SparkFun Thing Plus - NORA-W306 - A dual-band Wi-Fi 4 and BLE 5.3 IoT board

SparkFun Thing Plus – NORA-W306, is a dual-core, dual-band WiFi 4 and BLE 5.3 microcontroller board in the AdaFruit Feather form factor based on the u-box NORA-W306 module and targeted at low-power wireless applications.

The u-blox module integrates the Realtek RTL8720DF chip, a dual-core ARM Cortex-M33 and Cortex-M23 microcontroller with dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy. It offers up to 4MB of encrypted flash and has an onboard PCB antenna. It’s very similar to the RealTek RTL8720DN we covered a few times in the past, but comes with embedded flash.

The SparkFun Thing Plus – NORA-W306 board features a USB-C connector for programming, data, and power. The USB data lines are protected against electrostatic discharge and are connected to a CP2102N USB-to-serial converter for uploading code or serial. This board includes a 2-pin JST-style connector for a LiPo battery, a single-cell charger, and a LiPo fuel gauge for remote applications.

SparkFun Thing Plus – NORA-W306 specifications:

Onboard Module – u-blox NORA-W306
- SoC – Realtek RTL8720DF dual-processor core
  - Main core: ARM Cortex-M33 @ 200MHz
  - Low-power core: ARM Cortex-M23 @ 200MHz
  - Security: Arm TrustZone Hardware Encryption, Cryptographic Hardware Accelerator Engine, Secure Boot, Secure Debug Interface
  - Storage – 4MB flash (encrypted)
  - RAM – 512KB (main core), 64KB (low power)
  - Wireless Connectivity
    - Dual-band Wi-Fi 4 (802.11a/b/g/n), 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands, WPA2/WPA3 authentication
    - Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy, 2.4GHz, Secure connection pairing
- Built-in PCB antenna
Storage – microSD card slot
USB – 1x USB-C port connected to CP2102N USB-to-Serial Converter
Expansion
- 4-pin Qwiic connector
- 20x GPIO via through holes
  - Up to 20x Interrupts
  - Up to 3x 12-bit ADC
  - Up to 12x PWM
  - Up to 2x UARTs
  - Up to 2x SPI
  - Up to 1x I2C
Misc – Buttons (User, Reset, Boot), LEDs (3.3V, Charger, Status, WS2812-2020 addressable RGB LED), 9x jumpers at the back of the board
Power Supply
- 5V via USB-C
- 2-pin JST connector for LiPo battery (not included)
- MCP73831 single-cell, LiPo charge IC with 500mA default charge rate
- MAX17048 single-cell LiPo fuel gauge
- XC6222 3.3V/700mA Voltage Regulator
- 2.2kΩ I2C Pull-Up Resistors
Dimensions – 58.42mm x 22.86mm (Adafruit Feather form factor) with four mounting holes and 30 plated through holes (PTHs)

It is suitable for IoT applications, particularly projects that require remote, low-power operation. It supports the Arduino IDE using the Realtek Arduino core. Like most SparkFun products, the NORA-W306 is open-source, with schematics, Gerber files, tutorials, and other documentation published on GitHub.

The SparkFun Thing Plus – NORA-W306 development board is available for around $40, with discounts for bulk purchases. It adds to other members from the Thing Plus family such as the Thing Plus RA6M5 and the Thing Plus Matter boards.

Tomisin Olujinmi

Tomisin is a writer specializing in hardware product reviews, comparisons, and explainers. He is very passionate about small form factor and single-board computers.