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

Picade X HAT USB-C

by Pimoroni

Turn your Raspberry Pi into a retro games console! Picade X HAT includes joystick and button inputs, a 3W I2S DAC/amplifier, and soft power switch. Nice!

Picade X HAT is now Raspberry Pi 4 compatible, with USB-C power!

This HAT has all the same great features as the original Picade HAT but now has no-fuss female Dupont connectors to hook up your joystick and buttons.

Simply pop Picade X HAT onto your Pi, plug a USB-C power supply into the connector on the HAT (it back-powers your Pi through the GPIO, so no need for a separate power supply), wire up your controls, and install our driver! It's ideal for your own DIY arcade cabinet builds, or for interfaces that need big, colourful buttons and sound.

We'd recommend also picking up one of our new Picade wiring looms to go with Picade X HAT. It has all the cables you'll need to connect up buttons and a joystick (with 5-pin connector) to Picade X HAT.

Features

  • I2S audio DAC with 3W amplifier (mono) and push-fit terminals
  • Safe power on/off system with tactile power button and LED
  • USB-C connector for power (back-powers your Pi)
  • 4-way digital joystick inputs
  • 6x player button inputs
  • 4x utility button inputs
  • 1x soft power switch input
  • 1x power LED output
  • Plasma button connector
  • Breakout pins for power, I2C, and 2 additional buttons
  • Picade X HAT pinout
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi computers with 40 pin header
  • Python library

The I2S DAC blends both channels of digital audio from the Raspberry Pi into a single mono output. This is then passed through a 3W amplifier to power a connected speaker.

The board also features a soft power switch that allows you turn your Pi on and off safely without risk of SD card corruption. Tap the connected button to start up, and press and hold it for 3 seconds to fully shutdown and disconnect power.

Software

We've put together a simple one-line installer that'll get everything set up on your Picade X HAT, the controls, safe shutdown, and audio. Open a terminal and type curl https://get.pimoroni.com/picadehat | bash to run the installer. You'll need to reboot once the installation is complete, if it doesn't prompt you to do so.

Notes

With USB-C power connected through Picade X HAT you'll need either to tap the connected power button or the button marked "switch" on the HAT to power on your Pi.

41 customer reviews

4 months ago
i bought these to replace one where the usb connector broke off. I could not find another connector to fit. These new ones are stronger.
by Kent about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
4 months ago
I already have 2 of them, one for the Picade 10" and one for a Picade Console. On the Picade 10" I switch the Pi 4 to a PI5 with NVME and it still work just grat. On the Picade console the USB connector has detached from the board. After creating a support ticket with a picture Pimoroni immediatly decided to send me a new hat for free. I really appreciate them, for their products, for their forums, for their support... for everything. They are just cool. :) I recommand of course this product.
by François-Xavier about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
8 months ago
It works well, but that PCB-mounted USB-C power socket is definitely a weak point. It's why I just bought a replacement...
by Richard about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
10 months ago
This was prompty mailed off to me, to replace a defective unit from my original order. This one works well and all is to spec. Thanks Pimoroni!
by Charles about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Got my Picade X HAT as part of the full cabinet. Very easy to set up when following the instructions, but as with these type of things connecting everything up does require a bit of dexterity. The USB-C power connector came off mine on first use, but the replacement was here in a couple of days and has worked perfectly since. Dealing with issues is the mark of a great company and Pimoroni just got this sorted with no issues at all.
by Richard about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Managed to get my picade up and running, instructions were clear, nice way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon
by Anonymous about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
The one-liner installer works well on a clean install of Retropie. The amp is just enough to drive a T1-2121SD
by Pablo about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
2 years ago
Come molti altri prima di me, ho speso ore a tentare di far funzionare l'audio... senza peraltro riuscirci... la versione precedente era decisamente meglio, anche perchè per controllare il volume metteva a disposizione due pulsanti fisici mentre nella versione X-HAT il tutto dovrebbe avvenire via software... Pessimo acquisto.
by Marcello about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
3 years ago
Upgraded my original Kickstarter Picade and needed this for Pi 4 compatibility. Works the charm- only wish is that audio was stereo. Other than that, it works well and was an easy upgrade! Recommended
by Chris about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Bought a replacement hat for my sons picade because the original was accidentally damaged and had to be replaced. Pimoroni supplied the replacement extremely quickly the day after ordering so it was back up and running straight away. An absolute pleasure to do business with this company and I look forward to buying more tinkering supplies in future.
by Nick about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Works perfect, very easy to setup, connecting all buttons, joystick and all has been as easy as it gets. Plus the on/off switch is a real treat compared to the old plug / unplug you're used to with the Raspberry Pi. Would recommend 100% !
by Anonyme about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
4 years ago
Only really works if you want one controller. Tried to pair with a player X and they would not play ball! Had to order another player x to get it to work. Also won’t allow me to use 3.5mm jack any more. Now it’s just a glorified power switch!
by Aaron about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
This is a brilliant controller board for our arcade project, and makes it really easy to connect everything. We haven't tested it yet but it is a great board.
by Rodney about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
Worked great, and even with covid shipping was really quick, Would purchase again.
by David about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
5 years ago
Great service. My item was delivered next day after the order was placed. I would recommend them to order from/
by MARK about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
An excellent bit of kit! I paired it with RetroPie and my 1980s Competition Pro joystick to create my own little piece of 8-bit gaming heaven...
by Paul about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
This is a great little board! I wanted to power a Pi and Pi Display in a SmartPi case with USB-C for a bit more power and this was available at an opportune time. The +/- are placed with just enough space to solder a right angle connector and feed wires through the case to the display. Still waiting to get hold of a PSU but this is working well off a bench supply. Software was easy to install, and the IO will come in handy for any controls I want to add to my project.
by Richard about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Ottima scheda per realizzare velocemente una stupenda consolle di gioco ! Eccezionale!
by Paolo about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io
6 years ago
Fast delivering nu air mail . Solide and proffessinal material . Runs perfect .
by Rob about Picade X HAT USB-C via REVIEWS.io

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