XIAO RP2350 is a tiny USB-C board based on Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU

The XIAO RP2350 is an upgrade to Seeed Studio’s XIAO RP2040 board with a more powerful Raspberry Pi RP2350 dual-core Cortex-M33 or dual-core RISC-V microcontroller found in the just-launched Raspberry Pi Pico 2 board.

The new Raspberry Pi RP2350 USB-C board has the same form factor but adds eight more GPIOs on the bottom with pads for a total of 19 GPIOs, and we lose two LEDs for serial port connectivity. Most people will still be fine with the XIAO RP2040, but if you need a more powerful microcontroller, extra memory, a few extra GPIOs, and built-in security, then the XIAO RP2350 will be an improvement.

XIAO RP2350 specifications:

• Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU
  • CPU – Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor @ 150MHz (Note: again RISC-V is not mentioned at all by Seeed Studio, like for the Cytron MOTION 2350 Pro board)
  • Memory – 520KB internal RAM
  • 8KB OTP Storage
• Storage – 2MB flash (Seeed Studio writes PSRAM, but that seems odd unless there’s non-volatile PSRAM…)
• USB – 1x USB type C port for power and programming
• Expansion I/Os
  • 2x 7-pin 2.54mm pitch headers and castellated holes with up to 3x analog inputs, 11x GPIO/PWM, 1x SPI, 1x UART, 1x I2C, 5V, 3.3V, and GND;
  • 8x solder pads with up to 8x GPIO/PWM, 1x SPI, 1x UART, 1x I2C
  • 3.3V I/O voltage (not 5V tolerant)
• Security – OTP, Secure Boot, Arm TrustZone
• Debugging – SWD pads
• Misc
  • User LED, power LED, 2x LEDs for serial port downloading
  • Reset Button/ Boot Button
  • RGB LED
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB-C port
  • Battery pads (BAT +/-)
• Dimensions – 21 x 17.5 mm

Software-wise, Seeed Studio provides support for MicroPython and C/C++ only, and the XIAO RP2350 does not support Arduino although I understand it’s only a question of time until Arduino Core for RP2350 is implemented. You’ll find getting started instructions for MicroPython and C on the documentation website.

The XIAO RP2350 benefits from the ecosystem of other XIAO boards with carrier boards, Grove sensors, actuators, displays, LED matrices, and more.

Seeed Studio sells the XIAO RP2350 on its online store for $5.00, or even cheaper the XIAO RP2040 currently sold for $5.40. Maybe that’s an introduction price, and note the company only takes single unit orders at this stage as only 400 pieces have been manufactured in the first run.

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