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Meet Raspberry Pi Pico W: The 'W' stands for Wi-Fi
The Raspberry Pi Pico, released back in January 2021, was a tiny microcontroller with an equally tiny $4 price tag. Since then, almost 2 million Pico boards have been sold.
Today sees the Pico getting a highly requested feature -- Wi-Fi.
And the price tag is still tiny, with the new Raspberry Pi Pico W coming in at only $6.
Raspberry Pi Pico W
Not much has changed with the Pico W if you compare it to the Pico.
| Raspberry Pi Pico W | Raspberry Pi Pico | |
Chip | RP2040 Arm Cortex M0+ Dual Core at 133 MHz | RP2040 Arm Cortex M0+ Dual Core at 133 MHz |
RAM | 264KB SRAM | 264KB SRAM |
Storage | 2MB Flash | 2MB Flash |
Wireless connectivity | Infineon CYW43439 supporting 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n | N/A |
Power | Micro USB | Micro USB |
GPIO | 40-pin GPIO | 40-pin GPIO |
| 26 multi-function pins | 26 multi-function pins |
| 23 x digital I/O | 23 x Digital I/O |
| 3 x analog Inputs | 3 x analog Inputs |
| 2 x UART | 2 x UART |
| 2 x I2C | 2 x I2C |
| 2 x SPI | 2 x SPI |
| 1 x Arm Serial Wire Debug (SWD) | 1 x Arm Serial Wire Debug (SWD) |
Dimensions | 51 x 21 mm | 51 x 21 mm |
Price | $6 | $4 |
The RP2040 microcontroller is unchanged, and still features a 133MHz dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ chip, 264KB of SRAM, and 2MB of QSPI flash storage.
And this all fits onto a board measuring 21mm x 51mm. This means that if you have projects that use the Pico, but could benefit from Wi-Fi, the Pico W is a drop-in replacement.
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But the eagle-eyed might notice a metallic square.
This is the home for the Infineon CYW43439 chip that supports 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.
That chip also supports Bluetooth 5.2, but at launch only Wi-Fi is supported.
The real question is whether Wi-Fi is worth the $2. The jump from $4 to $6 is quite a jump, but if you need wireless, it's worth it for the on-board solution.
Also new is a Pico with pre-soldered header pins, called the Pico H for $5. Coming in August is a Pico WH, a Wi-Fi version with header pins, which will set you back $7.
Raspberry Pi Pico H
The Raspberry Pi Pico W is available immediately.