orange Pi VS Pop!_OS

Compare Orange Pi VS Pop!_OS and see what are their differences

Orange Pi logo Orange Pi

It’s an open-source single-board computer. It can run Android 4.

Pop!_OS logo Pop!_OS

A developer-focused minimalist Linux distro from System 76
  • Orange Pi Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-09-15
  • Pop!_OS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-01

Orange Pi features and specs

  • Affordability
    Orange Pi boards are generally less expensive than many other single-board computers, making them an economical choice for budget-conscious projects.
  • Variety of Models
    Orange Pi offers a wide range of models with various specifications and features, allowing users to choose a board that best suits their specific needs and performance requirements.
  • Open Source
    The Orange Pi platform embraces open-source principles, providing access to source code and schematics, which benefits developers looking to customize or understand their hardware deeply.
  • Decent Performance
    Many Orange Pi models come equipped with robust processors and adequate memory, offering reasonable computational power for different applications, such as media centers and home automation projects.
  • Connectivity Options
    Orange Pi boards often include a variety of I/O options, such as USB, HDMI, Ethernet, and GPIO pins, enabling versatile connectivity for peripherals and external components.

Possible disadvantages of Orange Pi

  • Limited Community Support
    Compared to Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi has a smaller user community, which can result in less communal support, fewer tutorials, and limited third-party resources.
  • Software Compatibility
    Orange Pi boards may face issues with software compatibility, including less polished operating systems and drivers, which can lead to challenges in running some applications smoothly.
  • Inconsistent Documentation
    The documentation for Orange Pi can sometimes be incomplete or not well-maintained, making it difficult for users to find answers or troubleshoot problems effectively.
  • Overheating Concerns
    Certain Orange Pi models are prone to overheating under heavy load, necessitating additional cooling solutions to maintain optimal performance and prevent damage.
  • Build Quality Variability
    There can be variations in the build quality of Orange Pi boards compared to more established brands, which might affect the longevity and reliability of the hardware.

Pop!_OS features and specs

  • Optimized for Productivity
    Pop!_OS is built with various features oriented towards productivity, such as a customized GNOME desktop environment that includes tiling window management and keyboard shortcuts.
  • User-Friendly Installation
    The installation process for Pop!_OS is straightforward and user-friendly, making it accessible for both beginners and advanced users.
  • Hardware Compatibility
    Pop!_OS is developed by System76, a hardware manufacturer, ensuring excellent support and compatibility with a wide range of hardware, particularly their own computers.
  • Regular Updates
    The operating system receives regular updates, ensuring that users have access to the latest features, security patches, and improvements.
  • Pre-installed NVIDIA Drivers
    Pop!_OS offers a version with pre-installed NVIDIA drivers, which simplifies the setup process for users with NVIDIA graphics cards.

Possible disadvantages of Pop!_OS

  • Limited Community Support
    While Pop!_OS has a growing community, it is still relatively small compared to more established distributions like Ubuntu or Fedora, which might make finding solutions to specific issues more difficult.
  • Resource Intensive
    Pop!_OS's GNOME-based desktop environment can be more resource-intensive compared to other lightweight desktop environments, which might not be ideal for older hardware.
  • Default GNOME Environment
    Some users may prefer other desktop environments over GNOME, and while it's possible to install them on Pop!_OS, it doesn’t come with this flexibility out of the box.
  • Designed for System76 Hardware
    Although it works well on various hardware, Pop!_OS is primarily developed for System76 devices, which might lead to some optimizations not being as effective on non-System76 hardware.
  • Learning Curve for New Users
    New users coming from Windows or macOS might find certain aspects of Pop!_OS different and challenging, such as the tiling window manager and keyboard-driven workflow.

Analysis of Pop!_OS

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Pop!_OS is highly regarded in the Linux community, praised for its ease of use, especially for individuals who need good hardware support out of the box, such as developers and gamers. However, as with any Linux distribution, user preference plays a big role, and trying it out is the best way to see if it meets your needs.

Why this product is good

  • Pop!_OS is a popular Linux distribution developed by System76. It is designed to provide a clean, efficient, and user-friendly desktop experience. Its strong points include excellent support for NVIDIA GPUs, a customized GNOME desktop environment with added features, and the Pop!_Shop for easy application management. It's also noted for its focus on privacy and security, alongside seamless updates and system performance.

Recommended for

  • Developers seeking a stable and customizable platform
  • Gamers needing reliable GPU support
  • Users new to Linux looking for a smooth and straightforward experience
  • Individuals concerned with system privacy and security

Orange Pi videos

Orange Pi 3

More videos:

  • Review - #080 Orange Pi Zero: Better than the Raspberry Pi Zero? // Review
  • Review - Raspberry Pi 2 VS Orange Pi 2 VS BPi-M2

Pop!_OS videos

Pop!_OS Is Even Better With 19.10 (Full Review)

More videos:

  • Review - Moving In - Pop!_OS 19.04 Review
  • Review - Using Pop!_OS 19.10 ep. 1 - Intro, Installation, Desktop and Gaming Prep

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Orange Pi and Pop!_OS)
Operating Systems
6 6%
94% 94
Linux
0 0%
100% 100
Electronics
100 100%
0% 0
System & Hardware
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Orange Pi and Pop!_OS

Orange Pi Reviews

We have no reviews of Orange Pi yet.
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Pop!_OS Reviews

10 Most Popular Linux Distros of the Year 2023
Although Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu, it is still able to make its unique place among Dekstop users because of its fast performance, with a customized GNOME desktop environment to provide a polished interface and out-of-the-box installed software & drivers. The US hardware distributor System76 developers behind the Pop!_OS also offers Laptops and desktops with pre-installed...
12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use
Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu and uses the COSMIC desktop environment, which is Pop!_OS’ homemade desktop environment based on GNOME. However, unlike GNOME, it’s a lot cleaner and has got a few neat tricks up its sleeve, like the keyboard shortcuts, which makes Pop!_OS one of the cleanest Linux systems. Overall, Pop!_OS is a great option for budding creators as well as folks...
Source: beebom.com
The best Linux distributions (operating systems)
Pop!_OS has been developed by System76 and is based on Ubuntu. The operating system offers GPU support for AMD and Nvidia as well as their programming interface CUDA. Pop!_OS has a high-quality desktop environment and offers a tiling function that benefits gamers.
Source: www.ionos.com
7 Best Rufus Alternatives To Create Bootable USB In 2022
Popsicle is a USB flasher shipped with Pop!_OS, one of the most popular Linux distributions. One of the best features of the tool is that it allows you to flash an ISO to multiple USB devices simultaneously.
Source: fossbytes.com
13 Best Linux distros for gaming in 2022
The Pop!_OS distro by hardware vendor System76 is one of the best options for gamers who want to assemble their own gaming installation.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Pop!_OS seems to be a lot more popular than Orange Pi. While we know about 456 links to Pop!_OS, we've tracked only 7 mentions of Orange Pi. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Orange Pi mentions (7)

  • Official Opi 5+ Ubuntu Jammy does bootloops on my desktop.
    Install a fresh copy of Ubuntu Jammy 1.0.8 from the official listing of downloads on the orangepi.org website. Source: over 1 year ago
  • thoughts on Orangepi 3B as a music player (feeding a dac)
    - how's the quality of the debian images offered by orangepi.org? Source: over 1 year ago
  • Orange Pi Zero 2 doesn't boot from SD card anymore.
    Is there a way to force the OPi Zero 2 to boot from a SD? Now it is only booting to the emmc:s crappy android that is worthless. I used to have Armbian for Octoprint on this board on a SD card but it kept shutting down without logging any reason and destroying the prints so I just put it in a drawer. Now after half a year I decided to see if I could run it with a Linux like Armbian, Ubuntu or Debian (tried them... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Request for "Orange Pi OS (Droid) Beta" (Chinese) Img File for NVMe on OP5
    I am asking that a kind soul who has a copy of the referenced file to please upload it (or multiple different revisions) and provide a link for me. The current version of the (English) beta img file for NVMe located on GDrive from orangepi.org is corrupted and I have tried 3 or 4 different methods to flash the img file onto an NVMe SSD, in either Ubuntu or Windows, but to no avail. I would greatly appreciate the... Source: over 2 years ago
  • OrangePi4 LTS in text only mode
    - Download boot image from orangepi.org. Source: over 2 years ago
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Pop!_OS mentions (456)

  • Part 1: Getting Started With Linux
    To start using Linux, I personally would recommend going with Pop!_OS. You got a few options here: either you can run it on a VM or install it on Bare Metal. Don't worry, I got you covered—you can use any one of the following methods:. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • The Future Is Niri
    Did you see Pop OS? https://pop.system76.com/ They follow ubuntu releases, kind of. The downside, they went all in into their new desktop env - cosmic, and until they release it they won't move on from 20.04.. I really loved the tiling feature in PopOS 20.04 which came out of the box. But then I bought a new laptop, and had to move to arch to use it.. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Apple's Software Quality Crisis: When Premium Hardware Meets Subpar Software
    Please try a distro [0] maintained by a company making their own Linux laptops. [0] https://pop.system76.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Perl 🐪 Weekly #707 - Is it ethical?
    What is Pop!_OS? Sounds like the name of one of the kids of Elon Musk. But no. It is apparently an Ubuntu-based Linux operating system for STEM and creative professionals. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Malibal and Coreboot Have a Disagreement
    > We no longer ship to Colorado due to the actions of System76's Principal Engineer (https://www.system76.com), Pop_OS! Maintainer (https://pop.system76.com), and Redox OS BDFL (https://www.redox-os.org) named Jeremy Soller (https://soller.dev). Source: https://portal.malibal.com/kb/a1064/why-dont-you-ship-to-colorado/ Err, what? I really can't follow the logic here. What does some dude have to do with Colorado. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Orange Pi and Pop!_OS, you can also consider the following products

Raspberry Pi - The Raspberry Pi is a tiny and affordable computer that you can use to learn programming through fun, practical projects. Join the global Raspberry Pi community.

Linux Mint - Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.

Banana Pi - Banana Pi is a single-board computer made in China. It can run Android, Ubuntu and Debian.

Manjaro - Manjaro Linux is a linux distribution which is based on arch linux. It uses the PACMAN package manager.

OLinuXino - Open Source Software and Open Source Hardware, low cost Linux Industrial grade single board...

Ubuntu - Ubuntu is a Debian Linux-based open source operating system for desktop computers.