LeMaker Board Comparison Guide
Summary
Choosing the right single-board computer depends on your project's requirements for processing power, connectivity, storage, and software support. This guide provides a side-by-side comparison of the four main boards in the LeMaker family — Banana Pi, Banana Pro, Guitar, and HiKey — so you can make an informed decision before purchasing or starting development.
Who This Is For
Developers, educators, and hobbyists evaluating LeMaker boards for a new project. If you already own a board and need setup instructions, visit the product-specific overview page linked at the bottom of this guide.
Board Summaries
Banana Pi
The Banana Pi is built on the Allwinner A20 dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 SoC clocked at 1 GHz. It includes 1 GB DDR3 RAM, a SATA 2.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output, and a 40-pin GPIO header. Storage is via a full-size SD card slot. The onboard SATA port makes it a popular choice for NAS and file-server applications. It does not include onboard WiFi.
Banana Pro
The Banana Pro shares the Allwinner A20 SoC and 1 GB RAM with the Banana Pi but adds onboard 802.11 b/g/n WiFi via an AP6210 module. It uses a microSD slot instead of full-size SD, includes SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, and a 40-pin GPIO header. The built-in WiFi makes it well-suited for wireless IoT gateways and portable projects.
Guitar
The Guitar uses the Actions Semi S500 quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC at 1.1 GHz with a PowerVR SGX544 GPU. It is available in 1 GB or 2 GB DDR3 configurations. Connectivity includes four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI 1.4a (up to 4K @ 30 fps), 10/100 Ethernet, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a 40-pin GPIO header. There is no SATA port and no onboard WiFi. The GPU and 4K video output make it a capable media-player platform.
HiKey (960)
The HiKey 960 is the highest-performance board in the LeMaker ecosystem. It features the HiSilicon Kirin 620 octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 SoC, 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM, 8 GB eMMC storage, dual-band WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.1, HDMI 1.4, and a 40-pin low-speed expansion header following the 96Boards CE specification. It is designed for Android and Linux development and is the reference platform for several Linaro projects.
Comparison Table
| Feature | Banana Pi | Banana Pro | Guitar | HiKey 960 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoC | Allwinner A20 | Allwinner A20 | Actions S500 | Kirin 620 |
| CPU Cores | 2 × Cortex-A7 | 2 × Cortex-A7 | 4 × Cortex-A9 | 8 × Cortex-A53 |
| Clock Speed | 1.0 GHz | 1.0 GHz | 1.1 GHz | 1.2 GHz |
| RAM | 1 GB DDR3 | 1 GB DDR3 | 1/2 GB DDR3 | 2 GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | SD, SATA | microSD, SATA | microSD, eMMC | 8 GB eMMC, microSD |
| Ethernet | Gigabit | Gigabit | 10/100 | None (USB adapter) |
| WiFi | No | 802.11 b/g/n | No | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | No | BT 4.0 | No | BT 4.1 |
| HDMI | 1080p | 1080p | 4K @ 30 fps | 1080p |
| USB | 2 × USB 2.0 | 2 × USB 2.0 | 4 × USB 2.0 | 2 × USB 2.0 |
| GPIO | 40-pin | 40-pin | 40-pin | 40-pin (96Boards LS) |
Use-Case Recommendations
- Home server or NAS: Banana Pi — Gigabit Ethernet and onboard SATA provide the best storage throughput.
- Wireless IoT gateway: Banana Pro — onboard WiFi eliminates the need for a USB adapter and simplifies enclosure design.
- Media player or kiosk display: Guitar — 4K HDMI output and a dedicated GPU handle video playback smoothly.
- Android / Linux development platform: HiKey 960 — the most powerful CPU, eMMC storage, and broad Linaro/AOSP support.
- Education and learning: Banana Pi or Banana Pro — extensive community documentation and affordable pricing make them ideal for classroom use.
FAQ
- Can I run the same OS image on all boards? No. Each board requires an image built for its specific SoC. Always download the image matching your board model.
- Which board has the best mainline Linux support? The Banana Pi and Banana Pro benefit from upstream Allwinner support in the mainline kernel. The Guitar and HiKey rely more on vendor kernels.
- Do all boards use the same power supply? All four accept 5 V input, but connector type and current requirements vary. Check the specification page for your board.
Related Guides
Author: LeMaker Documentation Team
Last updated: 2026-02-10