Banana Pi M5
Benchmarks, specifications, and real-world performance data
Tested by Bret Weber Last updated
Geekbench 6
692
multi-core · 245 single-core
Power draw
2.9W load
1.5W idle
Price
$133.00
Performance Summary
At the heart of the Banana Pi M5 sits the Amlogic S905X3, giving this ARM board 4 CPU cores alongside 4GB of memory. In our hands-on testing it scored 692 multi-core and 245 single-core in Geekbench 6, plus 5,582 MIPS in multi-core 7-Zip compression. Raw floating point throughput came in at 9.27 GFLOPS in Linpack. We measured 1.5W idle and 2.9W loaded power consumption.
| Specification | Banana Pi M5 4GB RAM |
|---|---|
| Basic Specifications | |
| Price | $133 |
| RAM | 4GB |
| SoC | |
| Architecture | ARM |
| CPU Cores | 4 cores 4× Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz |
| Hardware Video Decode | None (CPU only) |
Price History
$133.00 at Banana Pi Shop, down from $146.00 on 22 October 2026. Checked daily since 22 September 2026 (34 days). Low $129, high $178.10 in this window.
- AliExpress$178.10
- Official store · Banana Pi Shop$133 In stock
Recent price changes
- 22 October 2026Official store · Banana Pi Shop: $146 → $133, price drop
- 17 October 2026AliExpress: $169.19 → $178.10, price rise
- 13 October 2026AliExpress: $178.10 → $169.19, price drop
- 10 October 2026Official store · Banana Pi Shop: $129 → $146, price rise
- 8 October 2026AliExpress: $169.19 → $178.10, price rise
- 1 October 2026AliExpress: $178.10 → $169.19, price drop
Every figure above comes from hardware run in-house by Bret Weber, on the exact OS build, kernel, firmware and boot device listed here. Boards are tested to a fixed procedure so results stay comparable between them: see our testing methodology for how each benchmark is run.
CPU Performance
Processor performance across single and multi-core workloads
Geekbench 6
Higher Scores are Better
7-Zip Benchmark
Higher Scores are Better
High Performance Linpack
Higher Scores are Better
UnixBench
Higher Scores are Better
CPU Mining (cpuminer-multi)
Higher Hashrates are Better
MAME: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Higher Speed is Better
Memory Performance
Memory bandwidth and throughput benchmarks
GPU Performance
Graphics rendering with OpenGL and Vulkan, plus raw Vulkan compute throughput
AI & LLM Performance
Large Language Model inference performance
Ollama LLM Benchmark
Higher Scores are Better
Storage Performance
Disk I/O throughput measured with FIO
fio Storage Performance - microSD
Higher Speeds are Better • Raspberry Pi 64GB (64GB microSD)
fio Storage Performance - eMMC
Higher Speeds are Better • Banana Pi M5 (16GB eMMC)
Network Performance
Ethernet and WiFi throughput measured with iPerf3
iPerf3 Network Performance
Higher Speeds are Better
Media & Video
Jellyfin transcoding and FFmpeg video decode and convert speed
Jellyfin Transcoding
Simultaneous real-time streams, more is better
2 more scenarios and the CPU and hardware stream counts are in the benchmark table · every board ranked
Video Decoding
Software decoding on the CPU, higher fps is better
8 more workloads and the hardware decode speeds are in the benchmark table · every board ranked
Power & Thermal
Power consumption at idle and under various workloads
Power Consumption
Lower is "Better"
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast is the Banana Pi M5?
In our testing the Banana Pi M5 scored 692 in Geekbench 6 multi-core and 245 in single-core, with 5,582 MIPS in multi-core 7-Zip compression.
How much power does the Banana Pi M5 use?
We measured the Banana Pi M5 drawing 1.5W at idle and 2.9W under sustained CPU load.
How much does the Banana Pi M5 cost?
The Banana Pi M5 sells for $133 at the official store (Banana Pi Shop) as of 25 October 2026 for the 4GB RAM configuration. Since we began tracking it on 22 September 2026 the price has ranged from $129 to $178.10. Prices are in USD before tax and shipping.
See how the Banana Pi M5 stacks up against another board, side by side.