Hi I'm Alex and welcome to "Super Make Something."
In today's Mini's episode, we take a look at the newly released Raspberry Pi Zero 2
W.
This episode is sponsored by PCBWay.
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When the original Raspberry Pi Zero released in November 2015 it was a big deal.
At roughly the size of a pack of gum, the Pi Zero contained a 1 GHz processor and 512
MB of RAM, giving it the same computational power as the full-sized Raspberry Pi B+ that
had released just a year and a half earlier, for only $5 USD.
The ante was upped again a year and half later when the Raspberry Pi Zero W released in June
2017.
This version retained the same tiny form factor and added 802.11 b, g, and n as well as Bluetooth
4.1 and Bluetooth Low Energy, which allowed makers to ditch their networking dongles and
create truly connected, embedded computing projects.
For $10 USD, the world now had access to a seemingly perfect single board computer that
could be used for anything from creating a handheld emulation console to internet enabled
motion sensors that would send a tweet to remind you to take your lunch to work.
Surely science had reached its limit...
Well, hold on to your hats, because the Raspberry Pi Foundation just announced the Raspberry
Pi Zero 2 W, a brand new single board computer that retains the networking functionality
and 512 MB of RAM of its younger sibling, but replaces the Broadcom BCM2835 System on
a Chip that has a 1 GHz single-core ARM 11 CPU with a Raspberry Pi designed SoC that
has a 64 bit quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, similar to the one found in the Raspberry
Pi 3 B+.
Running at 1 GHz and supporting Bluetooth 5.2, the $15 Pi Zero 2 W is a multi-core powerhouse
with better networking capabilities than its predecessors, making it the perfect single
board computer for your next project that requires a lot of compute in a tiny package.
But while these specs are good on paper, how do they translate to real world performance?
To find out, I ran some system tests.
After installing the latest version of the Raspberry Pi OS onto an SD card and configuring
the install for remote desktop access, I logged into each machine via SSH and performed a
series of benchmarks using the "sysbench" testing suite.
A single core CPU test completed in 238.1 seconds on the Zero W and 171.7 seconds on
the Zero 2 W, which decreased to 43.9 seconds when run in multi-core mode.
RAM performance is also significantly faster, completing in 5.2 seconds on the Zero W and
1.2 seconds on the Zero 2 W.
Finally, an integer counting test between 0 and 1,234,567 was also faster on the new
hardware, completing in 111.3 seconds on the Zero W and 37.7 seconds on the Zero 2 W. Impressive!
While the Zero line has arguably always been meant for embedded computing purposes, I also
checked the performance of the Zero 2 W running in desktop mode and was pleasantly surprised.
Those familiar with the Raspberry Pi Desktop will feel right at home and accessing menu
items and configurations felt a bit zippier on the Zero 2 W than its predecessors.
Web browsing using Chromium still causes the CPU usage to skyrocket though and tasks like
watching YouTube are a non-starter, but basic offline tasks like editing text files and
Python code no longer max out resources like they did in previous Pi Zero variants, which
makes using the desktop a much better experience.
While these tests only begin to explore the Zero 2 W's upgraded capabilities, they indicate
that this new Raspberry Pi is a worthy addition to the Zero line, which will allow makers
to create even more impressive projects than we could before in the same footprint that
we already know and love.
Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the Pi Zero 2 W and can't wait to explore the
capabilities of this board further!
A big thank you to Raspberry Pi for sending out the Zero 2 W for this first look video!
The board is available right now and can be purchased at any of the links in the video
description.
Do you have any projects that you want to build with the Zero 2 W?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Based on my early tests, the Zero 2 W is the perfect embedded computing platform for maker
projects.
I already have tons of electronics projects in mind for this board that I can't wait to
get started on, so be sure to follow me on social media for a behind the scenes look
of what I'm working on next!
Of course what would electronics projects be without custom circuit boards, so I also
want to say a big thank you to PCBWay for sponsoring this episode!
PCBWay manufactures super high quality circuit boards at great prices and I rely on them
for all of my PCB needs!
PCBWay boards ship super quickly, with my orders always arriving in less than a week,
and they recently added new soldermask colors including pink, orange, gray, and transparent!
Not only that, they also offer 3D printing, CNC, sheet metal fabrication, and injection
molding services, allowing you to create any project that you can dream up!
Be sure to check them out at PCBWay.com!
Well, that's all there is to this episode!
Thanks for watching, now go Super Make Something!