While the Raspberry Pi 5 remains the favourite "gold standard" for a huge community of users due to its ease of use, the Rock 4 has a few hidden advantages for users looking for a little more edge. One of the most significant advantages is the native M.2 expansion slot, which allows you to ditch slow microSD cards in favour of lightning-fast NVMe storage directly on the board. The device also handles sustained workloads well, maintaining impressive thermal performance and often staying cooler than the Pi under load. You still get the familiar form factor, but with a little more flexibility for high-performance projects such as media servers or advanced emulators. Of course, you lose some of the plug-and-play simplicity of the Pi, but for those who like a slightly more ‘professional’ approach to hardware, the Rock 4 is an attractive alternative. It's basically its more powerful cousin, unafraid of heavy tasks, while the Pi remains friendly and accessible.