Advantages over the Raspberry Pi Pico:
- Inexpensive
- 16 MB variant available
- Added PWR power LED
- The USB interface was changed to type-C USB
- Added reset button to facilitate reset operation and firmware update operation
- Added the USRkey user button (GPIO24)
- Added RGB lights (GPIO23)
- Change PICO's W25Q16 to W25Q32 (4M) / W25Q64 (8M) / W25Q128 (16M)
- Easier to read silkscreen for the pins on both sides of the PCB
Disadvantages:
- Larger footprint of the PCB, no drop-in replacement
- VBUS not available, cannot power USB devices when acting as USB host? (there is always a diode in the way?)
Solution for USB host power is to solder a tiny piece of a resistor leg like shown here: https://github.com/No0ne/ps2x2pico?tab=readme-ov-file#troubleshooting
There is a custom CircuitPython build for this board:
https://circuitpython.org/board/vcc_gnd_yd_rp2040/
It has built in board.NEOPIXEL
and board.BUTTON
pins.
NOTE: As described in adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_NeoPixel#167, turns out that the pads labeled "R58" need to be bridged (soldered) for it to work.