Which is the Best arduino

Which is the best Arduino for beginners?
I had an Arduino Leonardo previously, but it got fried. It exists as one of the retired boards in the Arduino website nowadays.
Though the Uno is older than the Leonardo, it has not yet retired. So, is buying a Leonardo right now, a problem? Both look similar and perform similarly.
Which one should i buy?
Please help

noeljacob481:
Though the Uno is older than the Leonardo, it has not yet retired.

The Uno has stood the test of time and the Leonardo evidently hasn't, so I guess that makes the choice pretty clear. In the unlikely event that the exclusive feature of the Leonardo, it's built-in USB communication, thereby eliminating the need for a secondary processor, is important to you, I understand it is still obtainable.

It depends what you want to do.

The Uno (running at 5V) is still a very good beginners board.
However, since most sensors are 3.3V, a new board that runs at 3.3V is the best choice.

The Micro is not retired, and it is a mini-Leonardo.
For some testing you can buy cheap clone boards, for example the Pro Micro (a mini-mini-Leonardo) which is under 4 dollars on AliExpress.

Many libraries are now working well with the Arduino Due. That is a good choice.
The MKR1000 with M0+ is also a good choice, but some reported problems on this forum, that the libraries are not fully working yet.

Adafruit uses mostly the ATmega32U4 (as in the Leonardo) and the M0+ (as in the Zero and MKR1000) for their Feather series : https://www.adafruit.com/feather
I think it is a good choice to have only a few processors, with good libraries. Instead of many processors and libraries that are not fully working yet.

I'd say stay away from the ATmega32U4 based boards(Leonardo, Micro, Pro Micro, etc.) unless you need keyboard/mouse emulation. They are still readily available as clones.

I like the Nano but the Pro Mini is smaller, cheaper(actually more once you buy the FTDI breakout but a single one of those can be used for all your Pro Mini). The ICSP header on the Nano is handy. The separate USB hardware for the Pro Mini is nice because if you ruin one part the other part might still be usable.

I'm not a big fan of the Uno because of the stupid non-standard header spacing but if you want to use a shield then that is the way to go. The Mega also has the stupid header but it might be worth dealing with if you need lots of memory or I/O pins. I prefer to use the ATmega1284P instead even though they're more expensive, less flash and I/O(but more RAM).

As for all the non-AVR "super-Arduinos", I'd recommend beginners avoid them unless you have a good reason because there are many libraries and example sketches only compatible with AVR and the cores are not so mature.

For beginner's I would say an Uno simply because the vast majority of tutorials,libraries and shields are written/made for it, which makes it easier when learning.

When it comes to what to use in an actual finished project that's when I look at all the others to see which has the features best suited for that particular case. .

I have 2 Uno's that I use constantly for learning,prototyping etc. but have never installed one in a finished project.

if 'beginner' is important UNO is the most often recomended because it offers shields that can eleminate a lot of work.
my 16x2 shield takes up more pins than I like, but plugs in quickly.
the real time clock plugs right in.

In most cases I use these first. very powerful, but entry level.

I use the NANO for every installed board. the pro-mini has different pin locations from seller to seller. and the I2C is impossible to use on a protoboard as you have to run wires up and over.

there are other boards, the ESP8266 and the MR10000, but neither of those scream beginner. far from it. both only come into play when you need a specific task.

In my mind, and beginners is the 1st criteria, then the question comes down to what you want to do. if you fully expect to use over 20 pins, then the MEGA,
if just experimenting on one sensor at a time and simple 2 line display will satisfy, then the UNO.

one last bit. if your eyes are not what they used to be and your like your parts larger so you can see them, the Arduino Grande might be the one.

Arduino Uno R3

Best board for beginners and experimental board which means you can unplug the chip use it on
a breadboard and create your own Prototype circuits without needing to use always the arduino board
or buying hundreds of shields like most of people do.

But hey that's just my opinion, I chose personally and working with this board because I
build my own PCB's so it's easy to plug and unplug / upload code to microcontrollers.

I would suggest 96% Arduino Uno R3 as a beginner board.

ps. Buy some extra ATmega328p you will need them if you prototype your projects.

D.60

Hi, I agree with UNO as the choice... also low cost.

You might consider an UNO derivative with added features and low cost like the Yourduino RoboRED HERE:

Makes it easy to connect stuff. And has better power regulators. See how to connect stuff / cables etc. HERE:

DISCLAIMER: Mentioned stuff from my own shop... and I'm involved in the design of the RoboRED so I am NOT unbiased :slight_smile:

terryking228

Looks like a nice design and I agree it could be useful but not for beginners,
you can use 2 jumper wires on a breadboard and you get over 50 holes with GND and +5v another
thinks is that you can't get out the smd chip of the board.

I don't say that it's not good but only for study prototyping it or using it on a project you will need
to buy shileds and that's another type of wasting money and personally I don't like shields.

But that's just my opinion, you can't say no to someone that want's to buy something that he likes
or need :slight_smile:

D.60

I think the mega is... Plenty of I/o, own, usb, 5v tolerant and lots of flash/sram, comparable with uno shields...

The main reason I wouldn't recommend a Mega for beginners is the higher cost. A beginner is more likely to ruin their board. Cheaper boards make this not such a painful event and you can afford to have a spare on hand. I'd say wait until you have a project that actually requires a Mega before using one.

I read the page on the RoboRed and it stands out for two reaons.

first is that you do not have to go hunting for 5V and gnd.
second is that it has on-board selection of 3.3 or 5v something I have not seen anywhere else.

At the price is it a good buy. I too see the fatal flaw of the SMT chip...... for a beginner.

the only other thing that caught my eye was the reference to UNO in the selection of the board in the IDE.
Since 'that which shall not be discussed' happened, it is Genuino in my IDE, well, Genuino UNO anyway.

I also use 328 based UNO types. These also have the male headers which are sturdier to connect jumpers to, and provide extra breakouts for power, ground, serial and I2C. Better than the R3 in my opinion.

I started with an Uno clone, and while it is great for learning, and having only female contacts makes it a bit harder to short accidentally, I think that as one will very soon want to use a breadboard, having an Arduino that plugs right in, is a great advantage. So I exclusively use Nano clones.

What I'd like to see, is an atmega2560 in DIP package!

I mean, seriously, who embeds one of those big arduino boards with all their female headers and wires sticking out of them?

:slight_smile:

For completed projects I have been using bare atmega328p's in sockets on PCB's, but nowadays its Nano's plus female headers for PCB's all the way, except when there are space limitations.

Being able to power the solution using USB wall adapters, is a great feature!

Uno R3 Clone cost 4$

buy a breadboad as well and jumper wires you get hell of a GND's and VCC's
:smiley:

D.60

The best Arduino has not to my knowledge been produced yet.
It would be a breadboard friendly 386 Nano format clone but with switchable 3v3/5v operation at Chinese prices (OK, maybe I'd even be prepared to pay a little bit extra just to get these).
There are examples of UNO clones (the RoboRed) featured in this thread is one example with switchable 3v3/5v operation. There are small format 32U4 based devices, for example http://www.elecfreaks.com/3420.html with this, but not a Nano format. The Pro Minis don't have an own USB and their pinout is not consistently breadboard friendly.
I'd use these for prototyping/testing and also in projects where low power consumption (say battery driven applications) was not an issue. Or, even better, with a feature to isolate all the power hungry components to make it suitable for battery application as well.
Just imho.