Wio Terminal Features Microchip SAMD51 MCU, Dual-Band WiFI & Bluetooth WiFI, and 2.4" LCD

Microchip SAM D5x Arm Cortex-M4 microcontrollers were introduced in 2017, and the next year we started to see Arduino or MicroPython compatible board brought to market including Adafruit Metro M4 or Tachyon boards.

Seeed Studio has now introduced its own Arduino & MicroPython compatible SAMD51 platform with Wio Terminal also integrating an RTL8720DN dual-band WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 chip, and 2.4″ LCD display. There are also Grove connectors to add sensor modules, and a 40-pin header to use the device like a Raspberry Pi HAT.

Wio Terminal features and specifications:

MCU – Microchip SAMD51 (ATSAMD51P19) Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ 120 MHz (can be overclocked to 200 MHz) with 192KB RAM,
512KB flash
Storage – 4MB external SPI flash, MicroSD card slot up to 16GB
Display – 2.4″ LCD screen with 320×240 resolution (ILI9341 driver)
Audio – Microphone and buzzer
Connectivity – Dual-band WiFi 4 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 5.0 via Realtek RTL8720DN COrtex-M4/M0 WiSoC
USB – 1x USB-C OTG port
Sensors – LIS3DHTR accelerometer, light sensor, IR emitter
Expansion
- 40-pin Raspberry Pi Compatible female header to connect to Raspberry Pi board
- 2x multi-function Grove connectors
- 20-pin FPC connector (no details provided)
Misc – 5-Way Switch, Power/Reset switch, 3x user-defined buttons
Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port
Dimensions – 72 x 57 x 12mm (ABS+PC materials)
Temperature Range – -40°C ~ 85°C (TA)

Wio Terminal ships with a short USB Type-C cable, and a user manual. You’ll find hardware and software documentation on the Wiki to help you get started with Arduino. The board is also compatible with MicroPython, and ArduPy.

Some potential applications include Python terminal device, data collection device for Machine Learning, hand-held device, portable retro gaming console, IoT controller, education & prototyping, and Raspberry Pi accessories. Some of those use cases are demonstrated in the video below.

Wio Terminal is available for pre-order for $29.90 plus shipping and currently comes with a free $14 Wio Link board. Seeed Studio expects to start shipping pre-orders on April 15. Alternatively, you have a twitter account, you could try to get one for free, as the company will be giving away three Wio Terminals to randomly selected retweets.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.