Raspberry31416.com Credit Card Sized Computer

Is the Raspberry Pi 3 really a credit card sized computer?

We've all heard that the Raspberry Pi 3 is a credit card sized computer. Does it really hold up to this claim? Or is this just marketing hype? The first thing we did after unboxing our new Raspberry Pi 3 was to put this claim to the test!

Measurements show that the Raspberry Pi 3 width and length are indeed very close to the dimensions of a credit card. Our testing showed that a standard credit card is 85mm X 54mm, while the Raspberry Pi 3 measured in at 85mm X 55mm, just a silly millimeter longer than a standard credit card!

Taking this a step further however, we found that the standard credit card is somewhat less than 1mm in height, while our Pi measured in at 18mm! Not since the 11-inch Subway footlong sandwich scandal has a product been misrepresented by almost an inch!

Continuing with our testing, we found that the Raspberry Pi 3 clearly will not fit into a credit card pocket of a standard wallet. The GPIO pins cause a problem even before the elevated USB and ethernet ports come anywhere close to sliding into the wallet.

Still, with a little bit of a compromise, it was found that this computer could be bludgeoned into submission by removing everything else from the wallet, closing the wallet over the Pi, and using a rubber band to keep things together.

With the use of an external battery pack in one back pocket and a Pi-in-a-Wallet in the other, this computer can run as a headless computer and follow you wherever you go.

Credit Card Sized? You decide!

We would have to agree that the claim of being credit card sized could be considered to mean that the Raspberry Pi 3 has the same footprint on your desktop as a credit card. And since we were successful (with a bit of effort) when inserting a Pi into a wallet and applying power, our conclusion is that this device can truly be called a credit card sized computer.

But for those who want to take this comparison to the third dimension, the Raspberry Pi 3 is clearly much taller than a credit card.

And if someone wouldn't mind doing a volume comparison by immersing a credit card and a Raspberry Pi 3 into a glass of water and measuring the displacement, please send us the results and we'll be happy to post them here!