Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W Launched: Wireless-Enabled Microcontroller Board for Just $7

Raspberry Pi has officially announced the new Pico 2 W, a wireless-enabled variant of the Pico 2 microcontroller board. The Pico 2 W features the tried-and-tested wireless modem from the original Pico W, combined with the new RP2350 microcontroller. Even with the added wireless support, the new microcontroller is still incredibly affordable at just $7.

The RP2350 microcontroller comes with faster cores, double the memory, floating point support, on-chip OTP, better power consumption, and an improved security model based on Arm's TrustZone platform for Cortex-M.

The RP2350 features a unique dual-core, dual-architecture design. Developers can choose between a pair of Arm Cortex-M33 cores and a pair of open hardware Hazard3 cores, allowing them to explore the RISC-V architecture in a stable environment.

The integrated Infineon CYW43439 modem supports 802.11n 2.4GHz wireless LAN and Bluetooth 5.2. The modem also supports both C and MicroPython libraries.

Here are the specifications of the Pico 2 W:

1. Dual Arm Cortex-M33 or Dual Hazard3 RISC-V processor @ 150MHz
2. 520KB on-chip SRAM
3. 2.4 GHz 802.11n wireless LAN and Bluetooth 5.2
4. Software and hardware compatibility with Raspberry Pi Pico 1
5. Drag and drop programming with USB mass storage
6. Castellated modules allow direct soldering to the motherboard
7. 2 × UART
8. 2 × SPI controller
9. 2 × I2C controller
10. 24×PWM channels
11. 3 x ADC channels
12. 1 × USB 1.1 controller and PHY, with host and device support
13. 12 × PIO state machine
14. Operating temperature -20°C to +85°C
15. Supported input voltage 1.8–5.5V DC

Raspberry Pi has confirmed that the Pico 2 series will remain in production until at least January 2040. With wireless support, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W is an ideal microcontroller board for enthusiasts and professional developers. Its affordable price and extensive features make it an attractive choice for a wide range of projects.

Jessica Tanner

Update 09 December 2024