Raspberry Pi released the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 a few months ago, featuring the new RP2350 chip. Despite several upgrades, it lacks wireless connectivity like Pico W. While there’s no official Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W yet, Pimoroni has developed an unofficial alternative, the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W, which integrates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth using a yet-to-be-formally-announced Raspberry Pi RM2 module and potentially set to appear in a future Pico 2W.
The Pimoroni Pico Plus 2W board is powered by the Raspberry Pi RP2350B dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller, features 16MB of QSPI flash with XiP support, 8MB of PSRAM, wireless connectivity, a USB Type-C port for power and data, and a Qwiic/STEMMA QT connector for breakout board integration.
A few days ago, we covered the Pimoroni Explorer board, an electronic prototyping board built around the Raspberry Pi RP2350B chip. It features a 2.8-inch LCD screen, a speaker connector, and multiple I/O options, making it ideal for building circuits, prototyping projects, and even creating small robots. We’ve also written about the RP2350 Stamp XL, Jumperless V5 programmable breadboard, and Bus Pirate 6. Feel free to check those out if you’re interested in these products.
Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W specifications:
- SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2350B MCU
- CPU
- Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @150MHz with Arm Trustzone
- Dual-core 32-bit Hazard3 RISC-V @ 150MHz
- Up to two cores can be used at the same time
- Memory – 520KB SRAM
- 8kB OTP storage
- Security – Secure boot
- CPU
- Memory – 8MB PSRAM
- Storage – 16MB QSPI flash
- Wireless module – Raspberry Pi RM2 with 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth
- USB – Type-C connector for power, programming, and data transfer
- Expansion
- 2x 20-pin 2.54mm pitch headers with
- 26x GPIO
- 4x 12-bit ADC
- 24 x PWM
- 2 x UART, 2 x I2C, 2 x SPI
- VBUS, VSYS, 3.3V, GND
- 3.3V I/O voltage
- 4-pin SMD Qwiic/STEMMA QT connector for I2C
- 3-pin JST-SH connector for debug
- 2x 20-pin 2.54mm pitch headers with
- Misc
- Reset and Boot button
- Green user LED connected to GPIO0 of Raspberry Pi RM2 module
- Power – 1.8 to 5.5V DC via USB-C or VSYS
- Dimension – 53 x 21 x 8.3 mm (L x W x H, including connectors)
The highlight of the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W is the Raspberry Pi RM2 module, which resembles an ESP32 package but houses the same Infineon CYW43439 chip used in the Raspberry Pi Pico W. This allows for easy online connectivity with just a few lines of MicroPython, and it also supports Bluetooth. Like other RP2350 boards, it supports MicroPython, CircuitPython, C, and C++. You can visit their GitHub repository for more information about the breakout board and supported C++/MicroPython builds.
The Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W is available for $18.48 at Pimoroni’s official store. The company also offers various accessories for the Pimoroni Pico, including headers, a USB-A to USB-C cable, the Pico Omnibus, and 3-pin, 4-pin, and 8-pin JST-SH cables.
Via Tom’s Hardware.
Sayantan Nandy, an electronics engineer with over four years of hands-on experience in PCB design, circuit development and power electronics, is proficient in EAGLE CAD, Ki-Cad, and Altium. He has a proven track record of delivering efficient and effective systems. His expertise extends from R&D, and prototyping to production support, making him a valuable asset to any engineering team.
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Why not use a more recent version of the wifi chip supporting wifi 6 ?
Are there any benefits when limited to 2.4 GHz?
Yes — it’s faster, more reliable & WiFi 6 features like TWT (Target Wake Time) can result in significant power savings when running off battery
Thanks