Raspberry Pi Pico 2: a RISC-V bet!

The Pico 2 has Raspberry Pi's latest silicon, the RP2350. But there's more than meets the eye, like RISC-V and an additional PIO.

The Raspberry Pi Pico 2 tested in this video was sent by Raspberry Pi for review, they did not pay anything or have any input into the video's content, nor any review of it before it was published.

Find out more about the Pico 2:

Other videos and projects I referenced:

Contents:

00:00 - RP2040's successor
01:15 - What's new?
02:41 - RP2040's ubiquity
04:50 - Power problems
06:15 - Getting RISC-V
07:21 - RP2350's ubiquity

[JeffGeerling]

A few clarifications / updates:

You can actually use Arm + RISC-V—just, one of each core for a frankenmonster microcontroller. Can't use all four at the same time.

MicroPython has released two preview UF2s, one for the Arm cores, and one for the RISC-V cores.

As many have pointed out (thanks!) RP2040 was QFN-56, RP2350A QFN-60, so the pinout is slightly different (so not an exact drop-in replacement).

I don't know about ADC quality improvements or some of the other details many have asked about, so please check in on the Pi forums and in other reviews for more data—this video is meant to be a quick overview to introduce the things that mattered to me in my beginner-level use of microcontrollers :)

[drgusman]

I'm the dev of LogicAnalyzer, and already have ordered three Pico 2 to upgrade the project among other things :D

[RobotMan]

I do think it's important to mention that the Hazard3 RISC-V cores in this thing are actually designed by Luke Wren, to quote Raspberry Pi "currently a Principal Engineer in the Raspberry Pi chip team". They didn't just grab some open-source RISC-V CPU; arguably, they did the opposite.

[OrbisCenter]

A Pi Pico 2 was unexpected, but it's interesting that they're using RISC-V.

[pseudotasuki]

I want to point out that that Lego brick *does* actually contain an RP2040 and an OLED display. The cable coming out of the back is just the USB tether to supply power. It's an incredibly impressive project.

[Oronak]

I should buy one and add it to my project pile that never gets smaller for some reason

[RomansFiveDotEight]

"Until next time, I'm Jeff Geerling"

Who are you going to be next time? The suspense is killing me.

[jackhildebrandt]

Dang, I wish they'd put usb c on them. Still looks cool though! Excited about RISC-V

[damiendalla-rosa]

The M33 includes an FPU and basic support for double precision. This is a huge improvement.

[grizzlyrideemwet]

RPI website claims hardware divide, single precision floating point hardware, and DSP acceleration are implemented as part of the ARM M33 core. For some apps (such as FFTs) that I commonly use, those features mean more than the small clock frequency bump. Also, one more ADC channel. Will be interested in how those pan out in real world tests.

[SuperGamersTV]

ngl the Picoboy you mentioned in the video looks pretty sick! It's a really good price for a DIY console, especially with the discount code you provided in the description! 100% getting one! Thanks Jeff!!!

[orcu]

I did a raytracer for the Raspberry Pi Pico 1, and I was already impressed with the performance. I can't wait to test the same software with RPI Pico 2. I can't wait for that new amount of memory!

[IsmaelLa]

A great take on possible transition between ISAs. Great job RPi.

[anonymouscommentator]

i love this! ive always wanted to tip my toes into risc v programming and the barrier to entry has never been lower!

[devnol]

7:50 unexpected jeff beatboxing is always a +1 from me

[ShizukanaEntertainment]

The home labbing community is the best. Your channel and the ones you're mentioning here and others you've highlighted in your other videos have created such a healthy, friendly, supportive and creative echo system. Well done, all of you.

[PeterKrull]

I think it is also exciting that the new ARM cores come with a FPU, so any signal processing heavy applications will benefit greatly from that!

[angulo_]

While the RP2350 is the same size as the RP2040 is not a drop-in replacement. RP2350A uses a QFN60 package whereas the RP2040 uses a QFN56, meaning 4 more pins, plus the pinout is a little different.

[alexlefevre]

That's a really good idea to include the RISC-V cores *in addition* to familiar ARM cores. That's a beautiful way to lubricate the transition into a new world.

No USB C, though. I wonder why? It is physically larger which is the only reason I can produce to stick with micro USB.

[AerialWaviator]

Excellent outtakes! Thanks for taking the time to point out so many the cool RP2040 projects that have been made already.