Raspberry Pi Launches New Pico 2 W Microcontroller Board with Wireless Connectivity for Just $7

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has recently unveiled its latest microcontroller development board, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, with the "W" indicating its new wireless networking capability, marking the most significant update for this version.

The Pico 2 has been popular among developers for its compact size, low power consumption, and the impressive performance delivered by its Arm chip.

To address the limitations of requiring a wired network connection, the Raspberry Pi Foundation introduced the wireless-enabled version based on the enhanced RP2350 microcontroller. The RP2350, designed and developed by Raspberry Pi, boasts a faster core, double the memory, floating-point support, on-chip OTP, reduced power consumption, and an improved security model built around the Arm Cortex-M TrustZone.

Interestingly, the microcontroller's dual-core design not only utilizes Arm but also gives developers the option to explore the RISC-V architecture with the Hazard3 core in a stable environment.

The onboard wireless modem, instead of using Broadcom, employs Infineon's CYW43439, supporting 2.4GHz 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. It's important to note the WiFi compatibility requires attention to not solely rely on 5GHz or 6GHz bands for operation.

Here are the full hardware specifications of the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W:

• Dual Arm Cortex-M33 or dual Hazard3 RISC-V processors @150MHz
• 520KB of on-chip SRAM
• 2.4GHz 802.11n WiFi support
• Bluetooth 5.2 support
• Software and hardware compatibility with Pico 1
• Drag-and-drop programming with USB mass storage
• Castellated module can be soldered directly onto motherboards
• UART*2、SPI*2、I2C*2、PWM*24、ADC*3、USB 1.1/PHY*1、PIO*12
• Operating temperature: -20℃ to +85℃
• Input voltage: 1.8V to 5.5V DC

The Raspberry Pi Foundation emphasizes that the Pico 2 series microcontroller boards will be produced at least until January 2040, providing a remarkably long support cycle. The Pico 2 W, alongside the Pico 2, will be supported throughout this period.

As for the price, the Pico 2 W is available for only $7. Developers interested in this wireless version can order directly from the Raspberry Pi official website or through third-party distributors.