🎉  Happy 13th Birthday Raspberry Pi!   🎂   1,000+ deals in store!   🥳
🎉  Happy 13th Birthday Raspberry Pi!   🎂   1,000+ deals in store!   🥳

Circuit Playground Express

by Adafruit

Circuit Playground Express is the next step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. Adafruit have taken the original Circuit Playground Classic and made it even better! Not only did they pack even more sensors in, they also made it even easier to program.

Start your journey with Microsoft MakeCode block-based or Javascript programming. Then, you can use the same board to try CircuitPython, with the Python interpreter running right on the Express. As you progress, you can advance to using Arduino IDE, which has full support of all the hardware down to the low level, so you can make powerful projects.You can even use code.org CS Discoveries to learn all about coding right in your browser!

Check out the detailed guide with a tour of Circuit Playground Express and details on getting started using MakeCode, CircuitPython, code.org CS Discoveries or Arduino!

Because you can program the same board in 4 different ways - the Express has great value and re-usability. From beginners to experts, Circuit Playground Express has something for everyone. If you are looking for the original, Arduino-only Circuit Playground, check out the Circuit Playground Classic.

    The board is round and has alligator-clip pads around it so you don't have to solder or sew to make it work. You can power it from USB, a AAA battery pack, or with a Lipoly battery (for advanced users). Circuit Playground Express has built-in USB support. Built in USB means you plug it in to program it and it just shows up, no special cable or adapter required. Just program your code into the board then take it on the go!

    Here's some of the great goodies baked in to each Circuit Playground Express:

    • 10 x mini NeoPixels, each one can display any color
    • 1 x Motion sensor (LIS3DH triple-axis accelerometer with tap detection, free-fall detection)
    • 1 x Temperature sensor (thermistor)
    • 1 x Light sensor (phototransistor). Can also act as a color sensor and pulse sensor.
    • 1 x Sound sensor (MEMS microphone)
    • 1 x Mini speaker with class D amplifier (7.5mm magnetic speaker/buzzer)
    • 2 x Push buttons, labeled A and B
    • 1 x Slide switch
    • Infrared receiver and transmitter - can receive and transmit any remote control codes, as well as send messages between Circuit Playground Expresses. Can also act as a proximity sensor.
    • 8 x alligator-clip friendly input/output pins
    • Includes I2C, UART, 8 pins that can do analog inputs, multiple PWM output
    • 7 pads can act as capacitive touch inputs and the 1 remaining is a true analog output
    • Green "ON" LED so you know its powered
    • Red "#13" LED for basic blinking
    • Reset button
    • ATSAMD21 ARM Cortex M0 Processor, running at 3.3V and 48MHz
    • 2 MB of SPI Flash storage, used primarily with CircuitPython to store code and libraries.
    • MicroUSB port for programming and debugging
    • USB port can act like serial port, keyboard, mouse, joystick or MIDI!

    Check out the detailed guide with a tour of Circuit Playground Express and details on getting started using MakeCode, CircuitPython, code.org CS Discoveries or Arduino!

    TECHNICAL DETAILS

    • Outer Diameter: ~50.6mm / ~2.0"
    • Weight: 8.9g

    Check out the detailed guide with a tour of Circuit Playground Express and details on getting started using MakeCode, CircuitPython, code.org CS Discoveries or Arduino!

    25 customer reviews

    7 months ago
    It's a very nice little gaming console with a decent display and an aluminium case that looks and feels quite sturdy and durable. You can find some games for it on the internet - but the real fun could be writing those by yourself. When I tried I found a reason that makes me write this four-star-only rating. To access the debug pins of the built-in RP2040 you have to open and remove the case. It would have been much nicer if there was one removable panel with those pins behind...
    by Thomas about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    7 months ago
    Well built, feels very premium. There's a decent little community making games for it, and it can run things like an NES emulator without too much issue. I am not currently a skilled enough C++ developer to make anything worth playing for it, but I did manage some basics reasonably quickly.
    by Ed about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    9 months ago
    I'm really impressed by what this tiny thing is able to do! I was able to write a simple game in a matter of hours... You can even upload a NES emulator on it.
    by Benoît about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    2 years ago
    An awesome system based on RP2040. Build quality is very solid and the device has a very nice weight to it. Battery life is also very good. Comes with a nice platformer pre-installed. I haven't made anything with it yet but look forward to adapting my Pico Display games to this one.
    by Mircea about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    I am very happy and also surprised, I received all the material in eight days from the order, congratulations! Everything arrived in perfect condition and Pimoroni products are always of excellent quality. Thank you!
    by Giuseppe about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Small, cute and very nice hardware. Especially aluminium body is great.
    by Anonymous about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Great device but haven't got it working on my linux mint install yet.
    by Daniel about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Very clicky buttons, bright screen and looks good in motion. The build feels very solid.
    by Matthew about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Very comfortable in hand. Seem sturdy enough to lend it to my small children. I am in the process of porting one of my web game to it. Very easy to program for it, or, if that's not your thing, to load the few available games on it.
    by Julien about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Amazing little gizmo. Really well made and feels solid. Need to learn about writing my own games and such for it but the hardware and possibilities are fantastic
    by Fiona about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    It’s a nice little handheld with a good sdk though I wish the debug pins were more accessible
    by Henry about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Simply amazing! The quality of this product is off the charts! The rest is up me, getting my programming skills to a level where I can make a game worthy of the system.
    by Luke about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    The ordering experience was very quick. The delivery to the USA was fairly quick using Royal mail during this time of Covid.
    by Gelsomino about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    This is an incredibly well made system. I hope to be able to develop some nice games with it.
    by Michael about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    First impression of the RP2040-based tiny game console PicoSystem is really positive. Ridgid build quality, robust FPS and responsive buttons!
    by Johannes about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Oh yeah going to get my game programming on. Default games on the Pimironi website are good too. 10/10 would recommend.
    by Rohan about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    System works well, instructions are good. I had issues with tool chain on windows for raspberry pico sdk. Once I switched to Debian in virtual box everything worked fine. I recommend using putty and ssh for programming to get copy paste functionality and winscp to copy files. The hardware is very well built and I highly recommend it.
    by Todd about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Amazing little video game machine in your pocket where programming is as easy as editing a text file on a USB drive!
    by Chipp about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    It looks like a commercial games device, it looks really good. Solid build and I cannot wait to start building games and apps for it.
    by Stephen about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    The build quality is extremely good. Especially the aluminium case makes it feel great. The screen has a good quality but it’s pretty small which kind of makes the charm of the PicoSystem. The 32blit SDK is great for developing own games and it has an active community behind it. There are also other SDKs available which I haven’t had experience with yet. Overall the PicoSystem is great for getting into retro game development.
    by Anonymous about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    A very cool little device. I love the metallic body and front plate.
    by Anonymous about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Great little device! It feels super solid and high-quality, and looks fantastic. The RP2040 is very nice so far, and importantly, both the PicoSDK and the PicoSystem SDK are very easy to use, especially the examples in the PicoSystem repo. If you've dabbled in retro console game dev, the PicoSystem is something like a GBA packed into the size of a GB Micro, and has similar limitations in RAM and ROM, just with a smaller screen (but roughly twice the pixels of the original GB at 240x240 vs 160x144), same button count as the original GB, a much faster CPU, and MUCH better documentation. Highly recommend it; it's a lot of fun.
    by Ulises about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Very nice build quality, but the game library is quite lacking right now.
    by Anonymous about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    Fantastic pocket-ready build, both C++ and CircuitPython ready. 32blit SDK has been great to work with so far!
    by John about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io
    3 years ago
    The fit and finish in the PicoSystem is outstanding and the SDK tools provided to get started provided everything I needed to start tinkering.
    by Matthew about PicoSystem via REVIEWS.io

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