Raspberry Pi 400: $70 keyboard computer revives cheap PC era

Raspberry Pi 400: The $70 keyboard PC aims to recreate the Spectrum era

Seventy dollars. At this price point, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has integrated a full computer into a keyboard, eliminating towers, loose cables, and assembly. The Raspberry Pi 400 presents itself as the acknowledged successor to the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Atari 800XL that defined a generation in the eighties, but now powered by ARM architecture, four gigabytes of RAM, and dual micro HDMI ports for 4K displays. The proposition is so simple it feels almost insulting: buy the keyboard, plug in a monitor, and you have a desktop. What the marketing materials gloss over is that at this price, almost everything else is missing, which is where the controversy begins.

What’s inside the Raspberry Pi 400

Its foundation is identical to the Raspberry Pi 4: a Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with four Cortex A72 cores, here overclocked from 1.5 to 1.8 GHz. It includes four gigabytes of LPDDR4 memory, Ethernet, Bluetooth 5, and dual-band Wi-Fi operating at 2.4 and 5 GHz. It retains the four USB ports (two 3.0 and two 2.0), the USB Type-C power connector, the 40-pin GPIO header, the 3.5 mm audio jack, and the two micro HDMI outputs. The cooling system is passive, ensuring no noisy fans.

Compared to the Pi 3 B+, the leap is impressive: Cortex-A72 processors versus Cortex-A53, VideoCore VI graphics running at 500 MHz against VideoCore IV at 250-400 MHz, and four gigabytes of LPDDR4 versus just one of LPDDR2. H.265 decoding enables 4K video playback at 60 frames per second. All of this fits within the thickness of a compact keyboard, which is precisely the product's core argument.

The $100 kit and its true cost in Spain

The official price is $70, but the complete kit rises to $100: it includes a mouse, USB-C power supply, pre-installed SD card, micro HDMI cable, and a beginner's guide. The rollout is staggered: first editions for the UK, France, and the US, trinc by Spanish, German, and Italian versions, and finally India, Australia, and New Zealand later in the year.

In Spain, the figures differ. According to user-reported pricing, the kit costs around €107.39, or alternatively €75 plus €8 for a power supply with free shipping, as reported by those who already own one and prefer assembling it themselves. This price range is not a minor detail when the primary selling point is affordability.

Why a keyboard-computer instead of a €200 laptop?

This is where the debate heats up. The most common argument concerns space: a laptop occupies the entire desk and requires clearing it whenever studying with paper notes or typing documents, whereas this device leaves the desk clear and only needs a monitor in the background. Anyone who has tried typing next to an open textbook knows exactly what this means.

Competitor prices are tight. As discussed in forums, x86_64 Intel or AMD systems can be found for €130-150, excluding ARM variables. A Celeron-based NUC costs around $140, plus $40 for memory and storage, according to another participant. And a €200 laptop comes with a screen, battery, and storage included—three things paid separately here. The counter-argument, from someone who bought an expensive model and grew frustrated, is that after a year, laptops get filled with crumbs and performance plummets.

There is also a cheaper path without going through this route: a standard Raspberry Pi for about €30, a 3.5-inch touchscreen for €9, and a USB keyboard for €7 bring the total to around €50. The objection is that this involves three separate devices and a nest of cables, exactly what the Pi 400 aims to eliminate.

The drawbacks: ARM, SD cards, and inadequate Wi-Fi

Software remains the open front. Raspberry Pi OS is Debian-based Linux, and Ubuntu or Windows 10 IoT Core also run, but many programs simply do not exist for ARM. This is not a crisis for office work and browsing; it becomes problematic when specific tools are required. Those upgrading from a Pi 3 also found the device struggled with HEVC-encoded movies.

Daily use reveals more cracks. The Wi-Fi antenna's performance forces some users to rely on Ethernet cables, and the microSD card becomes the bottleneck: some claim 100 MB/s speeds but crawl during system updates, occasionally causing corruption. In contrast, cards advertising 170 MB/s for €15 and 64 GB significantly improve the experience.

From GPIO to parents' PC: uses that justify the purchase

The GPIO connector truly distinguishes this family from any laptop: relays, sensors, electronics, and IoT projects running 24 hours with negligible power consumption on highly stable operating systems. Beyond that, the list is long: programming, multimedia center with Kodi, anonymous TOR router, classic console emulation, and even supercomputer bases.

One case illustrates better than any brochure who benefits from this. Replacing the old, sluggish computer at your parents' house, which they only use for banking, watching videos, and browsing. If Linux handles banking websites and shortcuts are labeled "browse," "videos," and "bank," the success is absolute.

---

With these numbers, the Pi 400 fills a real niche in the budget desktop market: a first computer for a child, a replacement for a recycled machine, or a hobbyist's tool for tinkering without powering up a large tower. Repeating the Commodore 64's sales record seems, however, optimistic. Those wanting a keyboard and screen already have laptops for slightly more, and ARM software remains the pawn nobody moves willingly. Seventy dollars does not buy nostalgia.