Making circuits or working on different projects for educational purposes Arduino is one of the best platforms that you can use. This platform gives you a variety of boards that you can choose based on the specification of your project.
Further to make the process of choosing the Arduino boards the Arduino has classified its boards in categories based on the specifications. The Arduino Nano and Micro are the boards that are suitable for entry level projects, and we have compared both the boards in detail that will help you in selecting the board that is right for you.
Arduino Nano
The Arduino Nano is a compact size board that can easily fit on the breadboard making the size of the project smaller. The Arduino Nano comes with a ATmega328p controller belonging to the ATMEL family and it is almost similar to the Arduino Uno. The Arduino Nano gives its users 22 pins to connect the digital devices and 8 pins for connecting the analog devices. Among 22 digital pins there are 6 pins that you can use for giving input to the devices in the form pulses also known as PWM pins.
Like the Arduino Uno the Arduino Nano has a flash memory of 32 kilobytes, EEPROM of 1 kilobyte and a static RAM of 2 kilobytes. In other words, we can say that Arduino Nano is the smaller version of Arduino Uno that can be used to make the size of your project more compact.
Arduino Micro
If you are looking for an Arduino board that has similar specifications to the Arduino Leonardo, then the Arduino Micro is the best option for you. Like Arduino Leonardo, the Arduino Micro also comes with the ATmega32u4 controller that has a flash memory of 32 kilobytes, EEPROM of 1 kilobyte and static RAM of 2.5 kilobyte.
The Arduino Nano gives its users 20 pins to connect the digital devices and 7 pins for connecting the analog devices. In between the 20 digital pins there are 7 that you can use for giving input to the devices in the form pulses also known as PWM pins
Another resemblance of Arduino Micro with Arduino Leonardo is that it also has a built-in USB port, it will be detected by computer as a peripheral. In short, we can say that the Arduino Micro is the compact version of the Arduino Leonardo though it lags the power jack for external power supply. However, we can connect the Arduino Micro with external supply by using its Vin pin.
Arduino Nano vs Arduino Micro
Further we have given a brief comparison in the tabular form below that is based on the technical specification of both boards:
| Specifications | Arduino Nano | Arduino Micro |
|---|---|---|
| Microcontroller | ATmega328P | ATmega32u4 |
| Digital Pins | 22 pins for digital devices | 20 pins for digital devices |
| PWM pins | 6 pins | 7 pins |
| Static RAM | 2 kilo bytes | 2.5 kilo bytes |
| Analog pins | 8 pins for analog devices | 12 pins for analog devices |
| Built-in-LED | There is no built-in LED | It comes with built-in LED |
Conclusion
Choosing the right Arduino board for your project can be difficult as there are a wide range of Arduino boards present in the market. As it is difficult to compare all the boards, we have compared the two most widely used Arduino boards that are Arduino Nano and Arduino Micro. Here the thing that is to be noted is that if you are looking for a smaller or compact version of Arduino Uno then Arduino Nano is the right choice. Whereas if you’re looking for a smaller or compact version of Arduino Leonardo then Arduino Micro is the right choice.
