Arduino Uno R4 Review - Best Arduino Board Ever?
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- The latest iteration of the Arduino Uno is out, the Arduino Uno R4. As the successor to the Uno R3, the new board uses a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 CPU alongside an ESP32-S3 which provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Add USB-C, a 12-bit DAC, and a 12x8 LED matrix then this just might be the best Arduino ever!
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This R4 wifi board is probably the best value Arduino board ever made. Most interesting part is the led matrix, they use charlieplexing instead of regular led driver ic, less bright and efficient but save a lot of cost.
Its a tough piece of gear. Idiot delivery man threw the package over my back fence and, since I didn't know it had been delivered it was out in the rain for 3 days. The cardboard was sodden so I dried it as best I could and left it on a warm shelf for 2 days. It works fine!
Weirdly the WiFi module is a lot more powerful than the ARM part 😁 I always wonder why they choose to do this - maybe just the number of I/Os.
I bought one of each here in the U.S. and the shipping was $3.50, no sales tax. I try to buy all of their new boards to support the ecosystem.
very helpful review
Some people asked why not just skip the UNO and going with Arduino Nano, or ESP 32, or other boards. Well, at least for me, it suits well: 5V connectors so it would still be compatible with my sensors, also now come with ADC so I don't need additional controller to control my actuator (needs 1-5V DC signal for control input), and also now it comes with neat LED to show any error or status for fast debugging. All in one 'package' that robust and easy for my project.
Those are all very good points 👍
Too bad there is no Arduino R4. It is either Minima (sans LEDs) or WIFI (which I never use and adds to compilation time a lot).
I was so disappointed when I discovered that my Arduino Uno WiFi rev2 board wouldn’t connect to the Arduino Cloud. I’m really looking forward to playing around with this one. I actually like that it doesn’t take up space on my breadboard.
What is the "best" Arduino always depends on your use case. 😊
Wouldn’t a downside be that some some existing libraries or projects might need to be updated to work on this rev?
Since there are other Arm Arduino boards, other ESP32 Arduino boards, and other boards with Wifi, then I guess it is a possibility, but rare I would assume.,
Shame there is no antenna socket on the WiFi.
Not big enough for me
I use megas only
The popular GRBL cnc controller can not be flashed to Arduino4 do you think it will be long before it can be used for GRBL?
If the GitHub dates are right, that project hasn't been updated in years. Also the description says, "The controller is written in highly optimized C utilizing every clever feature of the AVR-chips to achieve precise timing and asynchronous operation" which means it has special code that won't run on Arm-based boards. Since we have had Arduino Arm based boards for many years and no one has updated this project then it looked like it is gonna stay as it is.
Incompatibility with many existing libraries is a big problem at the moment judging by the posts on the Arduino forum. This will improve in time but right now is a big problem
Interesting, but surprising. This isn't the first Arm board, so I don't see why there should be library issues.
@@GaryExplains Specifically GRBL, it won't compile for the Uno R4.
The OP said, " many existing libraries" and that it "is a big problem". One CNC project doesn't seem to fit that description.
@@GaryExplains It is a non-SAMD board though. All former M0/M3/M4 chips were from Atmel/Microchip. You also need another compile core for NXP chips in the Microbit for example, which is ARM M4 as well.
Do you have any information on why the SPI bus is so slow on the Uno R4?
There is a great conversation about that here: forum.arduino.cc/t/uno-r4-poor-spi-performance/1143935/18
29.99/19.99€ R4 WiFi/Minima in Portugal @Mauser...
So basically this is just like connecting the ESP32-S3 to an Arduino R3 with improvements in the processor sector
I don't really understand what the LED matrix could be used for. Seems to be a gimmick.
Program it to display error codes for you, to see the problem immediately. Depends on how well you catch exceptions in your own code to log errors correctly. That's the only proper use I can think of.
❤❤❤❤
Uno is the best
It never was. We solely use Leonardo's for entry projects. So much better and cheaper as well.
Q: Can the Arduino Uno R4 be used to build a #TRUTH detector to regulate who uses which washroom?👍
🤔
If you have a ESP32-S3 on the board why you will program the ARM with M4 Core?
If you want a 3.3v ESP32 board then use one of those. If you want a 5v Arm board with a LED matrix, and Wifi, then get this. In that case just think of the ESP32 as a WiFi chip.
@@GaryExplains , I take always a ESP32 board when I need a lot of GPIO. For The smaller projects the ESP8266 is the right MCU cheep and fast enough and comfortable to program.
More then $ 5 is to expensive for a DIY project.
Indeed, use the board that fits your needs. Personally I prefer the Raspberry Pi Pico.
@@GaryExplains , Pi pico is a good choice
ESP has coffee-maker friendly compilation-times. I hope they just leave the ESP code untouched. Going from 8-bit Atmel compilation time to M4 ARM is already a huge time hog, if you add ESP RTOS compilation to that, it becomes unbearable. I really like to know how long a blink sketch first compile takes on the avarage i3 student laptop, no in class there are no 8-core i7's with 16GB RAM.
Uart shared bus and uart in and relayd to the other side
Why no princes in Pounds?
Why no prices in Pesos?
@@GaryExplains😂😂
My problem with the uno is its so big! After using a seeeduino xiao, every other board seems way too big
With all the Arduino boards that I have, I have only 1 UNO and that was the one that came in a training kit, many years ago, when I started with Arduinos.
Then I heard about the NANO boards and bought a couple to test, and just loved them.
Then, the Nano Every came out, that has a lot more memory and speed, and I loved that one. LOL
THEN, for a special project, I picked up a Leonardo board, which is also big. That was more for testing for that special project.
So during my "Arduino" phase, I bought only Nano and Nano Every boards.
THENNNN came ESP32! I watched a couple of videos and bought 2 to do some testing.
Well, I fell in love with those! LOL
So now, for tiny, quicky projects, I'll use the Nanos and for more robust projects, the ESP32 exclusively.
I don't ever see buying the over-priced UNO R4. While it may be nice, it comes off as gimmicky to me.
That LED matrix, I think, is just a gimmick. I mean, how many people would actually use that for real projects when a good project will be installed into a project case?!
The WiFi might be interesting, but for me, ONLY if the libraries support peer-to-peer communications using Broadcast. The ESP32 already does that and it works very well. It's also 1/4 the cost!!!
@@BlondieSLI think it's probably meant to fill the same role as your first uno: educational kits, learning the ecosystems. Could also be handy for protyping implementations, I could see the led matrix being helpful for early debugging.
@@xxportalxx. Good points
Will the esp32 support Now?
I am looking into that as the subject of a possible future video. For this board and the new Nano.
Of course it does
@@sagerdood Actually, I tried and couldn't get it to work on the R4. But I have made the video about ESP NOW on the new Nano.
With current price of Arduino R4 it is way too expensive for this low-spec. You can get several ESP32 from the same price. And ESP32 still has some winning category such as faster processor speed, higher memory, smaller form factor and more pins. It is only great when the price of Arduino R4 down to near the same as ESP32. And no, I don't need that built-in LED matrix. It is better to buy LED Matrix module separately (if needed) than to burden the buyer with this cost.
And there are tons of microprocessors (small Computer) like Orange Pi that is just double or triple the price of this Arduino but way far far more powerful (like GHz of multi-core processors and Gigabytes or RAM with Linux OS and HDMI display support). I know this is not apple to apple comparison as Orange Pi is already on different league with Arduino but hey, the price matters a lot. You don't pay for expensive things for Arduino. It supposedly not to be expensive, otherwise it enters different market, the market of complex microprocessors. In my country, I check that with the same price, I could buy second-hand Orange Pi Zero LTS with 512MB and 1.2GHz Quad Core + Wifi + USB + Audio and Ethernet socket.
I'd prefer to pay extra to support 🇮🇹
Low spec? Have you even reached their limit? If you are talking about specs and want fair price, then use STM32H7, it is a lot faster and keeps almost the same range of cost as an ESP32. WiFi? Use an external chip.
You live in the EU Gary?
Why do you need to know? 🤔😬🫣
@@GaryExplains I don't need to know, just you mentioned a shipping cost to (somewhere in) the EU from Italy.
@@kychemclass5850 That is right, I got that board shipped to an EU county.
@@kychemclass5850, there ist no TAX from Italy to another country in the EU.
@@viktorhugo8252 I'm not really asking about the tax (but there is actually 20% sales tax in Italy)
THE WORST EVER due to the lack of quartz on the onboard RTC.
20 munutes ahead -RTC EVERY day ......... no comment....
Why do anyone buy arduino when we have esp based boards?? Honestly I don't understand...
Quality, support, life cycle, supply chain, not coming from Communist China, to name a few...
@@GaryExplainsCountry of origin is extremely important.
@@GaryExplainsnice buddy. My thoughts exactly
Kids at school can compile for a 32U4 in a few seconds. For the ESP32 it can take minutes. Next....
If you need power, Teensy 4 is your friend. It destroys an ESP32 (10x as fast).
The downside list is far from complete.
- First there is the very limited power per pin. It goes back from 40mA to 8mA. That can barely power a LED.
- I think USB-C is a downside, not a plus. These boards get heavy treatment in classrooms. USB-B never breaks, and USB-micro is easily replaced upon student-fubar actions. Try replacing a USB C plug. Without reflow oven it is impossible.
- We default to Leonardos, and those still have some benefits: 12 ADC pins and no shared SPI with pin 10-13. USB behaviour and dual UART is on par though.
- But the MAIN DOWNSIDE will be compilation-time. Forget about 5 second compile-and-upload with the R4. It has to compile the frigging ESP RTOS and usually ARM chips are much slower to compile for as well. If a student has to wait 1 minute, we have lost their attention.
- And it is ugly.
No. The best arduino is Chinese knockoff arduino nano because of its footprint, versatility and library support. If you need Wi-Fi, buy just an ESP32 board for like five bucks, still would have a smaller footprint and two cores + all the peripherals
That isn't an Arduino but a Chinese knockoff, like you said. 🤷♂️
@@GaryExplains It appears from your comments that you do not buy or avoid at all costs, buying any "knockoff" boards of any kind from China.
I'm just curious, is it just political or did you have bad experiences with crap products?
Great videos! I just found your channel and like the way you present.
Thanks for that.
Cheers
Agree, Nano is the best for general purpose.
@BlondieSL I think you have misinterpreted my comment. The OP said that the best Arduino is a Chinese knockoff. I pointed out that Chinese knock offs aren't Arduinos, they are clones. Arduino is a company and a brand. They are made in Italy. I am glad you have found my channel. If you have time., take a look at my others videos, you will see several reviews of boards that come straight from China.
@@GaryExplains Ah! Thanks for that clarification.
That makes sense!
You are right about how most of us use the word, "Arduino" when actually referring to an
"Arduino Clone"! I'm very guilty of that too. LOL
Most of the "Arduino" boards I have are clones. I don't buy the official Arduinos because to me, they are over priced when I can pay 1/4 the price for a clone.
So far, the clones have worked perfectly.
Most of that is now a moot point as I've moved to ESP32 devices as most of my projects are more advanced than before.
I will be viewing your other videos. I suspect that you've posted some very interesting things.
Cheers
Found the guy that walks into a coffee shop and orders an "expresso" 🫵🫵
Why? Why so god damn rude?
@@wild-radio7373 Let me explain: My humour isn't to everyone's taste and clearly it didn't land with you
As well as not being funny, it isn't very accurate. I always assumed that Espressif was a play in the word Expressive, with the s/x and f/ve swapped. I guess I could be wrong.
@@GaryExplains sure, that much is obvious. But you're literally saying a different word to the one you're showing. As one who "teaches," I'm sure you can appreciate the need for accuracy when in a position of such responsibility. There are a lot of kids on here after all.
Imagine, for example, an English teacher who perpetuated the misuse of "Pacific" instead of "specific." Not the standard one would expect.
That said, I'm sad that you, and your acolyte, took such offense to a light hearted jibe, and I'll think twice before engaging with your content in future 👍
I am sure there are plenty of brands that aren't pronounced as they are spelt... Fiverr, for example, am I meant to pronounce it like a pirate with an extra "rrrr"? 🤣