# RP2350 Deep Dive: How Dual-Core Cortex-M33 and RISC-V Are Reshaping the MCU Landscape
**Meta Description:** The Raspberry Pi RP2350 brings dual-core Cortex-M33 @ 150MHz, optional RISC-V cores, hardware floating-point, and expanded ADC channels. Here's everything engineers need to know about the RP2040 upgrade.
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## Introduction: A New Era for Raspberry Pi Microcontrollers
When the Raspberry Pi Foundation launched the RP2040 in early 2021, it disrupted the budget microcontroller market with a flexible dual-core chip at an unbeatable $4 price point. Four years later, its successor — the **RP2350** — officially hit the market in **March 2025**, and the embedded systems community has been buzzing ever since [1].
Available through distributors like Mouser and SparkFun, the RP2350 powers the new Raspberry Pi Pico 2 board and represents what the Foundation calls "a generational leap" in microcontroller design [1][4]. But what exactly changed under the hood? And more importantly, does this upgrade matter for your next project?
In this deep dive, we'll compare the RP2040 vs RP2350 across every meaningful spec, analyze the dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150MHz performance envelope, explore why the optional RISC-V cores matter for open-source hardware, and surface real community feedback from engineers who've already put the chip through its paces.
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## RP2040 vs RP2350: Full Spec Comparison
The quickest way to understand the generational jump is a side-by-side comparison. Here's how the two chips stack up:
| Specification | RP2040 | RP2350 | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| **CPU Cores** | Dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ | Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 (or RISC-V Hazard3) | Architecture upgrade + optional RISC-V |
| **Clock Speed** | 133 MHz | 150 MHz | +13% frequency boost |
| **Architecture** | ARMv6-M | ARMv8-M (with DSP + FPU extensions) | Major ISA upgrade |
| **On-chip SRAM** | 264 KB | 520 KB | ~2× increase |
| **On-board Flash** | 2 MB (Pico) | 4 MB (Pico 2) | 2× increase |
| **Floating-Point Unit** | None (software FPU) | Hardware FPU (single-precision) | New — critical for motor control & DSP |
| **ADC Channels** | 4 (on 40-pin Pico) | 4 (60-pin) / 8 (80-pin variants) | Expanded on larger packages |
| **PIO State Machines** | 8 (2 blocks × 4) | 12 (3 blocks × 4) | 50% more PIO capacity |
| **GPIO Pins** | 30 (Pico) | 48 (chip), 26–40 usable on Pico 2 | More I/O flexibility |
| **Operating Temperature** | -20°C to +85°C | -20°C to +85°C | Same industrial range |
| **Security Features** | Boot signature (basic) | Arm TrustZone, secure boot, OTP | Enterprise-grade security [1][3] |
| **Price (chip)** | ~$1 | ~$1.10–$1.50 | Marginal increase |
The headline numbers tell a clear story: the RP2350 isn't an incremental tick — it's a ground-up redesign that addresses nearly every limitation engineers flagged on the RP2040 [3].
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## Dual-Core Cortex-M33 @ 150MHz: What's the Real-World Performance Gain?
### Architecture: From M0+ to M33
The jump from Cortex-M0+ to Cortex-M33 is the single most significant change in the RP2350. The M0+ is an excellent ultra-low-power core, but it's architecturally limited — no hardware divide, no DSP instructions, no floating-point support, and a 3-stage pipeline that maxes out at modest clock speeds.
The **Cortex-M33** implements the **ARMv8-M architecture** with:
- **Hardware DSP extensions** — single-cycle MAC (Multiply-Accumulate), SIMD operations
- **Hardware floating-point unit (FPU)** — single-precision IEEE 754
- **Arm TrustZone security** — hardware isolation between secure and non-secure worlds
- **Memory Protection Unit (MPU)** — 8 or 16 regions (RP2040 had a simpler MPU)
- **Pipeline improvements** — 3-stage with branch prediction [1][3]
### Clock Speed: 133 MHz → 150 MHz
At first glance, a 17 MHz bump (roughly 13%) seems modest. But the real performance multiplier comes from the IPC (Instructions Per Clock) improvement of the M33 over the M0+. Combined with hardware DSP and FPU, workloads that were bottlenecked on the RP2040 see **2× to 5× speedups** on the RP2350:
- **Motor control loops** (FOC algorithms): Hardware FPU eliminates the soft-float overhead that consumed 20–40% of RP2040's compute budget
- **Digital signal processing**: Single-cycle MAC turns the RP2350 into a capable DSP for audio filtering, sensor fusion, and FFT
- **Real-time control**: Branch prediction and the deeper interrupt controller (NVIC) reduce latency jitter [5]
### Dual-Core Still Here — But Better
The RP2350 retains the dual-core symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) design of the RP2040, but both cores are now full M33 implementations. This means you can run a hard real-time control loop on Core 0 while Core 1 handles Wi-Fi/Bluetooth stacks, sensor polling, or UI rendering — without the floating-point penalty that crippled RP2040's second core in math-heavy workloads.
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## The RISC-V Option: Why It Matters Beyond Buzzwords
Perhaps the most exciting — and most debated — feature of the RP2350 is its **optional RISC-V cores**. The chip actually contains **four cores**: two Arm Cortex-M33 and two RISC-V Hazard3 cores. At boot, you choose which pair to activate [2].
### Why This Is a Milestone for Open Hardware
RISC-V is an open instruction set architecture (ISA) — anyone can implement it without licensing fees. Until now, RISC-V in the MCU space has been dominated by niche players (SiFive, GD32V, ESP32-C3). The RP2350 marks the **first time a major Western platform** has offered RISC-V as a first-class option alongside ARM at the same price point.
### Practical Implications for Developers
For most end-users today, the ARM cores are the default choice — the toolchain (arm-none-eabi-gcc), libraries, and community knowledge are mature. But the RISC-V option unlocks several possibilities:
1. **No licensing dependencies** — If future Raspberry Pi chips drop ARM entirely, your RISC-V codebase is already ready
2. **Educational value** — Universities teaching RISC-V can use a $5 board instead of expensive dev kits
3. **Custom extensions** — RISC-V's modular design allows adding custom instructions; the Hazard3 implementation is open-source, meaning the community can iterate [2]
4. **Insurance policy** — In an era of geopolitical tech tensions, having a viable open ISA alternative on mainstream hardware is strategically valuable
The RISC-V cores on the RP2350 run at the same 150 MHz and have access to the same peripherals, SRAM, and PIO blocks. Performance is comparable to the M33 for integer workloads, though the FPU implementation differs slightly [2].
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## Hardware Floating-Point: A Game Changer for Motor Control and DSP
The lack of hardware floating-point on the RP2040 was its most criticized limitation. Engineers building **field-oriented control (FOC)** motor drivers, sensor fusion pipelines, or audio processors had to either:
- Use slow software floating-point (qbvgcc's `-mfloat-abi=soft`)
- Rewrite everything in fixed-point arithmetic (tedious and error-prone)
- Switch to a different MCU (STM32G4, ESP32-S3)
The RP2350's single-precision hardware FPU eliminates this compromise entirely. Here's what changes in practice:
### Motor Control (FOC)
Field-oriented control requires Clarke/Park transforms, PI controllers, and inverse Park transforms — all floating-point heavy. On the RP2040, a 3-phase FOC loop at 20 kHz consumed 60–80% of one core's budget in software float. On the RP2350, the same loop runs in **under 15%** of one core, leaving massive headroom for higher-level control, telemetry, or a second motor [5].
### Audio and DSP
Single-cycle MAC operations make the RP2350 a credible platform for:
- Real-time audio filtering (IIR/FIR)
- FFT-based spectrum analysis
- Active noise cancellation
- Digital sensor fusion (IMU + magnetometer)
### Numerical Precision
The hardware FPU is **single-precision only** (32-bit float). For applications requiring double precision (navigation-grade INS, scientific computation), you still need software emulation for `double` types. This is a reasonable trade-off for a $1 MCU — most embedded control systems work fine with `float32`.
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## ADC Channel Expansion: Better, But Still Limited
The RP2040 had **4 ADC channels** on the 40-pin Pico, which was frequently cited as a bottleneck for multi-sensor projects. The RP2350 addresses this — partially:
- **60-pin package**: 4 ADC channels (same as RP2040 on Pico 2)
- **80-pin package**: 8 ADC channels [1][3]
The ADC resolution remains **12-bit**, with sampling rates up to 500 ksps. The expanded channel count on the 80-pin variant is welcome for:
- Battery monitoring + temperature sensing + multiple analog sensors
- Multi-axis joystick input
- Motor current sensing (single motor with 3-phase current feedback + DC bus voltage)
### The Limitation for Multi-Motor Projects
For **brushless motor control** using current sensing, a single motor typically needs 3 ADC channels (one per phase) or 2 channels (if using a single shunt with phase reconstruction). Driving **two motors** requires 6 channels minimum, plus you'll want headroom for:
- DC bus voltage monitoring
- Temperature sensor
- User potentiometer
This means the 80-pin RP2350 can handle **two motors with current sensing**, but a **four-motor project** (like a quadcopter) still needs an external ADC multiplexer or a different MCU entirely [5].
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## Community Verdict: What Engineers Are Saying
### SimpleFOC Community
The SimpleFOC forum — one of the most active communities for open-source motor control — has been tracking the RP2350 since its announcement. Key takeaways from their discussion thread [5]:
- **Performance surplus for single-motor FOC**: The dual-core M33 with hardware FPU is "massive overkill for a single motor" — control loops that strained the RP2040 now leave 85% of the CPU idle
- **ADC bottleneck for multi-motor**: Users note that 4 ADC channels (on the 60-pin variant) are insufficient for driving more than one motor with phase-current feedback
- **PIO improvements welcome**: The third PIO block adds flexibility for custom communication protocols (parallel LCD, multi-UART, custom encoders)
- **FPU eliminates fixed-point chore**: Several users expressed relief at no longer needing to hand-tune fixed-point math for FOC transforms
### SparkFun and Distributor Feedback
SparkFun, an early partner for RP2350-based boards, highlighted the chip's security features (TrustZone, secure boot) as a differentiator for IoT and commercial products where firmware protection matters [4]. Their RP2350-based boards include:
- Pro Micro RP2350 (compact USB-C board)
- ThingPlus RP2350 (with Qwiic connector ecosystem)
Mouser and other global distributors stock the bare RP2350 chip and Pico 2 boards, with availability reported as stable since the March 2025 launch [1][4].
### General Consensus
The embedded systems community views the RP2350 as a **worthy successor** that addresses the RP2040's biggest pain points (no FPU, limited ADC, limited SRAM) while adding forward-looking features (RISC-V, TrustZone). The consensus is that it solidifies the Pico platform as the default choice for hobbyist-to-prosumer embedded work, though it doesn't replace dedicated motor-control MCUs (like STM32G4) for high-end applications.
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## Use Cases: Where the RP2350 Shines and Where It Falls Short
### Ideal Applications
| Use Case | Why RP2350 Excels |
|---|---|
| **Single-motor FOC control** | Hardware FPU + dual-core = effortless real-time control |
| **Robotics (2–4 axes)** | Enough ADC for 2 motors with current feedback; PIO for encoders |
| **Audio processing** | Single-cycle MAC + 520 KB SRAM for buffers |
| **IoT sensor nodes** | TrustZone security, low power, ample I/O |
| **RISC-V education/prototyping** | $5 board with both ARM and RISC-V cores |
| **Custom USB peripherals** | Enhanced PIO + USB PHY with Type-C support on Pico 2 |
| **DSP bridge** | FPU + DSP extensions handle filtering that previously needed a dedicated DSP chip |
### Known Limitations
| Limitation | Impact | Workaround |
|---|---|---|
| **Single-precision FPU only** | Double-precision math runs in software | Use `float32` for embedded control; it's sufficient 99% of the time |
| **ADC: 4 ch (60-pin) / 8 ch (80-pin)** | Quad-motor projects need more channels | External ADC (e.g., ADS7953) or multi-channel mux |
| **No on-chip Ethernet** | Can't do wired networking without external PHY | Use PIO for RMII, or add a Wiznet chip |
| **RISC-V toolchain maturity** | Less community code than ARM | Use ARM cores for production; RISC-V for experimentation |
| **No hardware CAN-FD** | Automotive projects need external CAN controller | MCP2515 via SPI, or choose a different MCU |
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## FAQ
Q1: Is old RP2040 code directly flashable onto the RP2350 without modification?
**Partially.** GPIO, PIO, and most peripherals are similar but not identical. The pin mapping differs between Pico and Pico 2, so code referencing specific GPIO numbers may need adjustments. Additionally, code that relied on the Cortex-M0+ instruction set should be recompiled for ARMv8-M. Most SDK-level C/C++ code (using the Pico SDK) ports with minimal changes [1].
Q2: Can the RP2350 run ARM and RISC-V cores simultaneously?
**No.** The RP2350 has four physical cores — two Cortex-M33 and two RISC-V Hazard3 — but you select which pair to use at boot via the `BOOTSEL` pin or flash configuration. You cannot mix ARM and RISC-V cores in a single runtime session [2].
Q3: RP2350 vs ESP32-S3 — which MCU is better for FOC motor control?
The RP2350 has hardware FPU and more PIO flexibility, making it better for precision FOC motor control. The ESP32-S3 has built-in Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, which the RP2350 lacks. For wireless motor control, consider pairing the RP2350 with an ESP32 co-processor, or use the ESP32-S3 if FPU performance is less critical [5].
Q4: How many BLDC motors can a single RP2350 drive with phase-current sensing?
With the **80-pin variant** (8 ADC channels), you can drive **two BLDC motors** with individual phase-current sensing (3 channels each, using 6 total). A third motor would require external ADC. Without current sensing (using sensorless BEMF), you could potentially drive 3–4 motors using the expanded PIO blocks [5].
Q5: Where to buy RP2350 chips and Pico 2 boards — best distributors in 2025?
The Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (based on RP2350) is available from:
- **Mouser Electronics** — bare chips and Pico 2 boards
- **SparkFun** — Pro Micro RP2350, ThingPlus RP2350
- **Adafruit** — Pico 2 and accessories
- **Official Raspberry Pi Store** — Pico 2 boards
Pricing starts at approximately $5 for the Pico 2 board and ~$1.10 for the bare RP2350 chip in single quantities [1][4].
Q6: Does the RP2350 work with Arduino IDE out of the box?
Yes. The **earlephilhower Arduino-Pico core** has been updated to support the RP2350, providing full Arduino API compatibility including the hardware FPU and dual-core support. Most popular Arduino libraries work out of the box [3].
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## External Resources & Further Reading
1. **[Raspberry Pi Official RP2350 Launch Announcement](https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/rp2350-now-available-to-buy-a-high-performance-secure-microcontroller-for-your-next-project)** — Full technical briefing from the Raspberry Pi Foundation
2. **[RP2350 Datasheet (PDF)](https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/rp2350/rp2350-datasheet.pdf)** — Complete pinout, electrical specs, and register documentation
3. **[SparkFun RP2350 Hub](https://www.sparkfun.com/rp2350)** — RP2350-based boards, tutorials, and hook-up guides
4. **[SimpleFOC Community RP2350 Thread](https://community.simplefoc.com/t/new-raspberry-pi-pico-board-and-chip-rp2350-has-floating-point-two-cores-more-adc-pio/5313)** — Real-world motor control discussion
5. **[Raspberry Tips RISC-V Guide](https://raspberry.tips/en/raspberrypi-tutorials/raspberry-pi-pico-2-risc-v-rp2350-guide)** — Step-by-step guide to running RISC-V on the RP2350
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## References
[1] Raspberry Pi Foundation. "RP2350 now available to buy — a high-performance, secure microcontroller for your next project." *raspberrypi.com*, March 2025. https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/rp2350-now-available-to-buy-a-high-performance-secure-microcontroller-for-your-next-project
[2] Raspberry Tips. "Raspberry Pi Pico 2 RISC-V RP2350 Guide." *raspberry.tips*, 2025. https://raspberry.tips/en/raspberrypi-tutorials/raspberry-pi-pico-2-risc-v-rp2350-guide
[3] Flywing Tech. "Raspberry Pi Releases Its Second Microcontroller: RP2350 Review." *flywing-tech.com*, 2025. https://www.flywing-tech.com/blog/raspberry-pi-releases-its-second-microcontroller
[4] SparkFun Electronics. "RP2350 — SparkFun Product Hub." *sparkfun.com*, 2025. https://www.sparkfun.com/rp2350
[5] SimpleFOC Community. "New Raspberry Pi Pico board and chip RP2350 has floating point, two cores, more ADC, PIO." *community.simplefoc.com*, 2025. https://community.simplefoc.com/t/new-raspberry-pi-pico-board-and-chip-rp2350-has-floating-point-two-cores-more-adc-pio/5313
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*This article is published on [electroniccomponent.com](https://www.electroniccomponent.com) — your source for electronic component insights, MCU comparisons, and embedded systems resources.*
*Last updated: July 2025*
