The Sumolink Erhu RP2040 is a Raspberry Pi Pico clone with the exact same features except the micro USB port has been replaced by a USB-C port that may be preferred by some people, and the Wisdpi claims it is one of the world’s cheapest RP2040 MCU boards at $3.60, although that price does not include shipping.
We had seen some other replicas, but most offer something different rather than just the USB-C port. Two examples that come to my mind are the WeAct RP2040 with a USB-C port, but also a Reset button and up to 16MB SPI flash, instead of the 2MB flash in the original board, and the Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 with an extra I2C connector and an RGB LED.
Sumolink Erhu RP2040 specifications:
- MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM
- Storage – 2MB QSPI flash (Note: the specs list 2MB, but the title reads 4MB)
- USB – 1x USB Type-C 1.1 port used for power and programming
- Expansion
- 2x 20-pin 2.54mm pitch header and castellated holes with 26 GPIOs, 3x 12-bit ADC up to 500 Kbps, 2x UART, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, 16x PWM, 2x programmable high-speed I/O (for SD card, VGA, etc…)
- 3.3V I/O voltage
- Debugging – 3-pin Arm Serial Wire Debug (SWD) port
- Misc – BOOTSEL button, user LED (GP25), 1x Timer with 4x alarms, RTC
- Power Supply – 5V via USB Type-C port or 2 to 5V DC via VSYS pin
- Dimensions – 51 x 21mm
The photo above with the Raspberry Pi Pico clone and the original Pi board side-by-side also shows the BOOTSEL button is in a different location and the mounting holes are missing, so some enclosures won’t work with the board. The company explained to CNX Software the reasoning behind the board in an email correspondence:
We have made this board not for money. We hope that more people can use the rp2040 board at a very affordable price.
In order to minimize costs, we did not spend too much effort on creating related documentation or change board size like other manufacturer . All information can be referenced from Raspberry Pico.
…
The quantity of this batch of products is limited. If we cannot recover the cost from this sale, we may not continue production.
Wisdpi sells the Sumolink Erhu RP2040 for $3.60 plus shipping on their own website, but sadly shipping can only be seen after logging in due o the version of Shopify used. It’s still a tough sale against the WeAct RP2040 that is now offered for $2.22 to $3.86 plus shipping (about 50 cents here) with the price depending on the flash capacity and the color of the board (the purple board is cheaper)…
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.
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I’ve gotten some of these: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803783775166.html and https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803184724874.html both of these seem to be based on the vcc-gnd design. They have a 16MB SPI NOR flash and a WS2812B RGB LED which can be connected by a solder jumper to a GPIO. They have the normal bootsel button in addition to a reset button and a user button.
the photos show that it is not a clone …
Yeah, ‘clone’ isn’t the right term here. “Variant” might be better. Since it’s not the Pi Pico that they’re ‘cloning’, but they’re just a different board with an RP2040 on it with similar peripherials–or normally better ones.
Um nice I guess but seems sort of pointless when a real pico is $4 and is available in variants with presoldered headers and with wireless, has that dc-dc converter on board (not sure if this Sumolink board has something similar), etc. I’d rather see something different, with on-board sensors maybe, or a risc-v cpu, or ultra low power, whatever.