Raspberry Pi · RP2040
Raspberry Pi Pico
The beloved $4 board with programmable I/O (PIO), great docs and a drag-and-drop USB bootloader that can't be bricked.
No wireless3.3 V logicBreadboard
Typical price
$4
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Specifications
| Maker | Raspberry Pi |
|---|---|
| Chip | RP2040 |
| CPU | Dual Arm Cortex-M0+ |
| Clock speed | 133 MHz |
| Wi-Fi | None |
| Bluetooth | None |
| Zigbee / Thread radio | No |
| GPIO pins | 26 usable |
| ADC | 3 channels, 12-bit |
| DAC | None |
| Flash | 2 MB |
| RAM | 264 KB |
| Logic level | 3.3 V |
| Power input | 1.8–5.5V VSYS / 5V USB |
| Deep sleep (typ.) | ~800 µA |
| Active current (typ.) | ~25 mA |
| Form factor | Breadboard |
| USB | Micro-USB (native) |
| Programming | MicroPython, CircuitPython, C/C++ SDK, Arduino (Earle Philhower core) |
| Released | 2021 |
Typical values. Sleep current is approximate; whole-board numbers are higher than the bare chip's datasheet figure.
Pros
- PIO state machines can bit-bang almost any protocol
- Superb documentation and an unbrickable bootloader
- Cheapest 32-bit dual-core board around
Cons
- No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (see the Pico W)
- Only 3 ADC inputs and noisy analog reference
- No hardware floating point
Best use cases
- 01Learning MicroPython and embedded C
- 02LED and WS2812 effects (PIO)
- 03Custom USB devices and keyboards
- 04VGA / DVI video and retro projects
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