Components¶

All the components in our micro:bit kits, grouped by where they are and what they do. Each one links to its page.

micro:bit components¶

Component	Type	What it does	Possible uses
Display	Output	A 5 × 5 grid of LEDs that shows text, numbers and images	Messages, scores, icons, animations
Buttons	Input	Two push buttons, A and B	Game controls, timers, menus
Accelerometer	Input	Measures movement and tilt, and detects gestures such as shaking	Step counters, dice, tilt games
Temperature	Input	Measures the approximate air temperature	Weather stations, overheating alerts
Light Sensor	Input	Measures light levels using the display's LEDs	Night lights, light-activated alarms
Compass	Input	Measures magnetic fields to find direction	Navigation, treasure hunts, magnet switches
Touch	Input	Senses touch on the logo and pins 0, 1 and 2	Extra buttons, musical instruments
Speaker	Output	Plays tunes, tones and speech	Sound effects, alarms, talking projects
Microphone	Input	Measures how loud it is	Sound-activated lights, noise meters
Radio	Input and output	Sends and receives messages between micro:bits	Multiplayer games, remote controls

Component	What it does	Possible uses
Atmospheric Sensor	Measures temperature, air pressure and humidity	Weather stations, altitude changes
Colour Sensor	Measures red, green, blue and white light and identifies colours	Colour sorting, line following
Distance Sensor	Measures distance with a laser, up to 4 m	Object detection, parking sensors
Potentiometers	A knob or slider that gives a smoothly changing value	Volume and brightness controls, dials
Button	A large push button that detects presses and double presses	Game controls, start and stop buttons
Real Time Clock	Keeps track of the date and time	Clocks, alarms, data loggers

Component	What it does	Possible uses
3x RGB LED	Three full-colour LEDs	Traffic lights, status indicators
OLED Display	A 128 × 64 pixel screen for text, shapes and graphs	Sensor readouts, menus, live graphs
Servo Driver	Controls up to four servo motors	Gates, robot arms, wheels

Component	What it does	Possible uses
Glowbit Rainbow	An arc of 13 full-colour LEDs	Level meters, countdowns, light effects

Feature	micro:bit	Smartphone
Processing power	A simple 64 MHz processor	Multi-core processors running at over 2 GHz
Memory and storage	512 KB flash, 128 KB RAM	Many GB of RAM and 64 GB or more of storage
Display	5 × 5 red LED grid	High-resolution, full-colour touchscreen
Input	Two buttons, touch logo and pins, sensors	Multi-touch screen, cameras, microphones, many sensors
Audio	Small built-in speaker for tones and simple speech	High-quality stereo audio, music and phone calls
Connectivity	Bluetooth and micro:bit radio	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G/5G, NFC, GPS
Camera	None	Front and rear cameras with video recording
Software	Small programs written in MicroPython or MakeCode	Complex apps, games and productivity tools
Power	USB or a small battery pack	Large rechargeable battery with power management
Sensors	Accelerometer, compass, light, temperature, microphone	GPS, gyroscope, barometer, proximity, fingerprint and more
Internet	None	Full internet access

Device	Strengths	Weaknesses
micro:bit	- easy for beginners to program - cheap and tough - great for learning coding and electronics - built-in sensors for hands-on projects - easy to connect to other electronics	- very limited processing power and memory - tiny single-colour display - no internet access - limited ways to input information - short battery life on small batteries
Smartphone	- powerful processor and lots of memory - high-resolution colour touchscreen - full internet access and apps - many advanced sensors - all-day battery life	- expensive to buy and replace - hard for beginners to program - not designed for connecting electronics - more fragile - apps can distract from learning