Raspberry Pi Zero W Costs $10 and has Bluetooth and WiFi

If you are the sort who likes to tinker with electronics, Raspberry Pi has a new product that you might want to check out. The new product is called the Raspberry Pi Zero W and it is a version of the existing Raspberry Pi Zero that adds in wireless connectivity. This is about as basic as you can get with a Raspberry Pi board that has both Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

The board does lack a few things that you would need to go to the larger Pi to get, namely Ethernet port and full-size USB A ports. The really good news is that the Zero W is very cheap ringing in at $10. That is twice as much as the $5 original Zero that lacks wireless connectivity.

The WiFi chip on board the Zero W is an 802.11 b/g/n chip with 2.4GHz network support and Bluetooth 4.0. You can buy the Zero W starting today via distributors. The Zero W uses a BCM2835 single core chip clocked at 1GHz. The wireless chip used is a Cypress unit of the same flavor used in the Raspberry Pi 3 good for 150Mbps max and 20-40 Mbps average.

Other hardware features of the Zero W include 512MB of RAM, mini-HDMI and USB OTG ports, micro-USB power, 40-pin header, composite video and reset headers, and a CSI camera connector. That 40-pin header has no pins, you have to solder them on if you need them. Zero W measures 2.6″ x 1.2″ x 0.2″. A new case is also offered for the Zero W with three different lids to choose from.