Raspberry Pi Pico 1 Vs Pico 2: What's The Difference?

For years, Raspberry Pi has been known for its budget-friendly single-board computers that can work as a simple desktop alternative. Then, in 2021, they introduced a new product to their lineup: The Pico. No, it isn't as powerful as the credit card-sized Pi boards capable of running full-blown operating systems. Instead, the Raspberry Pi Pico is comparable to the Arduino Nano in that both boards are microcontrollers and almost the same size. It comes in handy for a variety of electronic projects, such as mobile robots and drones, LED displays, and basic automated systems.

Three years after the release of the Pico, the Pico 2 came into the picture. It has a similar form factor and GPIO layout as the original Pico, making it a seamless drop-in replacement. It's also as affordable, costing $5, only a dollar more than the Pico 1. There are some key differences between the two boards that could make one a better fit for your project. 

The Pico 2 comes with a more capable dual-architecture processor, plus double as much external flash memory and additional hardware interfacing options. On the other hand, the Pico 1 has more stock variants to choose from. Performance-wise, though, the Pico 1 and Pico 2 would generally function the same in your electronic projects unless, of course, AI or machine learning is involved. In that case, the Pico 2's upgraded features might be worth it.

When the Pico 1 came out in 2021, it introduced Raspberry Pi's own microcontroller processor, the RP2040. It's a dual-core Cortex M0+ that features speeds of up to 133MHz, 264kB SRAM, and 16kB cache and provides support to a variety of protocols, such as PWM (16 channels), UART (two channels), I2C (two channels), SPI (two channels), and Programmable I/O or PIO (eight state machines). 

The PIO is particularly special as it's a custom feature specific to the microcontroller chip. What it does is help the Pico communicate with unique unsupported hardware (those that can't be connected via standard protocols like UART or I2C). It can also be used to convert some GPIO pins to existing protocols (such as extra SPI pins or an entirely new DVI channel). For even better performance, the RP2040 processor is also paired with an onboard flash memory of 2MB. This same chip, however, wasn't used in the Pico 2. 

Instead, Raspberry Pi upgraded the board with a brand new processor, the RP2350. This chip is also a dual-core Cortex, but instead of the M0+, it's now an M33 capable of running at a maximum of 150MHz. On top of the Cortex chip, RP2350 also includes another architecture, a dual-core Hazard3 RISC-V, which is open source. You can choose your preferred architecture at boot time by pressing down on the BOOTSEL button on the board and plugging and unplugging it from power. 

Compared to the RP2040, the RP2350 features double the SRAM at 520kB and double the external flash at 4MB (the chip's cache remained the same at 16kB). There's also an upgrade in the interfacing protocols, with the Pico 2 sporting an additional eight PWM channels (for a total of 24) and four state machines (for a total of 12). These new functionalities give the Pico 2 a performance boost, helping it handle even more demanding projects. 

Both of the Raspberry Pi Pico generations come in more than one variant. But Raspberry Pi has released four for the Pico 1 and only two for the Pico 2. All the Pico 1 models (Pico, Pico H, Pico W, and Pico WH) share the same base specifications, such as the RP2040 chip, temperature sensor, and GPIO pin layout, but they differ in connectivity and header inclusion. 

The Pico is the original board without wireless capabilities and headers, while the Pico H is similar to the Pico but includes pre-soldered headers. Between the Pico and Pico W, though, only the latter is equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Its headered counterpart, the Pico WH, combines both wireless connectivity and built-in headers.

For the Pico 2, Raspberry Pi made the product line simpler with only the Pico 2 (no wireless capabilities) and the Pico 2 W (which comes with the same Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip as the Pico 1). Just like the original Pico, both variants have similar core specs, but they also don't include built-in headers. This means you'll need to buy them separately and solder them yourself or purchase a pre-soldered board from a third party. There are several authorized Raspberry Pi retailers like Adafruit, CanaKit, and Vilros, where you can get either a pre-soldered board or a bundle with loose headers. Of course, these are a bit more expensive than the official variants.

For casual and beginner users, you likely won't notice a massive difference in terms of performance between the Pico 1 and Pico 2. You can get away with using either one for less demanding projects like an automated watering system, a local weather station, and even a Pi-hole (DNS ad blocker). Both boards can also be paired with the same Raspberry Pi Pico accessories, making it easy to upgrade or downgrade whenever you please. 

But if you're new to electronics or have little to no experience with soldering, the Pico H and Pico WH from the Pico 1 family are more convenient options. You can readily connect your components to the pre-soldered pins or plug the microcontroller into a breadboard for temporary setups.  

On the other hand, the Pico 2 outshines the Pico 1 if you're an advanced user or are working with processing-heavy projects like those involving AI and machine learning. The Pico 2's more powerful chip will naturally outperform the Pico 1. Its extra PIO state machines also mean you can interface even more complex unsupported hardware or add more standard protocol channels to the Pico 2. 

If you have RISC-V codes or have been wanting to learn the RISC-V assembly language, you won't need to buy an entirely separate development board (which can be more expensive) just to do so. The budget-friendly $5 Pico 2 can easily double as your RISC-V board.