ODROID-C1 - review and comparison with RPi


    Good day, dear Khabrovites and just random guests.
    In this post I did a short review of the new ODROID-C1 mini-computer compared to the Raspberry Pi when using both devices as a set-top box / media server for the home. The article is intended for connoisseurs of Raspberry Pi or other similar platforms.


    Raspberry pi


    A few words about RPi, which I have been using for more than a year as a home media center / TV set-top box.
    The work of the media server is provided by the linux assembly OpenELEC - one of the most popular media centers out of the box for rasp.
    The tasks that the device performs for me personally:
    - watching IPTV
    - watching movies from the local network (from PC) and from the USB HDD
    - playing music
    - watching photos
    - controlling the device via the TV’s remote control (HDMI CEC) or your own

    The Achilles heel of this solution is insufficient performance to watch Full HD IPTV channels that are gaining popularity (Travel HD, Discovery, local channels). After 5-10 seconds, such a channel starts to slow down, the picture crumbles, and then disappears altogether. Also, the Kodi interface (formerly XBMC) noticeably slows down.
    In this regard, I periodically review competitive platforms. Solutions like TV boxes do not appeal to me very much for various reasons.

    ODROID-C1


    In December 2014, the South Korean company HardKernel introduced its new ODROID-C1 platform, which is close to RPi in price, form factor and functionality. The cost of the computer is $ 35 as well as RPi. Power is several times higher. Without hesitation, I purchased this device and already, I will tell you a secret, I replaced my home RPi with C1. True, there were some pitfalls and tar on the fly, but could not resist such an increase in productivity. From my point of view, the device is still pretty crude in terms of software, but it is already able to compete.




    Comparison


    I chose ODROID-C1 to replace the RPi, because its price niche is the same - $ 35, the form factor is the same, passive cooling, but the power is much higher - about 2-4 times, and according to the tests below ...
    Also great assortimen peripherals / accessories for the ODROID line. For example: camera, wi-fi module, screen, dev console and more. All that you need can be ordered immediately in one package.

    Table 1. Comparison of RPi and ODROID-C1.
    ParameterRPi B +C1
    release dateJuly 2014December 2014
    CPUBCM2835 700MHz ARMv6 40nm
    Single Core ARM1176JZ-F Applications Processor
    Amlogic S805 1.5GHz ARMv7 28nm
    Quad Core Cortex ™ -A5
    Video processorDual Core VideoCore IV® 250MHz
    1080p
    H.264 decode / encode

    OpenGL, ES 1.1 / 2.0
    Quad Core Mali-450 600MHz
    1080p
    H.264 decode / encode
    H.265 decode
    OpenGL, ES 1.1 / 2.0
    Memory512MB DDR2 400MHz1GB DDR3 792MHz
    External memory (connectors)micro SDmicroSD
    eMMC
    USB ports4 x USB 2.0
    micro USB
    4 x USB 2.0
    micro USB
    USB OTG
    Camera portMIPI CSI 1080pUSB 720p
    Ethernet10/10010/100/1000
    GPIO40pin port (GPIO / UART / SPI / I2C / I2S)40pin port (GPIO / UART / SPI / I2C / ADC)
    IR portno (you can connect the sensor via GPIO)there is on the board
    ADCnot10bit SAR 2 channels
    Softwarea lot (OpenELEC, RaspBMC and others)Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Android KitKat
    Price35 $35 $
    Advantages- there is an audio output
    - there is a composite video output
    - a stable proven platform with a large community
    - a lot of ready-made software with disk images (OpenELEC, RaspBMC etc)
    - more powerful processor
    - more memory
    - H265 decoding
    - 1Gbit ethernet
    - eMMC slot
    - IR receiver on the board
    - many accessories / peripherals on the off site
    - promising
    disadvantages - insufficient processor power- micro HDMI cable is more expensive than HDMI
    - there are no drivers for HDMI CEC yet
    - there are problems with software (drivers)
    - there is little software for images (only official assemblies)

    This table highlights the comparison of devices in the context of a media center. Undoubtedly, in another application, RPi would be preferable to C1.

    Testing both platforms with Unix-Bench
    shows that C1 is 6 times faster.


    I / O operations


    Real test dd if / of
    dd if = / dev / zero of = / dev / null & pid = $!
    kill -USR1 $ pid; sleep 1; kill $ pid

    8395845 + 0 records in
    8395845 + 0 records out
    4298672640 bytes (4.3 GB) copied, 17.3226 s, 248 MB / s

    To summarize. Undoubtedly, ODROID-C1 is still a fairly crude product and has its drawbacks. At the moment, HDMI CEC does not work in ubuntu stock images, there are problems with some micro SD cards. But as a media center, the device is already quite ready to replace the RPi, which I did. The speed of operation is significantly higher - 2-4 times. Channel switching takes place in 2-3 seconds, buffering is much faster, the Kodi interface itself is faster, updating the EPG is several times faster.

    Kodi Media Center Setup


    If you decide to use C1 as a media server, you will need to do a little work with your hands, for example, to configure the remote control. Also a couple of tips on choosing an SD card, software assembly.

    To get started, you should choose a micro SD card. The SanDisk 10 class UHS-I is best suited for this. My device works on a
    Transcend 16GB class 10 UHS-I card . Some cards have loading problems.

    The next step is downloading the image of Ubuntu 14.04 from the official site.
    We write the image to the SD card and start the device.
    Kodi is already installed in the stock build of Ubuntu, so right away we can start viewing records, music and photos.

    To connect the remote control, you will need a little handicap to set the correspondence of the remote control buttons to the codes of the keyboard buttons in Linux.
    http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=112&t=8062&p=62862&hilit=ir+remote#p62599

    If you have IPTV, and it is provided by almost every Internet operator, then you need to build a PVR addon for Kodi.
    You can download the add-on sources here: https://github.com/opdenkamp/xbmc-pvr-addons . Assembly should not be a problem. Github describes the steps.

    If you have questions, read the official forum.odroid.com forum, there is a lot of information.
    All the best!

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