Raspberry Pi Pico Clone with 16MB Flash, USB-C, Neopixel, and More!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Clones of the Raspberry Pi Pico have started to appear for sale. These clones offer more features, for less money. But are they truly compatible? What extra features do you get? Let's find out.
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Just for the Type-C connector, I would prefer the clone board. I hate micro-USB plugs, they are just too flimsy and breaks way too soon.
I couldn't agree more!
True, both male and female easily breaks
I would even pay MORE for a USB C version. Its baffling to me that there are electronic things that come out still with micro USB, when clearly the cost difference is basically negligible, even if they passed that cost down to the consumer, it clearly isn't that much if this board is only $5
@@toyvo I'd totally pay $10 for a RPi Pico WH with USB-C and extra flash memory. TBH I'd probably pay that for a Pico H or Pico with those features
Sometimes I find myself going down the conspiracy theory track. I get upset when they use older USB connection types as inevitably I have to buy a new connecting wire. And they all seem to come with a minimum of 1 or maybe 2 metres of wire!! a complete waste, but an excellent moneyspinner for the companies producing the connections. "USB C is King. Long live the King!" ( p.s. Arduino is still churning out boards with USB B-type connections!!!!!)
Is there an original firmware (current) changed to recognize the 16 MB, because it only detects 2MB with the original one. I had to use the Pomodori Lipo 16MB to see the other ones, but I would like to have the original firmware only updated for the 16MB. Do you have any hints for this?
VCC-GND Studio is the original designer and manufacturer of this RP2040 based Raspberry Pico clone black board. It uses an LDO regulator instead of a buck-boots converter; it is a very low dropout voltage regulator still good for a Li-Ion or LiPo battery (up to 3.4V). The advantage of the LDO is a massively reduction in power consumption in sleep and dormant states.
Yes, and much less noisy power source, especially when you are trying to use the ADC. This is a well-designed clone, USB-C, a good LDO, bigger flash memory.
GPIO pinouts are printed on PCB. MUCH BETTER!
Fantastic, love the USB-C connector. For my future projects, definitely going with something like this.
Is it really a clone if it has the original chip? Anyone can buy the RP2040 and put it in a dev board; it doesn’t require any reverse engineering or IP license violations as far as I know.
Does look like a nice board though. I know the pico went with micro USB for cost and available cables but it still feels backwards.
I think it "might" qualify as a clone of the Pi Pico (with some added features). Only of the board though. Just like Arduino clones, the processor and software are the same. The only thing being cloned is the board.
I’ve successfully use a couple of these with Pimoroni’s Pico RGB Keypad Base without any issues. You get extra memory, user button, a neopixel and much better usb C which is better for repeated connection/disconnection. I found they arrive a lot quicker (< 2 weeks) if you order multiple boards at a time.
One thing to note is they are wider than a regular Pico and will overhang pins/connections on some prototype boards.
I have not used these, but with similar I have used two proto boards side by side and used the module to bridge between the boards.
Pin spacing the same but yes the pcb itself is 2.8mm wider. A small price to pay for having readble gpio labels on the top surface though, an feature, not a bug ;)
I would love to find any Pico W, original or clone.
I bought one, the only difference I noticed that may cause incompatibility is:
The 3v3_EN pin was disconnected from GPIO 23 so you can no longer control the SMPS but the pin instead controls the NeoPixel.
USB-C is negative side, where have gone good ol' mini-USB?
Just wanted to throw out a little tip to make life during a USB transition easier and that is: Adapters. I got these great USB-C to USB Micro and USB Mini adapters that use jewelry clasps to fasten to the cable and they are amazing. No more digging for older cables when I am working with a board like a Pico or an Arduino Nano. I wish they made a USB-B one. Stupid Uno and it's ancient connector.
I will go for whichever has pre-soldered pins, I have no loyalty to whose the make of which board. But I am rubbish in soldering, especially with the condition I have, I can barely solder 4 I2C pins but I shorted few MCU boards trying to solder. This is why I swore with ESP32, most are soldered, here's a thought, do one short episode on Pico W and who sells clones of W and with header pins soldered.
When buying Arduinos, I opt for clones because of the price. If there weren't these clones available for tenth of the price, I would have been more cautious when using them and many smaller projects could have been left undone.
Raspberry Pi Pico is already so cheap, there is no huge reason for me to go with clones to save money. But if there are variations with USB-C, battery management etc, I can consider buying them instead.
In most cases you're not actually using "an arduino" so much as the Atmel chip family that powered the arduino in any case.
There also pico boards that are smaller like the tiny 2040 from Pimoroni.
Yes, there are lots of RP2040 boards out there including one from Arduino and also the Challenger 2040 WiFi (which I reviewed recently). However they aren't clones, they are unique boards in their own right. This board is pin for pin compatible with the original Pico, which obviously a tiny board wouldn't be.
What could you POSSIBLY do with 16MB of flash?
I can confirm that Version 2022-1.3 needs R68 bridged for the NeoPixel to work. I bought 2 boards recently and both needed the bridge.
Mine works fine as is
hehe, it is not R68, it is misspeled RGB
@@davidmarks509 Was your board already bridged?
Exists also a very similar board "WeAct RP2040", with 16 mb of flash, with one small difference - 3.3v output on 4-th pin fron right side, not on 5th... And no NeoPixel LED there)
I would consider buying one of these if they were considerably cheaper or RPF Picos were unavailable. I would describe this board as a "re-design". I'm obviously not in marketing. A marketing guy would call it a "re-imagining".😉 Thanks for the video!
A sensible marketing guy would not call it a "re-imagining" when selling to this market; "A compatible re-design with additional features and memory size for a better price." It sells itself really.
I am struggling to make the WS2812 RGB led work on the YD-RP2040 board. Am I supposed to solder the two R68 resistor pads to connect them with the GPIO23? In my board, both pads are not connected but I have read, the Neopixels routine is working for them if these pads are soldered. Also the photos online seems to have a bumpy soldering. Just curious what the experience of other owners might be. Any help will be much appreciated.
yeah you have to solder those two points. I just discovered it by searching online. I really don't understand why he didn't mention it on the video, I also don't understand why they didn't just send them with the connection soldered.
Well, we didn't see the back of the board. Is it empty so that the board can be soldered to a main-board?
The clone Pico also lacks castellations In favour of pin-labels, so connecting to a main board would have to be by header or wires/pins.
The mounting holes are absent, probably because of the wider USB-C , still a good trade-off in my opinion. What were the RPF thinking not implementing USB-C?
The Debug connector also appears to have a dedicated Earth (0V) pin added, a good idea.
So, not a replacement for all existing projects, but an overall improvement, though I would prefer castellations to labels, personally.
If you insist on castellations, you could try and sand the edges down (if there's no traces on the outside edge of the pins). Fine enough sandpaper should keep the edge smooth and the plating intact. :)
if the original Pico had a reset button I would keep buying it. But I’m going to place an order for a handful of the ones you described. I don’t mind the USB micro connector too much but I mind it a lot when you have to plug and unplug every time you want to reset the board!
Pimoroni do an add on, on board reset switch for the Pico:
shop.pimoroni.com/products/captain-resetti-pico-reset-button?variant=32397466239059
Have fitted these to my Pico's, apparently won't fit a Pico W, Wi-Fi module in the way, have never tried.
You could solder in your own reset button but not as tidy.
Get a USB cable that has an On/Off switch built into it.
To answer Gary's question:
Since (all) the clones are based on original design/drawings from RPi Foundation, the RP2040 chip itself will be the original one (hard to clone this, right?) and other components that were present in the original design should be basically the same (BOM is included in public design files) => I wouldn't expect any issues related with the RP2040 itself (oscillator, power, USB compliance, ...). However, the more "changed" the clone is, the less trust I would have. No one wants his RPi Pico project to random reboot occasionally.
For critical projects I would choose the original only.
It's probably just too soon for clones to show up, but I won't be surprised when they actually show up.
I doubt that it would be terribly hard, as such. It's just an arm design
For "serious projects" they simply use the chip itself without all the extra stuff that's on the development board which might not even be needed in a real application. That's why it's called a "development board", it's meant to be used only for the development phase, not in a real product.
@@stratos7755 RP2040 is one of the cheapest uC on the market, cheaper than Atmega8. With such low price threshold, you'd had to plan wisely if you want to clone cheap uC and compete with it on the market
I like to support the Raspberry Pi Foundation, so, for onesie-twosie where I don't need extra memory and don't have a use for the Neo Pixel, I would buy the original. Obviously, if my app is bigger or the project is focused around small and the Neo Pixel or I really needed the USB-C,, then my choice is made. Also, if the price difference holds up at scale, even a modest production run may lead to the clone (also something being sold or given to others these days should probably go for USB-C.
Even with the clones you will still support the foundation as they use the original chip
I am delighted we have these choices. Obviously the ESP32 and Arduino dominate this market but RPI users will chose the Pico or clones.
Well, there is a fairly simple solution. Just donate to the foundations if you use clones.
As you can see with the price difference the margins are razor thin anyways. So small donations pay for lots of boards.
I rather pay full price. Just order a true Arduino MEGA once, and you are sold. I buy for schools, and we just want good stuff, that contributes to development and is made in proper working conditions in Italy or the USA (Adafruit Metro M4 boards are so much better than Pico's).
I also have some of these boards. It seems the ADC isn't working as expected though. The original pi always hfs a bit of noise and therefore never reads 0, this board does, but when applying _any_ voltage it doesn't read anything. Connecting ADC_VREF with the ADC pin results in an obvious 100% reading, but even when releasing the voltage the reading stays at 100%. This absolutely isn't how it behaves on a original Pico. Maybe I'm doing it wrong though 😅
The picture describing the pins on the Ali express site also seem to suggest that ADC_VREF == VBUS, I don't have enough knowledge to see if this is a problem.
Ah, nevermind. The VREF connection on the board has to be soldered to close the connection to the ADC_AVDD pin of the rp2040, similarly not understandable as R68 for the Neopixel ...
Great video Garry
nothing wrong with buying cloned boards -never had any trouble using them and they thend to be cheaper
I already bought some of those clones some month ago, because they were easier to get than the original Pi Pico.
I don't think it really matters to the foundation in any case. The Pico board is simply a delivery system for the rp2040
Thanks for this video. I've used Pi Picos since they were first available, but I just bought one of these 16Mb flash clones from Ali Express for £1.69 ($2.17) with free shipping on orders over £8. It took just 8 days to arrive, so we're really in a different ballgame now in terms of price and availability. Naturally, Ali has zero documentation so your video was most welcome, if only to learn which GPIO pins were connected to the USR button and the Neopixel.
Is there a datasheet for this clone? How did you know where the peripherals (LED, buttons) are connected?
Yes, it's a clone, but the chip is original, so in some sense, it's not a clone! The pi foundation might even still make a small margin from the chip?
Would you say the same thing about the Arduino clones that use original Atmel chips?
@@GaryExplains I guess so. It's a pretty silly point I'm making though. I can't think of a better name than clone for pin compatible boards using genuine, identical chips! Re-issues perhaps?
Interesting.
They propably are taking the cheapest USB connectors available on the market, which most times are decaying ones.
Hi Gary & everyone.
i bought a clone one with type C connector and 16 MB.
but the pinout on the board is different than the original.
on one side, it goes from GP0 - GP17 with 2 GND in between.
on the other side it goes from GP18 to GP29 along with VBUS, RUN, 3V3 etc.
should i follow the GP written on the board? or match it pin to pin with the original?
$5 is the same price as a locally produced 200g butter here, how utterly out of whack has the world become?
Salted or unsalted butter?
I would have taken WIFI instead of the NeoPixel. The rest is great. BUT I also need other developers to USE the 16MB Flash, I feel I don't have enough programming skills to make any use of it...
AND ... AND ... of course really I am waiting for the Raspberry Pi 5 (FIVE).
No wireless and it's going to be difficult to produce a "W" version given how crowded it is already.
Yes, this is a clone of the Pico, not the Pico W. So no wireless on the Pico either. If you are looking for an RP2040 based Pico W alternative with WIFI then check out my review of the Challenger 2040 WiFi board.
interesting video as always 👍
great walkthrou of the board.
Thanks for sharing your expirences with All of us 👍😃
By a few originals and pack them away as collector items, then buy and use the clone. That way you support the real innovators, but still get to play with something a little more user friendly.
I fully agree. I myself developed a clone to use with an expander card with keyboard, mouse, audio and VGA. Manufacturing, schematic and testing files on my channel. I accept proposals for the development of electronic projects.
I bought the Raspberry Pi Pico W from Raspberry Pi themselves as I wanted to understand their idea, their intentions, what the pico w can do and what it can't do, how much the company saw, and essentially that the Pico W is mainly just the RP2040 with a wifi module. Their focus is without a doubt on the chip, and to be fair to them, I would rather that. Pros and cons can only come from experience with the board, and such features like usb-c shouldn't be the main reason to start with for getting a clone board. Rather, that you have used the micro-usb microcontroller board before and you know some form of hassle associated. In addition, features such as wifi and sd card functionality embedded are features that you would only really know if you make use of those features. Having to buy an sd card module to add to my project highlights that need for a clone to exhibit for me to buy, while I used the WiFi module so that's a no brainer. I think buying from them directly to start lets you as the customer understand a whole world of embedded systems and services when you break down the product and understand each of the components. It sure has started a journey for me :)
The Neopixel doesn't work out of the box, for anyone that bought one and can't figure out why that damn thing won't light up it's because you need to solder two points on the board to actually use it. It's not hard, just look on the board where "R68" is printed, under that there are two little exposed solder point. Just join them and it's done. I wasted 3 hours trying to understand why that little shit didn't want to work 😭
That isn't true for the board I got, it worked out of the box.
Thanks for commenting!! It was an hour frustration until I saw this. I got my pico from a Chinese Ebay store and I had to bridge the R68 connection for the neopixel to work. Why do they do that!!!!????
mine did turn on on the first boot but when I flash is stops working
Where are you buying your Pico from? Here in India I can buy one for $3.9-$4
The prices are higher in Europe.
Yeah this is not a clone, you can clearly see large differences between it and the pico. This is just another dev board for the rp2040. A clone would be if they took the board files for the pico and just got those manufactured and sold them, that isn’t what they did though since you can see a different layout, connector and extra buttons and a neopixel as well as the extra flash.
The raspberry pi foundation also released a hardware design guide and sells the rp2040 chips themselves, they want people to make other dev boards, like the pimoroni ones. Just because this is a similar form factor and pin compatible doesn’t mean it is a clone (by that logic any board that uses an arduino uno style header is an arduino clone, which isnt the case), it’s not like an arduino nano clone where the layout and functionality is identical.
I’d still get the original artist (the OG) just because I want to be part of the herd.
I support the originals until the prices become too different with no offsetting benefits. A couple of dollars profit don't bother me, but I begin to balk at about 50% extra or $5.
Maybe everyone should buy at least one of the original boards to help support and encourage R.Pi Foundation and then clones for the other features when those features are needed.
The clone uses the original chip so its not 100% unethical
I am fairly certain that the Rpi foundation encourages these kind of boards. They do make their money on the RP2040 chip after all :)
Yes, but it does need a mix. There are a lot of Raspberry PI wannabes who fail not because their hardware is poor but their software and support is poor. Asus made the Tinkerboard, it's not RPI compatible but it's the same market. The problem is it does not have the following or the support but is potentially something we'd all appreciate. These pico clones will have an easier time because they don't need their own separate ecosystem.
I'm having a problem programing a .py can someone confirm the interpreter settings for micropython? Please and thank you.
I'll be swayed when I can get a Pico W clone ;) I'm happy to hear ESPHome will be adopting the Pico W.
They’ve got em
Chinese clones are cheap and ok for learning purpose ONLY! Don't ever make the mistake of using it for Industry projects.
if i would like to buy low amounts of Pi pico then i would go for raspberry foundation. If i would need many of thoose picos then i would go for clones.
If only there was a way to clone the Zero 2 W...
one question gary, is uploading code go to the flash chip? and how to check the flash size of the chip. i am quite new to this
How about buying one of each? They are cheap enough. Use the original whilst waiting for the clone.
do we use pico w or regular pico micropython fimware for these clones?
Regular
@@GaryExplains thank you sir! appreciate ya!
Where do you get the 16mb version of the MicroPython for this board?
I have 4 in house and 2 on order of the RPi-2-pico-W (Pico W). I just ordered 2 clones with RP2040 TYPE-C 16MB
after watching this. Thanks Gary.
This is a trap for young player : when you list price on ali express always give the price SHIPED !! It's a like a sport on this platform to sell you a 15$ item for just 1$ ... with 14$ shipping. The amount they allocate to "price" and the amount they allocate to "shipping" are pure marketing decision. The reality is there is an overall price including shipping and this is what really mater. So in your instance it's not 5$ but almost 7$ witch is HIGHER than the price of a real one locally sourced !!! That common practice on yt to only give "price" excluding shipping has to change to take that now very common marketing practice in consideration.
Yes, the shipping calculations can be a bit tricky, but I bought several items from the same store that all came in one package, so the $2 shipping covered all the bits I bought.
@@GaryExplains ok so when you buy more you get a rebate. And does that change the unity price ? no
🤦♂️
I *just* bought one, the exact same type as Gary showed (perhaps from a different seller).
It was Cdn$7.48 all-in, which Google tells me is US$5.79. To be crystal clear, that's all-in shipped.
It's not too difficult to figure out their tricks, and search around them to find a good offer.
Yes, you do need to be careful, as (for example) the shipping cost can triple when selecting Qty 2. If so, order two with two separate orders.
It's like an IQ test, and one needs to be cautious. Not hard.
PS: Shopping locally can easily cost a few dollars in gasoline, so...
If I do a "one off" design solely for my own use, a clone is fine. On the other hand, a project that I consider publishing and hope that other users may find useful I would build around the official Pico. Clones pop up and disappear a lot faster than the original products so to make sure my design doesn't rely on the properties of a specific clone it's better to stick with the original.
I have one and its got nicescreen printing on the top and bottomfor all the pints SUPER NICE.
Not 100% compatible I'm afraid, at a minimum, it needs to be the same size and have the mounting holes.
Also is the PWR LED always on? If so this is a hinderance for low power projects, and it's power consumption will be different.
So it should be designed so that the power LED can be disconnected.
I'm always surprised with many Chinese modules/boards, they do 99% of the work, and fail at the last moment,
it's almost as if the designer has no idea of how the board is going to be used.
Can you disable the power LED on the original Pico?
@@GaryExplains The original Pico doesn't have a power LED.
Doh! My bad! 🤪
Out of interest, how much power does a power LED of that size/type consume?
@@GaryExplains
I've used the ESP32 a lot, most of these boards come with a power LED fitted, some of the best ones allow the LED to be disabled.
If you build devices that you want to run for months or years off of a battery, that utilise light and deep sleep modes, the power LED can be the most wasteful device on the board. I have cut them off of the board.
Andreas Speiss has some good videos on youtube about this subject.
I've always bought and preferred clone boards. Never had any issues with them and they tend to offer more features. If the original manufacturers want me to buy from them they should at least offer the same utility as the superior clone versions.
Indeed. I could never find a reason to buy the _official_ boards over board from ttgo for instance.
I always buy original to support the original project.
If you didn't support the original projects you limit their ability to innovate. I buy clones sometimes when I need a special feature, so clones have their place, but 90% of my boards are original.
@@ernestuz Originals are often way overpriced or have since slowed their innovation to a crawl (looking at arduinos here)
In the case of 2040 boards or esp32 boards you _are_ supporting innovation though because the actual chips come from the companies innovating.
When you buy the original it does help them which in turn helps you when they bring out new products. However it's a more direct benefit to you if you just buy the one that suits your needs and budget best.
Where is your github repository?
Type "Gary explains GitHub" into Google it will be the first result.
beware of clones with Z-flash memory chip installed, esp. with 4mb one
Only snag is the official Firmware does not support 16Mb. Is the large memory a Gimmick?
I assume you mean the MicroPython firmware? If you are using the Pico C/C++ SDK then you can access all the flash.
Ничего не понял, но очень интересно))
A huge downside of the clone is, in my opinion, that it only has through holes for pin headers. I don't know how it is called, but I really like the possibility of the original Pico to directly solder it on another PCB.
Yes, true, it doesn't have castellations (castellated edges).
True, but the clone also has the pin markings on the Upside of the board ;)
Sorry for budding-in after so long, but you can always solder the pin headers to the other side, and design your board to connect the module upside down. It is not as flush as board-on-board, but you'll get the USB connector closer to your board, the module components are more protected (if you don't yet have a box for your project), and you'll keep the ease of replacement of individual modules. There are also low-profile pin headers, even SMT ones. ;-)
I would buy the RP-4B board instead. With it, I can watch cat videos
I have about 10 of the original pico. But I will get a few of the clones also.
*GARY!!!*
Good evening Professor!
Good evening fellow classmates!
Stay safe out there everyone!
MARK ‼️
What about a wireless version of this one ? WiFi is essential for some applications, right ?
Gary, it might be nice to provide a link to the board so we can find it. Or at least provide the search term so we can find the exact board you're talking about.
No, I intentionally didn't give a link as I don't want to endorse any particular store on AliExpress. Just search for "Pico 16mb".
@@GaryExplains Thanks.
Why would anyone use this instead of ESP32 ?
...because they might wish to copy an existing project (from the internet) and by sticking to the original design it'll "just work" right from the start. Some of us have many interests and hobbies and chores, so we need to be time-efficient in our lives. Yes we can design and code from scratch (been there, done that), but the lawn isn't going to mow itself.
I have a couple of projects where the PIO is an almost magical improvement over anything else. One needs to communicate with a weird SPI-like interface and also timestamp when one of the signals goes high. One PIO unit handles that easily. Another project can run eight channels of bidirectional dshot with almost no processor load.
For many things, I prefer the additional speed and wireless peripherals of the ESP32.
I have ordered two of them, i still have to figure out how to use it as a midi device, the type c is what i wanted!
Q: what does "compatible" mean?
you have to solder the jumper on the board to enable the ws2812b
Not on my board, but apparently there are some revisions out there where you need to do that.
@@GaryExplainsWould have been good if you linked the store from which you boght the board, there are lot's of shady ones.
@@Splarkszter It is because there are so many shading once that I didn't want to link to the one I used. Maybe it is shady as well and I was just lucky. Last thing I want is people to get annoyed at me because I linked to a store which then failed them.
I have 3 picos but I'll buy one of these anyway. For the price of a coffee, why not.
It looks more like a clone of the Pimoroni pico board
Looks quite similar to the blackpill, maybe the same people made this
I'm using this board, but I'm programming it using the Arduino IDE. If anyone knows how to control the WS2812 via the Arduino IDE, I'd appreciate some hints.
There are plenty of examples on the web. Look for Adafruit's neopixel library and examples.
I bought that board, pluged it and it burned my usb cable =)
Does this board support c++ programming in arduino ide?
Hi Gary can I ask for the code? I'm having a rough time configuring my LED and Neopixel on my Pi Pico 16mb with type c. Thanks man appreciate any help.
Some people are reporting here in the comments that some of the later boards have a problem and you need to physically solder some pins together, please read further down for more details.
Great video. Trust the Chinese to come along and clone an idea, but, make it better….all adds up to healthy competition. I’m wondering if this can be used as a car obd adapter. Thanks
ODB, yes I'd expect so. Probably be careful of the voltages but it has enough pins.
I'm curious about the broken out GPIO23 which you didn't mention. On the regular Pico it's used to control the power supply. Is it fully usable here?
i think you do this internally, eg that pin is available to control in code, but not to physically connect to.
It's cost only 3 dollars here in Philippines hahah
I am a beginner.... i get the LED not started :(
Hello
Where is link to code of examples?
But neopixel is taking one GPIO pin and you cannot use that pin for anything else, do i get that right? Why do you need that?
A normal LED also takes one pin. It is only a problem if you are already using all the other pins.
I'm waiting for the Pico W clone.
At this point, i'm probably going with clones until the originals come back in stock (which might never happen)
Original Picos? Makes sense for the other Pi products, but the Picos are pretty much the only Pi product that's readily available (more so than even the 400s)?
voce pode me fornecer este codifo que aciona o led rgb, obrigado
Hi, can you show how burn bootloader in pi pico?
3:38 it got rgb like it in my mouse
Do anyone have a CAD file of this ? .
about your last question: I ordered some original Pico today, but with WLAN
got to wait for the W-Clone now :)
Buy clone not original
I have two 16mb boards, running pico flash and picoboot. Perfect
ws2812b the ws2812 has 6 pins
I bought the RP2040 chips and some memory and make my own board :p
I have 10 Picos here to play around, but if I need more, I still would buy the original when it's the normal price of 5 bucks. But buttons are a cool thing, but the LED is not necessary. Will it get hot if you run it for a longer period? I remember RGB LED's that heated up an SSD to a point, the SSD shut down.
But you already said it, the Pico is open hardware, we can buy the rp2040 and some SPI memory, most of the stuff is already build to death and at the end, we just put the parts together in our circuit, make the prototype with the Pico until the boards arrive and we have special boards for that.
Some even solder the Pico and these Clones into their boards btw, and somebody posted a video, how to access the memory on such a board without the pico micro-usb.
The USB-C is a great improvement, I love it too, that's a big plus IMHO.