The ODROID-C4 is a next-generation single-board computer that is more energy-efficient and powerful than the ODROID-C2, which was introduced over four years ago as the world's first affordable ARM 64-bit computer. The main CPU of the ODROID-C4 consists of a quad-core Cortex-A55 cluster with a next-generation Mali-G31 GPU. The A55 cores operate at 2.0 GHz without thermal throttling when using the standard heatsink, allowing for a robust and quiet computer. The CPU multicore performance is approximately 40% faster, and the system's DRAM performance is 50% faster than that of the ODROID-C2.

The GPU performance of the Mali-G31 runs at 650 MHz and is about 50% faster than the Mali-450MP in the ODROID-C2. The Mali-G31 is the first generation of Arm's Bifrost-based mainstream GPU. The ODROID-C4 DDR4 RAM operates at 1320 MHz, and the memory bandwidth is 1.6 times higher than that of the ODROID-C2.

The sequential read and write speeds of the eMMC storage exceed 165 MB/s and 125 MB/s, respectively. With properly implemented dynamic UHS voltage scaling, the sequential read and write speeds of the Micro-SD UHS are over 70 MB/s and 50 MB/s, respectively.

The ARMv8 architecture supports hardware-accelerated crypto extensions for building a secure system. As expected, we observed very decent OpenSSL performance with the ODROID-C4.

The GPIO interface of the ODROID-C4 is similar to that of the C2 and supports a 3.3-volt interface. This is advantageous for using various peripherals without complicated level shifters, unlike the 1.8-volt GPIOs of the XU4. Another significant improvement is the faster SPI bus interface with a maximum frequency of about 100 MHz, which is considerably faster than the 400 kHz software bit-banged SPI of the ODROID-C2.