CHEAP Microcontrollers from AliExpress, are they any good? Spoiler Alert - YES, AWESOME

[@thecircuithelper]

Hope you find the video useful, let me know if you’ve tried these Pico clones from AliExpress and how you got on? Are they reliable, do all the advertised features work??

[@DirtyDerg]

If you'd quit using the massive reused animations & sound effects it'd be more bearable to watch.

[@oluwaferanmi100]

Show some appreciation for his ideas at least.

[@thecircuithelper]

Just trying something new, I don't normally include animations etc, but trying to engage bigger audience... will see how it goes with this one! Thanks for watching!

[@Prashant5479]

@@thecircuithelperthe cheering sounds were fun to hear. Thanks!

[@ralfbauerfeind8236]

I had some from AE as well, but the pads were not castelated - not much loss. The original is breadboard- compatible, which the cheap one isn't completely, and the solderpads on the underside are very tiny, so you have to be careful when soldering. Also those pads are partly covered by the plastic of the pins you might want to solder in. That makes the original way more practical for experimental usage while the AE ones are okay for projects you solder it onto or use an adapter board. Also, there is only one zero volts pin while the original has one per four I/O, again making it more practical for breadboard usage.

[@seckora]

The ESP32 dev kit board has been the best change for me. I even got the ESP32 C3 super mini that blew me away. Size of a quarter with wifi and bluetooth

[@thecircuithelper]

Have to admit, I really like the ESP32 too, I’ve had one controlling my coffee machine for more than 5 years and it’s been absolutely rock solid. My only criticism (and it could also been seen as a benefit) is the large number of dev boards available, it can be difficult to find the right settings to actually get them up and running. Also, I’ve been burnt a few time buying random dev boards, they can be hit or miss, I also bought a batch that didn’t have the flash memory so were essentially useless. But once you find a decent dev board and solid supplier they are hard to beat! Thanks for watching!!

[@seckora]

@@thecircuithelper definitely I gave you a follow too! 👍

[@xpeng121]

The only issue for me is that it's only single core which can cause some issues if you want use WiFi/Bluetooth with some time critical applications or just need fast precised gpio control. But overall it's a very good chip for such a price. I already bought like 7 of the "super mini" for future projects.

[@thecircuithelper]

Good point about the cores, so handy to have two!

[@Prashant5479]

These are originally designed by Waveshare, a Chinese hobbyist product making company. They have really nice products. This one they call RP2040 Zero. They provide all docs regarding it on their wiki page and example codes. Another benefit of this one over regular RP2040 board is that this one uses an LDO regulator while the original uses a DC DC converter. So ADC measurements are very accurate on this while not on the original board. Great video! Thank you!

[@thecircuithelper]

That’s great to know, thanks for the extra insight! I’ll definitely check out the waveshare boards, I like to support the original designer of innovative products and this one is really cool… thanks for watching!

[@KNfLrPn]

I *love* the RP2040-Zero (and clones). Such a useful form factor for quick little projects (the built-in RGB LED and reset button are so useful) and for $2 I throw them in everything. The only bad thing I've found is that about 5% of them (I've bought well over 100) have dead memory chips, but the price is still worth it.

[@KNfLrPn]

Also I refuse to buy anything that uses micro-USB. It was always a terrible connector, and nothing modern should use it. Can't believe RPi stuck with it.

[@thecircuithelper]

That’s great to know! I’ve bought many official Pi Pico’s in recent years (including over 100 Pico W a few months ago for my class, every student got one to take home and play with). Could be time to switch to the zero, it’s a shame they don’t have wifi (yet - I guess). Totally agree about micro usb, the situation is made much worse by the sheer number of ‘charging only’ cables that seem to be floating around. I’m pretty sure half of the problems faced by my students were related to using dodgy cables! Thanks for watching!

[@Bigman74066]

I really don't understand why people do not use object Pascal as a programming language for microcontrollers. Its as fast as C but much safer. Much faster than any interpreter like micropython.

[@thecircuithelper]

Really interesting, I’ll have to check it out… have to admit, it’s about 20 years since I heard Pascal mentioned, guess it’s evolved quite a lot! Thanks for watching!

[@SusanPearce_H]

Where might I find an Object Pascal environment .rp2 for the Zero?

[@Tim_Small]

Same goes for Ada and Rust - both are compiled (so have great performance) and are also safer than C. For Rust support see the "Awesome Embedded Rust" document (with a reasonably comprehensive but incomplete list of resources including rp2040 etc.). You can even use the even newer language Zig on the rp2040.

[@Bigman74066]

@@thecircuithelper Thanks for the reply! I would love the see a video on using free Pascal for programming these microcontrollers! Lets make Pascal great again!

[@MikePerigo]

Thanks for the info. Audio cues were a handy hint that you had added some hardly visible red text. If you are going to lose the audio please use a higher contrasting colour.

[@thecircuithelper]

Really interesting feedback, thanks!! I was struggling to pick a font colour I have to admit. The problem is the dark green mat with white lines on it in the background, this makes it difficult to see light text (due to the white lines) and dark text (due to the dark green), red seemed to stand out the most but I could tell it wasn’t great… in the next video I’ll experiment using a different coloured outline for the text, if that doesn’t work it’s time for a new background! Thanks for the comment and for watching!

[@HariWiguna]

Nice comparison video! I also like MicroPython. My current go to microcontroller is the ESP32-C3 Super Mini. They're about $1.50 also but you get WiFi and Bluetooth built-in.

[@thecircuithelper]

Thanks!! I just ordered a C3, looking forward to having a play around with it. I’ve used the S3 a few times, it’s really good, but overkill for most things!

[@JG-nm9zk]

No debug port? I would never end up using it unless it was my last micro controller.

[@thecircuithelper]

That’s a very good point! Most of the time my projects are not complex enough to require debugging, but when they do need it, they really need it!

[@zensesk8shenanigans]

I’ve messed up some small ESP boards in that format off Ali, but then I got some Seeed Studio XIAO boards, that come with a lot of different MCUs including the RP2040 and RP2350, and their build is a lot nicer than the minimal cost dev boards.

[@thecircuithelper]

Sounds great, another commenter mention Seed Studio, I’ll have to check them out! Buying boards from random suppliers on AliExpress is too hit and miss in terms of quality. Thanks for watching!

[@SusanPearce_H]

I have an RP2350, where the onboard LED has failed.

[@UKsystems]

It was snowing when they use a chip that is very good with other format the microcontrollers good however some chips are not so good with that and stay very clear of those

[@martinjones1390]

One physical difference on these smaller clone boards is the lack of the corner holes which can be used to screw / bolt the board to a base. How do you fix your clone boards to a base or do you just leave them hanging in mid-air? I know they don't weigh much but I would prefer them to be screwed down. Or.. do they have to be always mounted t a breadboard?

[@thecircuithelper]

Good point, hadn’t really considered that because I nearly always put them on a board, but I take your point. Even trying to film the video was tricky enough because the usb cable kept causing the board to rotate and move from where I wanted it to be!

[@SusanPearce_H]

I agree! I had settled on the RP Pico as my micro of choice but am now, (like you), changing to the RP Zero, with the remarkable Waveshare LED. The Zero is mainly superior in most respects for my needs.

[@thecircuithelper]

For sure! The only thing o might do differnt is buy the Zero directly from Waveshare, rather than random seller on AliExpress. Also, based on a few comments, I’m going to give the ESP32 C3 a try. Thanks for watching!

[@SusanPearce_H]

@@thecircuithelper For critical systems: yes. For hobbyist applications: it is worth the insubstantial risk.

[@thecircuithelper]

Definitely, to be honest there’s still a massive preference for the STM32 from industry! None of the companies I’ve worked with have entertained the idea of using an RP2040 or ESP32 in their products, part of this is inertia (i.e. they used them in the past, they understand them, so why change?), but also they are well designed, well documented, economical and are already used widely in critical applications…

[@IrregularShed]

It's not a clone, it's an RP2040 board. The Pi Pico is also an RP2040 board.

[@thecircuithelper]

Certainly, I was wrong in the video to say it’s a pico clone, I didn’t realise the pico was the name of the dev board released by RPi foundation. I’m now wondering if it is actually a clone of the rp2040-zero which is made by wave share? I certainly didn’t buy it directly from wave share, so suspect it could be a clone of their board!

[@dokols]

The slightest ever mistake of connecting it to several times the accepted voltage, or did I hear that wrong? :D The original pi pico at aliexpress is ~£3.5. I've tried variants of the rpis and the esps and arduinos and never really had any issues with any of them for what I've used them for.

[@thecircuithelper]

Well, I never even got to multiple times the voltage because it blew at 5.5V… I wondered why my heater was cold and my pico hot :) To be fair, 5.5 V is the absolute maximum Vin value stated in the data sheet so nobody to blame but me! I was rushing to wire things up and wasn’t thinking straight…. I’ve destroyed the inputs of more than a few microcontrollers in the past by connecting 5V sensors to their 3.3V I/O, particularly annoying if you’ve soldered the dev board directly to a PCB, I always use the pin headers these days!

[@jackflash6377]

So, I ordered a batch of ESP32-C3 and they seemed OK until I went to use the WiFi. Anything over 50% power would cause the WiFi module to shut down. Turns out the chip antenna they used is crap. Waste of money, waste of time.

[@thecircuithelper]

I’ve also had this with the C3… I thought it was working fine when it detected nearby WiFi hotspots, but as soon as I started trying to connect it flopped, frustrating. I don’t know if it’s just a bad batch and there are working versions out there or if they are fundamentally flawed!

[@autonoob]

@@thecircuithelperFWIW I get the c3superminis to connect to each other with espnow and bluetooth. I also get them to host a webpage. I don’t expect the range to be great though but having that functionality in such a small package is pretty great. Sometimes they’re a pain to get the code to upload though.

[@Jenny_Digital]

It’s possible as China does have a process node that small, but the question is, does it make them enough money. STM32s are very popular in large quantities, though I’m not so sure about the RP2040, which I adore. I’ll keep an eye out.

[@xpeng121]

You can get the RP2040 very cheaply if you buy a large quantity. About 0.65$ each if you buy 3600 piece.

Thanks for the review. But these audio cues are very annoying.

[@thecircuithelper]

Thanks for the feedback, I won’t use them next time 😃 thanks for watching!!

[@richardturnnidge]

Labelling this product as a 'clone' is a bit unfair. It makes it sound like a bootleg copy you buy down the market. The Raspberry Pi Pico is open source, including the board's circuit design, specifically so others can build their own modified versions. Obviously, RPi are still selling the original chips to the manufacturer here, but I think that is open source too.

[@thecircuithelper]

You’re absolutely right, one of the other commenters mentioned the same thing. It’s not a clone at all, the pico is the actual development board from the Raspberry PI foundation, and this board is certainly not a clone of it (indeed, it’s a significant upgrade). However, the board in the video might still be a clone, but of the Wave share RP2040 zero board (because I didn’t buy directly from wave share), difficult to tell for sure! Thanks for watching!

[@peterschets1380]

I have a ESP32-C3 OLED development board for 5 Euro. A OLED for a 128x64.

[@thecircuithelper]

Just bought one of those! Will make a video once it arrives and I’ve had a play around with it! Thanks for watching!

[@scorpionfpv6412]

These can be had from amazon usually if you buy them in a batch of 3 or more they are as cheap as aliexpress if you already have prime and delivered next day sometimes same day if you order enough

[@thecircuithelper]

That’s great know, I never checked Amazon as I thought it would be much more expensive than AliExpress! Will know for next time… thanks for watching!

[@tubeDude48]

1) I liked the video 2) It has a Reset button. That said, it's missing Wi-Fi, so that's the only drawback that I see, but for the price, I understand why it's not their. Since I have problems with YT's playing, I don't know if you mentioned the Reset button. Winner, Winner, though. 👍 I subscribed!

[@thecircuithelper]

Thanks for the positive feedback!! I never mentioned the reset button, but you’re right, it’s another significant advantage over the original pico board…. Please do check out the rest of my videos, I guess my recent ones are better than my earlier videos, which were basically recordings of my circuit theory lectures made during lockdown! Part of me wonders if it’s worth re-recording those now I know a little more about making videos! Cheers

[@tubeDude48]

@@thecircuithelper - I just looked on ALiExpress and it shows up as a: RP2040-Zero RP2040 for Raspberry Pi Micro-controller PICO Is that correct? I can't find one that doesn't have that Zero in it.

[@thecircuithelper]

That’s the badger, searching for RP2040 zero brings up the board I had, just make sure you find a seller that’s sold a lot and has good feedback (usual Ali rules), think the seller I found had >2k sales with a rating of 4.9. I went for a bundle deal and got a few other bits and pieces so the postage was reduced too! Good luck and happy experimenting!

[@tubeDude48]

​@@thecircuithelper - I re-watched your video, and at: 1:19, it DOES say: RP2040-Zero! That's what was throwing me off.

[@Jenny_Digital]

Just a word regarding fake microcontrollers, they _do_ exist. The most cloned MCU in the world is the STM32F103 series.

[@thecircuithelper]

Really interesting! I wonder if there are any fake RP2040’s yet? I guessed not because it’s made with a 40 nm process which is still relatively modern, but could easily be wrong! There’s certainly a lot of fake components around though and they are a massive pain. I bought some AliExpress logic level FETS for a recent video and they are absolutely garbage, need about 6V on the gate to get them to switch fully on. Thanks for watching and the interesting comment!

[@mikehibbett3301]

How how how do they make it so cheap?

[@thecircuithelper]

It’s a mystery to me too… from a UK supplier a single neopixel led can cost up to £0.5! Yet they are selling the RP2040 chip, with USB C connector, neopixel, flash memory on a well designed and made PCB for $1.5. I know economies of scale play a big role, but it seems unbelievable the price can be reduced so low through ‘mass’ production (the mass can’t be that high, microcontrollers are not that popular compared to some things!).

[@mikehibbett3301]

@@thecircuithelper For sure. And I've been an electronics engineer for 40 years, working in big companies like Philips. I can't explain this to young hobbyists who ask me!

[@Mr.Leeroy]

All the RP2040 boards on the market have terrible routing, signal integrity chaos and EMI hazard. They are indeed good value like e.g. YD-RP2040 with its 16mb flash, and better in designer choises than vanilla Pico (LDO, SO-8 flash, USB-C, reset switch), but the Pico is atleast passing certifications. They made a good chip, but a very strange board around it. E.g. instead lf wasting costs money on expensive castellated edge, they could do so much better with 4 layer design and two side assembly. Moral of the story, I encourage everyone for a great excersise of analyzing the mistakes made in all options on the market and just try to build a small batch of custom RP2040 breakout PCBs of your own and you'll surprise yourself with skills you gain on the way.

[@thecircuithelper]

Really great comment, I didn’t know about the signal integrity issues… mainly because I haven’t used the pico that much yet, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever even had a scope on it! Completely agree on trying to build your own dev board, it’s a great learning experience. I actually recently designed one for the RP2040 (done a few for the ESP), just as you suggest I put components on both sides and used four layers. I never actually had it made as soldering the RP2040 and flash put me off, need to invest in a hot plate before I try something that delicate! Thanks for watching!

[@M0UAW_IO83]

I use a lot of the RP2040 Zero boards and do like them but a lot of what you're saying here is either disingenuous, misleading or plain wrong. Functionally, the USB-C connector on the RP2040 Zero is absolutely no different than Micro USB because it's hard wired to only use one USB pair, GND and the 5V output so the lines needed (CC1 and CC2) to negotiate with a USB PD supply are hard wired for 5V only. However, those lines being hard soldered is a good thing because the LDO on the RP2040-Zero board is rated for maximum 5.5V input. If you try to feed it 9, 12, 15 or 19/20V from a USB-C PD supply or dummy board then it'll be toast in less than an Ohnosecond. So, to take advantage of the USB-C PD PSU you need a dummy board and a 5V or 3.3V regulator to feed the RP2040 and it needs to be capable of handling the voltage you're negotiating with the 'PD supply, you'd also need to do some really careful SMD soldering or use a USB-C PD board then work out how to get the USB data lines to the RP2040 from that board. That's absolutely no different to the official Pico. The original Pico is a lot easier to work with on a breadboard, the RP2040 Zero is a proper PITA to breadboard because of the oddball layout of the pins and if you need the extra GPIO they're in a really awkward place on the 'Zero with tiny pads (not a problem for me but a lot of people struggle to solder 0.1" headers). £3.90 P&P is not a rip off, but it's not cheap. Try buying from CPC, spend £18 with them and you get free delivery. BTW, the main reason you can buy from China for free delivery is the way the postal service works, they take advantage of the way international postage works and the UK post office effectively subsidises Chinapost to send stuff for free.

[@thecircuithelper]

Well I’d certainly agree with some of these points, but wouldn’t agree that most points in the video are wrong. I mean USB C and USB micro are functionally similar, they are both USB, but that doesn’t mean USB C doesn’t have a number of advantages because it is more modern. Regarding the power delivery point, it’s a fair point, but some power delivery boards include a 5V output. If an additional regulator is needed then it’s certainly easier to run a low power microprocessor via a step down regulator than it is to step-up 5V to power a peripheral that may need higher currents. Regarding the cost, for sure the pico can be found cheaper than in Pimoroni or Pi hut, but not much cheaper. Even excluding the postage, the official pico from a UK supplier (with headers, as they came with the AE board) is ~£4, that’s almost x4 more than the AliExpress board. I definitely agree the original is easier to work with on a breadboard, mainly because of the abundant ground pins. Also the additional io on the bottom of the rp2040-zero are all but inaccessible when breadboarding. But I hardly ever need so much I/o and typically make pcbs so the grounding isn’t such an issue. Thanks for the interesting comment and for watching.

[@joseph9915]

Mouser sells the RP made boards for £3.15 and you get free postage with a £33 min order. Both boards you show have no headers, and headers are really cheap from ali A buck/boost power module should be counted as a plus in a lot of cases and it would cost more. The size/form factor is going to depend on the use. Personally, I think being made in the UK a quite a big plus. A lot of stuff from China couldn't even be legally made in the UK because of safety laws. If you are buying stuff for a school or business wouldn't you have to be careful buying form Ali? Not that I don't buy stuff from Ali but I thought the video was a bit one sided.

[@thecircuithelper]

This is the one I ordered (I think): a.aliexpress.com/_EzZXtpQ it’s available with headers for £1.10 with free delivery if you get the bundle deal (which I think needs £8 worth of items to qualify). Just because the video didn’t show the headers, doesn’t mean it didn’t come with them, just not soldered on the board, which helps for postage I assume. Certainly for work related stuff, we can only buy from companies on our approved supplier list, which doesn’t include AliExpress (or Amazon). But I think for hobby projects where you only need a couple of boards and it’s not a disaster if Something doesn’t work, then you can’t really beat AliExpress!

[@Loki-innovator]

Bruh 😂, what's the Plus for you if it's made in the UK, obviously it improves the Original manufacturers and the Country that originated from. Other than that it really doesn't benefit an individual. The Size is a Massive upgrade, it allows more and more modules to be put in a compact manner. I am pretty sure these boards are made with good design safety and regulations otherwise they can't work properly, i know there are lot of Electronics and Electrical products have very poor safety regulations some might even kill people if not careful. But mostly people in this hobby have enough knowledge to know whether they can trust them or not. I think the Lower prizes drive people more into learning Electronics and do R&D without going broke, comes from a broke Electronics Hobbyist.

[@joseph9915]

​@@thecircuithelper The mcu is about £0.65 + the winbond Flash is about 0.25 Don't leave much for the rest. Wonder if the flash is cheap slow stuff?

[@joseph9915]

@@Loki-innovator Well I live in the UK, I just feel that if less and less stuff is made here that we are going to be stuffed if China decides to stop lending us the money to buy everything from them.

[@seanocansey2956]

Where are you buying Raspberry Pi Picos that they're costing so much? The RRP is only about £3-4 and the official ensures legitimate parts

[@seanocansey2956]

Also, I wouldn't call other official boards "clone boards" as they're using official parts, just different companies. I would say "clone boards" is when they copy the actual PCB layout (illegally) or use fake versions of trusted components. Just my 2 cents

[@thecircuithelper]

Yup, a few other comments mentioned that the board isn’t a clone, well… it’s not a clone of the Pi Pico. It might actually be a clone of the RP2040-zero developed by Wave Share, butI am not sure? For the price of the pico in the UK, there are slightly cheaper options available, but I’ve not seen with headers for less than £3 (maybe from Amazon in limited numbers). At work, I’d typically buy from RS/Farnell etc, which give a bulk discount and free postage when you buy a significant number, but still quite expensive compared to these AliExpress boards.

[@evanbarnes9984]

Dude putting three dollar signs next to the $4 Raspberry Pi Pico is a choice. That's already incredibly cheap. Like seriously, $4 is damn near free with the current value of the dollar

[@thecircuithelper]

No way, the Pi Pico with headers in the UK is £4.80 with a scandalous £3.90 delivery (from Pimoroni). I just checked now and I paid £1.99 for the rp2040-zero board used in the video and that includes delivery… that’s four times less expensive, I should have used four dollar signs 😂

[@Mr.Leeroy]

@@thecircuithelper what's not overpriced at Pimoronis?

[@thecircuithelper]

True, Pi hut is similar, it’s the postage that is the real crime… ridiculous to charge £4 to basically send a small letter that goes through the letterbox, could understand it if they had bulky packaging etc!

[@audas]

ESP32 Dev - just be careful with powering 2 devices that you don't blow it.

[@thecircuithelper]

Interesting - I’d not considered trying to power two simultaneously, what’s the issue? I can imagine with appropriate conditioning of the power lines and attention to grinding it should be ok, but have never tried!

[@audas]

@@thecircuithelper Sorry mate - peripherals. I attach Lora long range radio to mine and then also attach things like a relay so I can control something 2km (or more) away, such as turning on or off a tap or light etc. I use the 3v for the Lora and then the V pin for the relay and this is where things are blown.

[@asmotaku]

You know who won't benefit from those cheapo Chinese boards ? Those with astronomical tariffs... _leaves the room arms flailing_

[@_xX_me_Xx_]

neat

[@thecircuithelper]

Thanks for watching!!

[@JackJohnson-o4t]

The childish sounds are annoying.

[@thecircuithelper]

Thanks for the feedback, I’ll change things up for next time! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@HeathLedgersChemist]

Shit sound effects are shit.

[@thecircuithelper]

There are not enough shits in this comment for my liking. 🤣