Raspberry Pi 400 review: functional $100 desktop PC that supports both Raspberry Pi OS and Ubuntu Desktop, but integrated keyboard is narrow and no 3.5mm jack
The Pi 400 isn't a powerful desktop PC—but it is a desktop PC, for $100 or less. — Late Friday afternoon …
Context & Ripple Effects
Raspberry Pi put the whole computer inside a keyboard when it launched the Pi 400 at $70 just days ago; this Ars Technica review is the first real verdict on whether that form factor works as an actual desktop rather than a hobbyist board. The answer is a qualified yes — dual-boot support for Raspberry Pi OS and Ubuntu Desktop makes it a legitimate $100 machine, marred by ergonomics (a narrow integrated keyboard) and connectivity cuts like the missing 3.5mm jack.
The verdict matters because the keyboard-as-PC concept is becoming a product family rather than a one-off: Raspberry Pi followed up with the cheaper $15 Zero 2 W a year later, and the same chassis idea resurfaced four years on in the Pi 500, which kept the keyboard format while upgrading to Pi 5-class power.
First-order effects
- Buyers get a complete, bootable desktop for $100 or less that runs both Raspberry Pi OS and Ubuntu Desktop, but anyone typing-heavy or reliant on analog audio has to work around the narrow integrated keyboard and absent 3.5mm jack.
- The review converts the Pi 400 from a curiosity announced at launch into an evaluated product, giving schools and casual users a concrete buy/don't-buy basis.
Second-order effects
- The tradeoffs the review flags define the upgrade path for the product line: Raspberry Pi's later keyboard machines address power (the Pi 500's thermals) while repeating some of the same omissions, suggesting the chassis constraints persist across generations.
- Ubuntu Desktop's official viability on the device pulls mainstream Linux desktop support into the sub-$100 hardware tier, pressuring the value end of the entry-desktop market.
Third-order effects
- If the keyboard-computer line keeps shipping — from the Pi 400 through the Pi 500 — all-in-one ARM boards harden into a durable category alongside the classic bare-board Pi, aimed at education and first-machine buyers rather than makers alone.
The trend: Raspberry Pi is turning its single-board computer into a family of complete, sub-$100 keyboard PCs spanning price tiers from the $15 Zero 2 W to the Pi 500.