I received this kit for free from Elecrow in China in exchange for an impartial review.

TL;DR – an amazing kit for the money, but the tutorials could use some attention.

The contents

This kit is large and full of good components. Most will be familiar to you if you’ve ever bought a 32-module kit for the Arduino. There are similar components, but they are of decent enough quality and come in a great plastic carry case. The kit contains the following:

• 1 x Raspberry Pi Pico, pre-soldered (except for the debug pins).
• 2 x 400-hole breadboards.
• Some 5mm LEDs.
• 1 x RGB LED module.
• 1 x button.
• 1 x sound sensor.
• 1 x mini PIR motion sensor.
• 1 x photoresistor LDR module.
• 1 x laser diode transmitter.
• 1 x passive buzzer.
• 1 x vibration sensor.
• 1 x mini magnetic spring module (reed switch).
• 1 x soil moisture sensor.
• 1 x potentiometer module.
• 1 x small DC motor.
• 1 x fan blade.
• 1 x 9G servo.
• 1 x dual-axis, centre button joystick module.
• 1 x RC522 RFID module.
• 1 x 4-bit digital LED display module.
• 1 x traffic light module.
• 1 x rotary encoder module.
• 1 x 1602 LCD display module, blue, with I2C backpack.
• 1 x DHT temperature & humidity sensor.
• 1 x rainfall sensor module.
• 1 x flame sensor.
• 1 x small OLED module.
• 1 x membrane switch module.
• 1 x robot chassis with wheels, motors, 2 x line sensors etc.
• 2 x crash sensors/limit switches.
• 1 x ultrasonic distance sensor.
• 1 x infrared remote control.
• 1 x Infrared receiver module.
• 1 x 30cm micro USB cable.
• 1 x 170-hole breadboard.
• Jumper wires / Dupont cables.
• Stand-offs, screws and nuts.
• Flat/Phillips dual-ended screwdriver.
• 1 x small magnet.
• 1 x DC stepper motor driver board.

It’s quite overwhelming, actually! The nice thing is that, even after I removed all the pieces and debagged them, they all fit back in the plastic case quite easily, without too much trouble. The components all seem solid, and using them in combination with each other opens up some exciting possibilities.

The one warning I would give is that although almost all the components can be used without soldering, a couple of them, like the small motor for the fan and the RFID module, will require a small bit of soldering. Just something to be aware of, and it would have been nice if the whole thing had been solderless.

Tutorials

You can view the PDF of the tutorials here. As you’d expect from a Chinese-made kit, the English isn’t brilliant, but you can make sense of it with a little concentration. What they could really do with is someone with a thorough grasp of the language to knock it into shape so that it’s suitable for all ages and skill levels. The programming is in MicroPython, so you’ll need to get to grips with the Thonny editor. Alternatively, there’s a visual programming environment available here that might be worth a look for young programmers, especially. The great thing about all these components, of course, is that you can easily adapt the programming to use CircuitPython or C, depending on your particular skills, and there are plenty of other tutorials out there that will enable you to use the different components in various ways.

Buying & Overall

The cost on the Elecrow website is currently around $38 (occasionally, they reduce the price slightly). This represents extraordinary value, it really does, and you can order it with or without the Raspberry Pi Pico board. There are numerous shipping options available, the cheapest of which is a little over $11 to the UK, which is pretty good. FedEx is $23, which may represent a more reliable way of receiving the kit. I don’t know how much customs charges will be on import, so that’s something to be aware of. It’s possible that as the kit matures that other suppliers in your local area will start to stock the kit.

As I said, the kit represents very good value for money. The components all seem good, and the fact that they contained within a plastic case is a great idea as it keeps it “all together” which, for education and hobbyists, is key to not losing bits! The tutorials could use some work, just because of the scattershot English, but the code looks sound.

Overall, I would recommend the kit with these reservations. Well done, Elecrow!