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Arduino Nano Pros and Cons: Is the Cheapest

Arduino Worth It?
By Ian Buckley / September 7, 2017 / 5 minutes

Ian Buckley
141 articles

Ian Buckley is a freelance journalist,

musician, performer and video producer
Af liate Disclosure: By buying the products we recommend, you help keep the lights on at MakeUseOf. Read
living in Berlin, Germany. When he's not
more.
writing or on stage, he's tinkering with
Advertisement DIY electronics or code in the hope of
becoming a mad scientist.

While there is quite an array of Arduino boards to choose from, the Nano is a versatile
board suitable for almost all DIY electronic projects. These tiny micro controllers make
compact DIY hardware development available to more people than ever before.

Arduino Buying Guide: Which Board Should You

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In the past we have covered reasons you may not want to choose a genuine Arduino for
your projects, but today lets take a look at the positives and negatives of the Arduino
Nano.

Here’s a quick summary of the details before we jump into the speci cs:

Pros
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Lack of native connectivity limits possible Internet of Things (IoT) uses.
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The Arduino Nano is the little brother of the Arduino Uno, and shares most of its
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functionality. The main difference other than its smaller size is the USB port, with the Nano Vertical Line in Microso Word
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has exactly the same capabilities as its larger sibling.
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It’s worth noting that all Arduino Nano boards ship with the ATmega328p chip now,
meaning the Nano has slightly lower maximum input voltage than previous models.

Community Service
One of the advantages of Arduino in general is the huge community behind it. Whatever
you want to do, chances are someone else has tried it rst. There are countless blogs and
forum posts covering everything a budding tinkerer could imagine. Whether you need help
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The of cial Arduino site has a quick getting started guide with the Nano, and the board
can be programmed directly from your browser using the Arduino Web Editor.
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For a more in-depth getting started guide, all of which is applicable to the Arduino Nano,
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Arduino boards. Since it doesn’t suffer from the same irregular pin spacing of the original
Arduino designs (something that allegedly was a mistake in the original design le), it will
t on a breadboard.
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The Cheap Option

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We have established the good things an Arduino Nano can bring to the table, but the price 2020 Web $29
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tag can still be a problem to some. Those on a tight budget might consider looking into a
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cloned board. The of cial Nano costs $22, while its clone counterpart is over 10 times
cheaper, costing only $1.80 on AliExpress.

YouTuber Julian Ilet has a comprehensive guide to clone Arduino boards.

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These clone boards are functionally identical to of cial Arduino boards. If you have a
vested interest in supporting the of cial Arduino brand then it makes perfect sense to buy
directly from them. If this isn’t a concern for you, then the clone seems like a no-brainer.

Since they are based on the openly available Arduino reference designs, they are usually
functionally the same (there are exceptions to this we will cover later). When the board
looks almost identical, and the work ow is the same, why wouldn’t you get a clone?

Downfalls
The Nano is a great choice for most projects, but what does it lack?

One omission with the Nano, and indeed most Arduino brand boards, is connectivity
options. The Nano comes with no on-board Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities. With the ever
growing smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) market, and its huge popularity in the
DIY scene, this can be a limiting factor.

The Nano excels in situations where it is programmed to do a simple task that does not
change or need outside in uence. While it is possible to add this functionality in the form
of a shield, this adds extra components and cost to any project requiring cloud or
Bluetooth connectivity.

Concentrating more on connectivity, the NodeMCU (ESP8266) board functions exactly as

an Arduino would but with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. Costing only $3 from AliExpress,
this board is a rm favorite here for good reason.

It’s worth noting, however, that these boards are made for 3.3v, and powering some
components from them may take extra steps.

Memory and Power

Another possible issue for the Nano is the memory it has available. The Nano is capable of
supporting thousands of lines of code, but complex projects like robotics or builds with
complex user interfaces might suffer from the 32K program memory limit. As well as this,
advanced processes that require high speeds might suffer from the Nano’s 16MHz clock
speed.

If either of these things could cause an issue for you, a Teensy board might be a better
option. The Teensy 3.5 costs only $2 more than the of cial Nano and outstrips it in
almost every respect.

teensy 3.5 board

With more I/O pins, a clock speed of 120MHz, and ash memory of 512KB, the Teensy
board packs the highest punch for its price. Despite this, it is overkill for most beginner
projects, and the price and availability of the Nano still makes it an attractive proposition
for most.

Nano or Not to Nano

Choosing a micro controller can be a very situational task. In most cases the Nano is the
perfect platform to learn about coding with the Arduino IDE, or basic electronics. Knowing
the strengths and weaknesses of the board beforehand should help with choosing a board
to t your task.

Hopefully this article has helped shed light on whether the Nano would be useful for your
next project, whether it is your rst foray into the world of tinkering or your master build
you’ve been planning for some time.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, our electronic D20 die project uses a Nano to run it.

Roll in Style With This DIY Electronic D20 Die

Want something a little unique at your next gaming meetup? Check
out this DIY electronic D20, featuring custom graphics for critical hits
and misses.

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Are you using a Nano in your current project? Is there another board you would use in its
place? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!

Image Credits: vetre/Shutterstock

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