The Raspberry Pi 500 is a Pi 5 built into a keyboard. There is no space for an NVMe disk so a fast microSD card makes the best boot option. You can use a USB disk but then you mess up the simplicity of the Pi 5. I suggest using a microSD card for boot then USB disks for those times when you need to plug in big storage.
Plus comparisons to Pi 5 boot options.
Who?
The Raspberry Pi keyboard is a fun colourful device for students and the Pi 5 is fast enough for daily use. The combination in one machine makes sense for those people who do not need fast full size keyboards for gaming or serious typing. Your students cannot slip the Pi 5 into their pocket as it is locked into the keyboard.
Frequent typers will prefer a different keyboard. People using a database will use SSD. Neither are needed for Web browsing or reading email.
When?
Boot options are important when you need speed or flexibility. Booting the Pi 500 from a USB SSD gives you extra speed and the flexibility to boot completely different systems.
A collection of large microSD cards gives you the flexibility to boot anything but not the speed.
A good alternative, when you do not need to boot different operating systems or different releases, is a fast medium size microSD card with projects stored on USB disks. You can boot once, insert the photograph collection USB disk and edit for a while then unplug that and insert your movie collection disk. The operating system and applications stay the same in the booted microSD card.
An A2 64 GB or 128 GB Sandisk Extreme or Extreme Pro microSD card is a good general purpose size when you movies, music, and photographs are off in other storage devices.
Where?
Carrying a keyboard, mouse, Raspberry Pi 5, power supply, and screen into a meeting or training session is painful. Dropping out the Pi 5 because it is already in the keyboard is one simplification.
What about a Pi 5 plus a 1 TB SSD? You can mount a 1, 2, or 4 TB SSD in a case with a Pi 5, making the combination one item to carry. That would equal having the Pi 5 inside the keyboard but still having to lug around a USB disk.
Do you need lots of USB connections? The Pi 500 has just on USB 2 port. A Pi 5 with the official regular keyboard uses only one of the two Pi 5 USB 2 ports for the keyboard. The keyboard provides three USB 2 ports for a mouse, graphics tablet, and USB headphones. There is still a spare USB 2 port in the Pi 5.
Both the Pi 5 and Pi 500 provide two USB 3 ports but the Pi 5 also has the PCIe port for an NVMe SSD, leaving both USB 3 ports open for USB disks.
A big desktop development system based on a Pi 5 offers more flexibility. The Pi 5 offers simplicity and less weight for travel.
Why?
The Pi 500 keyboard is similar to the regular official keyboard, which is above average when compared to most notebook keyboards. Light weight. For tap, tap, tap typers, not novel authors. For storage speed, you need only fast saves of small to medium documents. You are not using Blender to create movies. The keyboard limits the Pi 500 to the 90% of regular students and workers, not specialist areas.
The other 10%, or maybe 5% or 3%, can use the extra speed of a Pi 5 with an NVMe plugged in through the Pi 5 PCIe interface.
Of the 90% using the Pi 500, many need fast boots and fast application loads and fast saving of small files, all of which are available from the fastest microSD cards. The extra cost of the fastest microSD cards, when compared to good reliable but not fast cards, is small compared to the cost of the Pi 500 with power supply, mouse, and HDMI cables.
For something like a classroom, you might fit an extra 10 or 15 minutes into the day using the fastest microSD card and you will keep the students focused.
Way?
The two choices with the Pi 500 are to boot from microSD card or a USB SSD. Both work. You lose the convenience of the Pi 500 "all in one" design when you add an external USB disk for booting. I suggest most users would be better off booting from a fast microSD card then using USB disk storage for things like their photograph collection. Plug in the big storage only when you need it.
Lots of notebooks were released with 128 GB SSDs and needed upgrades. The next round of notebooks had 256 GB SSD and few were expanded. Both sizes are available in fast reliable microSD cards for a reasonable price. Starting at 256 GB, NVMe SSDs in USB 3.1 enclosures come in at a similar cost, depending on what is on sale.
I use a 512 GB microSD card in a mobilephone for storing a big collection of photographs I use as a reference. Writing those huge sets of files to the microSD card is too slow and heats up the card to a point where failure is close. I would not use 512 GB or larger microSD card in a Pi 500 for heavy duty writing every day. I would go back to a 64 GB boot card and a 512 GB USB SSD.
If your classroom full of Pi 500 users need to reference 512 GB or more, use a Pi 5 as a file server for reading over WiFi.
Worth?
My first choice in "value" is the keyboard. For my regular typing, I choose a different keyboard which means using a Pi 5, not a Pi 500. The Pi official keyboard and the Pi 500 keyboard are for other projects where I need a keyboard but am not typing an article or my next book.
Storage speed is important for some of my projects using databases. Databases need SSDs to survive the constant updates. That means a Pi 5 with PCIe, not a Pi 500. Some of those projects can be demonstrated in a Pi 500 using an SSD in a USB 3 enclosure.
Storage size is next. The Pi 500 has two USB 3 ports for all the storage capacity I currently need.
The Pi 5 is now available with 16 GB of memory while the Pi 500 is limited to 8 GB. I have no problems fitting 98% of my projects in 8 GB and most would fit 4 GB.
The Pi 500 fits my requirements for a second and third computer. My Pi 4 is fine for file servers and similar projects needing storage capacity but not speed. I add the odd Pi Zero 2 for small scale monitoring projects like my irrigation project.
What?
This list includes microSD cards, USB flash memory sticks, and SSDs. SSDs are the fastest option and may not make a noticeable different for things like reading the Web or typing code at a Code Club. The comparison is aimed to give you an indication of what you could use in a Pi 500 for different uses. The list is ordered by random write speed, the most important measurements for my projects.
The testing is on an 8 GB Pi 5, the same configuration as in the Pi 500. There are mostly microSD card tests with some USB 3 SSD tests for comparison for those who have disk intensive applications like databases.
I include an example of the Pi 5 booting from NVMe through the Pi 5 PCIe interface as an example for people not yet committed to the Pi 5 or Pi 500.
I will test with the Pi 500 when I have access to one but it will mainly be to see if the keyboard is different to the regular Pi official keyboard.
Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242 DRAM-less M.2 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD model SB-2142-1TB in PCIe 3 adaptor
From July 2024. This is using the official Raspberry Pi PCIe HAT running at the optional PCIe 3 speed instead of the default PCIe 2. The HAT and the small SSD are a good option for small space if you are not reusing a full size SSD.
Sequential write speed 405168 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 451972 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 97814 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 109591 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Samsung SSD 850 EVO mSATA 1TB EMT41B6Q in USB 3 enclosure
From September 2019. mSATA SSDs are limited to SATA speed but SATA III is slightly faster then USB 3 so they make a good match. You may have mSATA SSDs left over from upgrades or junking old notebooks where the keyboard or screen failed. Make sure the USB enclosure has a good USB chip. I look for ASMedia chips. Never JMicron.
This access speed is fast enough for projects with databases. You are stuck with carrying the external disk but can boot up seriously disk heavy applications.
Sequential write speed 351871 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 390676 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 37707 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 33868 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Patriot P300 M.2 PCIe Gen3 x4 256 GB NVMe SSD in USB 3.1 enclosure
From July 2020. PCIe 3 is the fastest speed you can get out of the PCIe interface in a Pi 5 but the Pi 500 does not have the PCIe interface so here we test with USB. The USB enclosure and cable are USB 3.1 Gen 2, 10 Mbps, so do not slow down the response. The USB protocol slows down data transfers by up to 10% when compared to direct PCIe.
NVMe SSDs are have no advantage over mSATA or regular SATA when limited to the USB 3 of a Pi 500. NVMe does have a speed advantage in a Pi 5 if used through the PCIe interface.
Sequential write speed 341778 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 381577 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 34693 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 33098 IOPS (A2 target 4000) – PASS
Samsung Bar Plus USB 3.1 flash drive 128 GB MUF-128BE
From April 2022. This device is solid with a tough metal exterior and passes the A2 write speed test but fails the A2 read test. Plus the device sticks out too far and would be bumped all the time, potentially breaking the Pi 5 USB 3 port.
Sequential write speed 45487 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 332670 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 4832 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 2757 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
Samsung Fit Plus USB 3.1 flash drive 64 GB MUF-64AB
From November 2023. The Samsung Fit is short and would not be bumped easily when in the back of a Pi 500, potentially making this device better than the Samsung Bar.
Sequential write speed 26686 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 255500 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 4037 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 2866 IOPS (A1 target 1500) – PASS
Sandisk Extreme microSDXC A2 V30 U3 UHS-I 128 GB X00174ZMGF
From November 2024. The Sandisk Extreme cards are sometimes slower than the Extreme Pro cards then they catch up until there is a new model Extreme Pro. In the larger capacities, the Extreme is cheaper than the Extreme Pro and on sale more often.
Sequential write speed 75242 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 90083 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 3153 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 5319 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Sandisk Extreme Pro microSDXC A2 V30 UHS-I U3 128 GB SDSQXCD-128G-GN6MA
From January 2025. This is a good workhorse for a Pi 5 running from microSD and will be my selection for the Pi 500. The 128 GB will use about 28 GB for the operating system and applications, leaving 100 GB for creating and editing documents.
Sequential write speed 73470 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 92142 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 3126 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 6069 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Sandisk Extreme A2 V30 U3 microSDXC card 256 GB SDSQXAV-256G-GN6MA
From January 2025. This card has speed comparable to the previous Extreme and Extreme Pro cards plus provides double the capacity for what was at the time, nearly a 40% discount. Just one example of when the Extreme is almost as fast as the Extreme Pro and is discounted more often. For the type of work most people will do on a Pi 500, this card provides the best speed and a bigger capacity than most Pi 500 users will fill up.
At the next size up, 512 GB, there is a big difference in retail price between the Extreme and Extreme Pro without a matching difference in speed.
Sequential write speed 72858 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 92142 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 3057 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 5368 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Sandisk Extreme Pro microSDXC A2 V30 UHS-I card 3224ZCC864MC 128 GB
From May 2024, showing how much slower the card was just eight months earlier. Still A2 but write speeds were lower.
Sequential write speed 18003 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 91022 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 2647 IOPS (A2 target 2000) – PASS
Random read speed 5879 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Sabrent Rocket V30 A2 microSD card 256 GB model SD-MQ30-256
From November 2024. This card is fast for most things but fails the A2 random write test.
Sequential write speed 82539 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 92142 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 1678 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 5972 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
TCELL Masstige A1 UHS-I U3 V30 128GB microSDXC
From November 2023. Economical buy at the time for a Pi 4 but too slow for a Pi 5. The brand disappeared from our shops.
Sequential write speed 42507 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 92728 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 1539 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 4610 IOPS (A2 target 4000) - PASS
Raspberry Pi A2 V30 U3 32 GB microSDHC card 032GF3A55
From February 2025. Supplied with a Pi 500. Better than my old Sandisk Ultra card but not as good as my recent Sandisk Extreme card.
Sequential write speed 33334 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 92044 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 1493 IOPS (target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 4171 IOPS (target 1500) - PASS
Patriot EP Series microSDXC card V30 A1 64 GB PEF64GEP31MCX
From February 2023. Bought for a Pi 4. Too slow for a Pi 5.
Sequential write speed 78322 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 90238 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 1072 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 3648 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
Sandisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I A1 C10 U1 card 64 GB SDSQUA4-064G-GN6MA
From October 2021. This is an acceptable card for a Raspberry Pi 4 but not a Pi 5. The results look similar to the Sandisk Edge card supplied in Raspberry Pi kits.
Sequential write speed 20406 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 92271 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 897 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 2136 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
Sandisk Edge microSDHC A1 U1 C10 16 GB 2154ZV3HW0LV
From October 2023. Tested in both the Pi 5 microSD slot and in a USB 3 adaptor. This card was the official card for the Raspberry Pi 4. For the Pi 5, there is a 32 GB Sandisk Edge A2 card.
microSD slot:
This card fails the A2 test in the microSD card slot.
Sequential write speed 20138 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 90456 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 835 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 2433 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
USB 3.1 adaptor:
This card fails the A2 test in the USB 3 adaptor and is slower than in the microSD card slot.
Sequential write speed 21290 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 94160 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 715 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 1926 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
Sandisk Extreme microSDHC 16 GB UHS-I U3 SDSDQXL-016G-Q46A
From October 2016. Tested in both the Pi 5 microSD slot and in a USB 3 adaptor.
microSD slot:
This card fails the A2 test in the microSD card slot.
Sequential write speed 50325 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 70430 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 956 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 3263 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
USB 3 adaptor:
This card fails the A2 test in the USB 3 adaptor and is slower than in the microSD card slot.
Sequential write speed 52271 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 72037 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 720 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 2804 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
Sandisk Ultra Dual Drive Luxe USB Type-C 64 GB SDDDC4-064G-G46
From January 2023. This is a handy USB stick with both Type A and Type C plugs but, at A1 speed, is too slow for a Pi 5.
Sequential write speed 20172 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 161917 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 662 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 1910 IOPS (A1 target 1500) - PASS
Sandisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0 flash drive 32 GB SDCZ73-032G-G46
Purchased on January 2023. Raspberry Pi 5 speed. The random write speed might work in a Pi 4 but not in a Pi 5. The Pi 5 needs A2 speed, at least three times this A1 speed. Almost every recent alternative has a better random write speed.
Sequential write speed 22249 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Sequential read speed 35041 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 600 IOPS (A1 target 500) – PASS
Random read speed 1178 IOPS (A1 target 1500) – FAIL
Sandisk Cruzer Facet USB 2.0 flash drive 8 GB
From October 2016. Physically tough but not fast. These USB sticks were sold in bulk for school use and are still used for small data transfers were there is one write then lots of reads. Older devices like this could use for backup.
Sequential write speed 4375 KB/sec (target 10000) – FAIL
Sequential read speed 25004 KB/sec (target 10000) – PASS
Random write speed 129 IOPS (A1 target 500) – FAIL
Random read speed 1264 IOPS (A1 target 1500) – FAIL
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