I used to run Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. The experience was absolutely fine; for a couple of years, it ran my smart home without too many major problems. When I finally upgraded to a mini PC, there were some notable differences.
No more microSD stress
An SSD that's built in
Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
One of the biggest problems with running software on a Raspberry Pi is that the default storage is a microSD card. While this is a simple way to add storage to a small single-board computer, microSD cards were never intended to be used this way . They were built for occasional reading and writing, rather than the constant reading and writing that happens when you're running software such as Home Assistant.
For many people, this has caused microSD cards to fail , with all of the data lost unless it has been backed up elsewhere. I was lucky enough that this never happened to me when I was running Home Assistant, but I eventually moved to running everything on an external SSD.
With a mini PC , microSD failure isn't an issue. My Beelink Mini S12 Pro came with a 512GB SSD, and there's a secondary 2.5-inch bay to add another SSD or HDD. I no longer have to worry about my microSD card failing or having an external drive hanging out the back of my Raspberry Pi.
The power draw isn't much higher
A mini PC doesn't cost much more to run
Bertel King / How-To Geek
One of the selling points of a Raspberry Pi is that it's a low-power device that you can leave running 24/7 without it using a lot of power. I wondered if switching to a mini PC would make a significant difference to the amount of power that I was using.
The reality is that there's not a huge difference between the two devices. My Raspberry Pi draws about 3W when idling, but my mini PC only draws about 7W. Under typical load, the Raspberry Pi can hit about 5W, while the mini PC is around 15W. Using ballpark figures, it's costing me about $10 more per year to run the mini PC rather than the Raspberry Pi, which is not a huge amount.
Transcoding is a game-changer
Intel QuickSync for the win
Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek
My mini PC is powered by an Intel Processor N100. This is much more capable than the Broadcom chips found in Raspberry Pis, so everything feels much zippier on the mini PC.
One of the biggest upgrades is the fact that the N100 supports Intel QuickSync . This is a dedicated hardware engine for video encoding and decoding. In comparison, the Raspberry Pi has to use its general-purpose CPU to process video, which can be a serious struggle.
This makes the mini PC much better for transcoding . When you run media streaming software such as Plex , the format of your video files may not match the format required by the device that you're streaming to. The video needs to be transcoded to a suitable format, which is an intensive process.
My Raspberry Pi couldn't even handle a single 1080p transcode. Thanks to QuickSync, my mini PC can handle two simultaneous 4K streams without breaking a sweat.
Built-in cooling means less throttling
No need for additional purchases
Sydney Louw Butler/How-To Geek
One major issue with a Raspberry Pi is that out of the box, it relies solely on passive cooling. The chip radiates heat into the air, which is fine when it's not under heavy load, but as soon as the CPU is put under stress, it heats up faster than the air can carry it away. Once the chip gets too hot, the Pi slows itself down, throttling performance to prevent the chip from overheating.
In order to counteract this, you'll need to add additional cooling to your Raspberry Pi , such as heatsink pads or a fan. These are all additional costs that eat into the low-price benefits of using a Raspberry Pi.
Most mini PCs don't rely solely on passive cooling; they usually include some kind of active cooling, too. My mini PC has a fan that sits on top of the heatsink that covers the processor. There's also a thermal pad that presses against the SSD, stopping the drive from overheating.
A mini PC will still start throttling if it gets too hot, but it can run under a much heavier load than a Raspberry Pi before this kicks in. That said, it's not perfect; I've had occasional issues with my mini PC getting too hot, but only when running far more than the Raspberry Pi could handle.
Expandability is king
You can add more to a mini PC
Another major benefit of the mini PC is that it's more easily expandable. A Raspberry Pi is capped at the amount of RAM that comes with it when you buy it. I have 1GB of RAM on my Pi , and I can't add more or swap out the RAM for a larger module. If I want more RAM, the only option is to buy a new Pi.
Many mini PCs let you swap the RAM out for an instant upgrade. My mini PC came with 16GB of RAM, which is the maximum that is officially supported, but some users have upgraded to 32GB with no issues.
It's often also possible to add more internal storage to your mini PC. My Beelink Mini S12 Pro has an additional 2.5-inch slot so I can add another drive if necessary, using the fast internal SSD for the OS and a cheaper SATA drive for storing movies or files. None of this requires using external drives, as it would with a Raspberry Pi.
The Raspberry Pi still has its place
That's not to say that a Raspberry Pi doesn't have its place. It's smaller than a mini PC, a little more efficient to run, and is ideal for DIY projects. There are plenty of ways to repurpose one for Home Assistant , for example, if you're no longer using it as your main server.
