Best of Raspberry Pi — January 2026

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   Article

   Jeff Geerling·14w

   Raspberry Pi is cheaper than a Mini PC again (that's not good)

   Raspberry Pi 5 and N100 Mini PCs have both increased in price due to RAM shortages, now costing around $247 for comparable configurations (16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe). A year ago, the Mini PC was $159 and the Pi 5 was $208. The author suggests 2026 will focus on repurposing used hardware and finding value in lower-spec options like the 1GB Pi 5 model under $50 or Pi Zero 2W at $15, as memory prices are unlikely to drop soon due to AI demand.

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   Article

   Hackaday·11w

   Pi Compute Module Powers Fully Open Smartphone

   The Spirit smartphone project uses a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 as its core processor, combined with off-the-shelf components including a 5.5" LCD display, a Quectel EG25-GL LTE/GPS module for cellular connectivity, and a 3D-printable enclosure. The design emphasizes modularity with swappable components like the display, camera, and compute module. While the carrier board and enclosure designs are still evolving, the project aims to create a fully open-source smartphone using readily available hardware modules, with active community development ongoing.

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   Article

   omg! ubuntu!·12w

   Will Intel’s Core 3 Replicate the N100’s Budget Mini-PC Success?

   Intel's upcoming Core 3 (Wildcat Lake) chips aim to succeed the popular N100 processor in the budget computing market. Built on Intel's 18A process node, the Core 3 features a hybrid six-core design (2 P-cores, 4 E-cores), LPDDR5X-6800 memory support, and improved thermal management. While offering better performance than the N100, the Core 3's success will depend on pricing—the N100 became popular not just for adequate performance, but for exceptional value, powering mini-PCs and single-board computers at prices as low as $60. Intel hasn't announced pricing or a firm release date beyond "expected in 2026." Linux support is already in development with kernel 6.18, Mesa 25.3, and GCC 16 optimizations.

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   Article

   Hackaday·11w

   SSH Over USB On A Raspberry Pi

   Raspberry Pi OS now includes a package for SSH over USB using gadget mode, simplifying headless Pi setup. The rpi-usb-gadget package allows a Raspberry Pi to present itself as a network adapter when plugged into a host machine via USB, enabling direct SSH access without Wi-Fi configuration. The feature can be enabled through Raspberry Pi Imager, though Windows users need an additional driver for Internet Connection Sharing. This approach eliminates common headless setup frustrations like Wi-Fi configuration issues.

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