{"id":1765,"date":"2019-09-20T17:30:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T09:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techcoil.com\/blog\/?p=1765"},"modified":"2020-06-27T21:16:56","modified_gmt":"2020-06-27T13:16:56","slug":"why-buy-the-raspberry-pi-zero-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techcoil.com\/blog\/why-buy-the-raspberry-pi-zero-w\/","title":{"rendered":"Why buy the Raspberry Pi Zero W?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you have seen the Raspberry Pi 4<\/a> with 4GB ram, you may wonder why should we even be bothered with the earlier versions.<\/p>\n

If you have been following Seeed Studio<\/a>, you would have heard that they had included Raspberry Pi Zero W in their product catalogue<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I welcome this move from Seeed Studio with open arms. <\/p>\n

Since I live in Singapore, I will be able to shave hefty shipping costs getting the Pi Zero W from Seeed Studio<\/a> instead of vendors from the west. If you are staying in countries that are nearer to Guangzhou, then the real cost of your Pi Zero W will be much closer to the 10 USD price tag.<\/p>\n

But why buy the Raspberry Pi Zero W?<\/p>\n

In case you are thinking of whether to trade 10-ish bucks for one, here are some reasons why you should have a look at the Raspberry Pi Zero W for your next Raspberry Pi project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Raspberry Pi Zero W is much cheaper than Pi 4B and Pi 3B+<\/h2>\n

Although 10 dollars can be a big deal for some, 35 or 55 dollars is more difficult to part with. <\/p>\n

Unless you are going to watch 4K videos on your Pi Zero, your Pi Zero can serve as a security camera<\/a> or sensing device pretty decently.<\/p>\n

Therefore, I will be more willing to leave it on my gardening rack for keeping tabs on soil moisture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Raspberry Pi Zero W is much smaller than Pi 4B and Pi 3B+<\/h2>\n

Although the hardware specifications for the Raspberry Pi Zero W<\/a> is inferior to Pi 4B or Pi 3B+, a Pi Zero W has a much smaller form factor.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the Raspberry Pi Zero W measures 65mm long by 30mm wide with a depth of 5mm (without the conventional GPIO header pins). Indeed, that is a significant size reduction comparing to Pi 4B's 88mm x 58mm x 19.5mm and Pi 3B+'s 82mm x 56mm x 19.5mm.<\/p>\n

In case you are not comfortable with numbers, here are some side by side photos to visualize just how small the Pi Zero W is:<\/p>\n

\"Raspberry<\/p>\n

\"Raspberry<\/p>\n

Even with the GPIO header pins, you can significantly reduce the surface area of your Raspberry Pi project with a Pi Zero W.<\/p>\n

Therefore, a Pi Zero W is especially useful for projects that have size restrictions.<\/p>\n

3. Raspberry Pi Zero W consumes less energy than Pi 4B and Pi 3B+<\/h2>\n

Since a Raspberry Pi Zero W has less computation power, it also consumes less energy than Pi 4B and Pi 3B+.<\/p>\n

Therefore, if you are looking for a IoT gateway that can last longer with a solar panel and battery pack<\/a>, a Raspberry Pi Zero W can fit the bill.<\/p>\n

4. It's all about size and power tradeoffs<\/h2>\n

In summary, we typically buy the Raspberry Pi Zero W when we have budget, space and energy consumption constraints. <\/p>\n

Resolutions to such constraints are paid for with lower computation capabilities. <\/p>\n

When you are cognizant about such tradeoffs, you will be able to build your next IoT project with the Raspberry Pi Zero W. <\/p>\n

In order to get the most out of your Pi Zero W, I will recommend that you use the Raspbian Lite as the operating system. In case you need it, this is how to setup Raspbian Buster Lite for Raspberry Pi server projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After you had completed the setup, you will be able to have a base operating system to run customized applications on your Raspberry Pi Zero W.<\/p>\n\n