Raspberry Pi 5 kit review (db-tronic): the perfect starting point for beginners

The Raspberry Pi has a reputation for being a fantastic tool… if you enjoy tinkering. This db-tronic Raspberry Pi 5 4GB kit promises to simplify the start: metal case, power supply, cooling and memory card are all included. Here's our review, from a beginner's perspective.

Disarmingly simple assembly

The first pleasant surprise is the build. Everything comes together without special tools, in a few minutes, even if you've never touched a Raspberry Pi. The metal case and active cooling are already provided: plug in, insert the card, done.

For a beginner, this is exactly what you want: a turnkey kit that requires no prior knowledge.

What we use it for day to day

Two use cases came naturally:

• Jellyfin: a personal media server, to stream movies and shows to every screen in the house;
• Home Assistant: home automation, to centralize all your connected devices.

Both install without hassle and run stably on the Raspberry Pi 5, whose 4GB of RAM is more than enough for this.

The weak point: the SD card

The kit's only real catch: it ships with a 64GB SD card. It gets you started, but an SD card is slower and less reliable over time than an SSD, especially for a 24/7 server.

It's the first thing we recommend upgrading: move to an NVMe SSD.

The game-changing upgrade: NVMe SSD

We added a fanxiang NVMe SSD (M.2 form factor) in place of the SD card. The result: faster boot, much smoother read/write, and peace of mind for an always-on server. The Raspberry Pi 5 has a dedicated M.2 slot, so installation only takes a few minutes.

Verdict

To get into the Raspberry Pi world, this kit is an excellent choice: simple, complete and upgradeable. Its only fault is the stock SD card — which you'll happily swap for an NVMe SSD for heavier use.

🛒 See the Raspberry Pi 5 kit on Amazon