In November 2015, the Raspberry Pi range expanded with a new board that was so cheap it was included for free on the front of the MagPi magazine. After that issue promptly sold out, the Raspberry Pi Zero was offered for sale for just $5.
However, to offer a single board computer for the same price as a coffee didn't come without compromises. The Zero lacked some key features of the more expensive Pi models, including wireless. Today, to help celebrate the Pi's 5th birthday, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is fixing that problem with the introduction of the Raspberry Pi Zero W.
The Zero W doubles the price to $10, but in return for the extra cash it includes wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.1. In doing so, it aims to solve the dongle problem. The Pi Zero only includes one USB port and it was being used to attach a dongle so as to plug in all the required peripherals to use the board. The Zero W removes the need for a dongle (and for less than a dongle costs) allowing you to interact wirelessly with the board for most tasks, including Internet access and keyboard and mouse control.
The spec of the Pi Zero W is as follows:
- 1GHz, single-core CPU
- 512MB RAM
- Mini-HDMI port
- Micro-USB On-The-Go port
- Micro-USB power
- HAT-compatible 40-pin header
- Composite video and reset headers
- CSI camera connector
- 802.11n wireless LAN
- Bluetooth 4.0
80,000 units have been made available for the launch today and a further 25,000 will manufactured every week going forward. There's also an official case to purchase, which fits both the Pi Zero and Pi Zero W. It ships with three interchangeable lids (blank, GPIO access, and camera variants) and a short camera adapter flexi cable and rubber feet.
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For most people, the larger and more expensive Raspberry Pi 3 Model B is the better choice if they intend to use the Pi as an actual computer running Linux. The Pi Zero variants are aimed at projects where it forms the brains of some other device, be that an electric skateboard, weather station, or miniature arcade cabinet to name but a few. Also keep in mind you will need to buy accessories, which is why Raspberry Pi starter kits are so popular.
The Raspberry Pi Blog includes details of where to purchase a Pi Zero W from, with shipping available to the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Turkey. Some online retailers will ship to other parts of the world.