Hardware overview

Finding the right Particle hardware for your project

• If you want an off-the-shelf, complete device with little or no hardware design required, see off-the-shelf complete gateways, below.
• One way to start finding the right device is whether you're a hobbyist, prototyping, or producing a product. To start there, see prototype or production below.
• Another way to start is by deciding on cellular or Wi-Fi first.

Off-the-shelf complete

Particle gateway devices contain a cellular communication module in an enclosure with the required antennas and certification. A waterproof connector makes it easy to add external sensors and devices that communicate over protocols such as CAN bus, serial, and I2C.

Tracker One

If you want an off-the-shelf device can requires little or no hardware design, the Tracker One is a complete system with a waterproof IP67-rated enclosure. In includes cellular connectivity, GNSS (GPS) and Wi-Fi geolocation, and motion detection.

The Tracker One is fully assembled and sealed; all you need to do is plug it in to wake it from shipping mode and you can immediately begin using it with no programming or assembly necessary!

Included inside the fully assembled, sealed enclosure:

• Built-in Particle SIM card (free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required).
• 2000 mAh LiPo battery.
• Cellular antenna.
• Wi-Fi antenna (for geolocation only, not for connectivity).
• BLE antenna.
• GNSS (GPS) antenna.
• NFC tag antenna.
• Power by USB-C or an external power supply.
• NorAm: North America including the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
• EMEAA: Selected countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, including Australia and New Zealand. See the cellular carrier list for more information.

Country compatibility - Tracker

M8 Expansion - Tracker One

If you are interested in measuring temperature and humidity, an external sensor can be connected to the M8 connector. The connector maintains the waterproof rating when in use.

Custom solutions can be implemented via an M8 connector as well.

Monitor One

The Monitor One has the same cellular and processor module (Tracker SoM), but is enclosed in a heavy duty waterproof enclosure that is large enough to contain expansion cards.

The Monitor One datasheet is available and a limited number of developer preview units are currently available.

Prototype or production

Prototyping

For easy prototyping, devices with pins on the bottom can easily be installed in a solderless breadboard.

The Photon 2, Argon, and Boron use the Adafruit Feather form-factory so easily add accessories like sensors and displays, with no wiring required.

Even though these devices are ideal for prototyping, you can also scale with the Photon 2 and Boron BRN404X. For example, you may mount the device in a socket in your own custom circuit board when you're ready to scale, instead of using solderless breadboards or off-the-shelf Feather adapters.

There are also evaluation kits for the B Series SoM, Tracker SoM, and E Series modules that can be used for prototyping with those modules.

If you're not sure whether you want cellular or Wi-Fi, see Cellular or Wi-Fi below.

• The Argon has been deprecated and has been replaced by the Photon 2. For the differences, see the Argon to Photon 2 migration guide.
• The Boron 2G/3G (BRN314KIT) has been deprecated (along with all other 2G/3G SKUs) as the u-blox SARA-U201 cellular modem module on it is end-of-life.
• The Boron LTE Cat M1 (BRN404KIT or BRN404X) is the recommended model for the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
• Can be powered by USB, rechargeable LiPo battery, or an external power supply.
• All Boron devices include a built-in Particle SIM card (free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required).
• Starter kits include a mini-breadboard, USB cable, two resistors (220 ohm), one red LED, and one phototransistor.
• ARG-STRTKT includes a variety of Grove sensors and a display.
• A battery is included with the Boron 2G/3G (BRN314) as the cellular modem uses more power for brief periods of time than a standard laptop USB port will supply.

There are numerous ways to expand Gen 3 devices:

• Adafruit FeatherWing compatible modules can add things like displays, sensors, relays, with no wiring necessary.
• SparkFun Qwiic and Adafruit Stemma-QT modules provide a way to add features connected by a small I2C cable. Multiple modules can be chained together, as well.
  • Environment sensors (pressure, temperature, humidity) like the BME280
  • Buttons and indicator buttons
  • Load cell adapter (weight sensor)
  • Distance and proximity sensors
  • Thermocouple adapters
  • Relays
  • Keypads
  • Small displays
• Grove sensors and displays connect to digital, analog, I2C, and serial devices with a simple 4-pin cable.
• Mikroe has a large number of expansion boards for both Feather and M.2 SoM devices.

Its also possible to prototype with these easy to use modules, then include the same functionality on a custom board later. The Adafruit and SparkFun designs are all open-source and include hardware design files for EagleCAD.

The Beyond Prototyping Tutorial shows examples of how you can move from prototyping to custom circuit boards, with example designs.

For more information about the Boron, see Cellular below.

For more information about the Photon 2 and Argon, see Wi-Fi below.

Production

When producing at scale, you may prefer to use devices that you reflow solder to your own base board (E Series, P2, P1, and Tracker SoM) or securely mount in a M.2 socket (B Series SoM).

If you're not sure whether you want cellular or Wi-Fi, see Cellular or Wi-Fi below.

While you can use prototyping devices at scale, if you will be needing devices over a long period of time, production devices will generally be maintained for a longer period of time. For example, the Electron (prototyping) was discontinued before the E Series (production), even though both have similar hardware.

The software for prototyping and production devices is similar. It's often possible to use a single code base to work with both types of modules. And, in many cases, across both Gen 2 and Gen 3 devices, or across both cellular and Wi-Fi devices.

For best compatibility in the future we recommend designing around the M.2 (B Series SoM) form-factor, which is a better size to accommodate future communication modules. The Feather (Boron) form-factor is too narrow to fit cellular modules like the EG91 LTE Cat M1 module used in the B Series SoM B524.

B Series SoM (Gen 3 Cellular)

The B Series SoM (system-on-a-module) is similar to the Boron in that it is a 3rd-generation cellular device. It plugs into an M.2 NGFF connector on your custom circuit board and is intended for mass production use.

Many of the extra features on the Boron have been omitted from the SoM, so you can implement a custom solution as necessary. For example, rather than duplicating the buttons and status LED on the SoM, you can put them on an external control panel for your product, or omit them entirely.

Additionally, the extra width vs. the Boron (Adafruit Feather) form-factor makes it possible to include a LTE Cat 1 with 2G/3G fallback cellular modem, such as the Quectel EG91-E on the B524. This modem is too wide to fit on a Boron.

¹The PMIC (power management IC) and fuel gauge are used with battery-powered applications. They're omitted from the SoM as they are not needed for externally powered solutions (grid or automotive power, for example). Additionally, you may want to use different models if you are making a solar-powered device, or using a different battery technology or multiple battery pack.

²The built-in Particle SIM card is free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required.

For more information about the B Series SoM, see Cellular - B Series SoM below.

Tracker SoM (Gen 3 Cellular)

The Asset Tracker SoM is a castellated SoM designed to be used with the Tracker One or reflow soldered to your own base board. It has features including:

• Gen 3 hardware platform (nRF52840 MCU)
• Quectel cellular modem
• GNSS (GPS)
• IMU (accelerometer)
• Real-time clock
• Built-in Particle SIM card (free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required).
• PMIC and fuel gauge chips (charger and battery level sensor)
• Hardware watchdog

For more information about the Tracker SoM, see Cellular - Tracker SoM below.

E Series (Gen 2 Cellular)

The E Series modules are generally 2nd-generation cellular device that is reflow soldered to your custom base board. As the software is fully compatible between the Electron and E Series, you can easily move from prototyping to mass production with the same software.

• The E310, E313, and E314 are deprecated due to the end-of-life of the u-blox SARA-U201 cellular modem module.
• The E402 and E404 has been replaced by the E404X. Note, however, that this is not a drop-in replacement as there are significant differences between these two modules. See the E404X migration guide for more information.
• New designs should use the B Series M.2 SoM instead of the E Series form-factor.

¹The built-in Particle SIM card is free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required.

For more information about the E Series module, see Cellular - E Series below.

P2 (Wi-Fi)

The P2 module is a Wi-Fi module that you reflow solder to your own custom base board. It's smaller and less expensive than the Argon.

Both the P1 and Argon are deprecated, as designs should either use the Photon 2 (which includes the P2 module on it), or directly use the P2.

For more information about the Wi-Fi modules, see Wi-Fi - P1 below.

P1 (Gen 2 Wi-Fi)

The P1 module has been deprecated and is replaced by the P2 module, which is mostly pin-compatible. See the P2 from P1 migration guide for more information.

For more information about the Wi-Fi modules, see Wi-Fi - P1 below.

Cellular or Wi-Fi

A common question to start with is how you want to connect to the Internet.

Cellular

While cellular hardware is initially more expensive, the total cost to onboard a customer with cellular may be lower due to the other expenses involved in Wi-Fi deployments:

• No requirement to provide a method of configuring Wi-Fi credentials, such as a custom mobile app
• No dependence on the customer's Wi-Fi network, which may be inconsistent
• No troubleshooting site-specific Wi-Fi configuration issues

B Series SoM (Production Gen 3 cellular)

The B Series SoM (system-on-a-module) is similar to the Boron in that it is a 3rd-generation cellular device. It plugs into an M.2 NGFF connector on your custom circuit board and is intended for mass production use.

Many of the extra features on the Boron have been omitted from the SoM, so you can implement a custom solution as necessary. For example, rather than duplicating the buttons and status LED on the SoM, you can put them on an external control panel for your product, or omit them entirely.

Additionally, the extra width vs. the Boron (Adafruit Feather) form-factor makes it possible to include a LTE Cat 1 with 2G/3G fallback cellular modem, such as the Quectel EG91-E on the B524. This modem is too wide to fit on a Boron.

¹The PMIC (power management IC) and fuel gauge are used with battery-powered applications. They're omitted from the SoM as they are not needed for externally powered solutions (grid or automotive power, for example). Additionally, you may want to use different models if you are making a solar-powered device, or using a different battery technology or multiple battery pack.

²The built-in Particle SIM card is free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required.

The available models include:

• The B404X, B404, and B402 cannot be used in Central or South America.
• The B524 can be used in selected countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia (EMEAA), including Australia and New Zealand.
• The B524 and B523 do not work out of the EMEAA region.
• See the Carrier List for compatibility in specific countries

• B404 datasheet
• B524 datasheet
• B Series evaluation board

• For more in-depth information on cellular devices see the cellular introduction page.

Boron (Prototyping Gen 3 cellular)

The Boron is the 3rd-generation cellular device in a prototyping form factor. It has pins on the bottom that can plug into a solderless breadboard, and is compatible with the Adafruit Feather form-factor to easily add accessories like sensors and displays. You can also plug it into a socket on a custom circuit board.

• Includes a built-in Particle SIM card (free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required).
• Can be powered by USB, rechargeable LiPo battery, or an external power supply (3.9 - 12 VDC).

The available models include:

• ¹Global except in areas that have or will soon discontinue the use of 2G/3G, including the United States.
• The BRN314 and BRN310 are now deprecated as the cellular modem on the module is no longer available.
• Do not deploy the BRN314 or BRN310 in the United States, see 2G/3G sunset.
• See the Carrier List for compatibility in specific countries.

• Boron datasheet
• Ways to expand Gen 3 feather devices (above)

• For more in-depth information on cellular devices see the cellular introduction page.

Tracker (Gen 3 Cellular)

The Tracker SoM is a SMD module intended to be reflowed to your own base board to create your product. The Tracker One is a complete integrated design with a sealed IP67 waterproof enclosure with a battery and all necessary antenna included inside the enclosure. The Tracker One contains the Tracker SoM internally.

The Asset Tracker SoM is a castellated SoM designed to be used with the Tracker One or reflow soldered to your own base board. It has features including:

• Gen 3 hardware platform (nRF52840 MCU)
• Quectel cellular modem
• GNSS (GPS)
• IMU (accelerometer)
• Real-time clock
• Built-in Particle SIM card (free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required).
• PMIC and fuel gauge chips (charger and battery level sensor)
• Hardware watchdog

• Tracker SoM datasheet
• Tracker SoM evaluation board
• Tracker One datasheet

• The T404, T402, ONE404, ONE402 cannot be used in Central or South America.
• The T524 and ONE524 can be used in selected countries in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia (EMEAA), including Australia and New Zealand.
• The T524, T523, ONE524, ONE523 do not work out of the EMEAA region.
• See the Carrier List for compatibility in specific countries.
• For more in-depth information on cellular devices see the cellular introduction page.

E Series (Production Gen 2 cellular)

The E Series modules are generally 2nd-generation cellular device that is reflow soldered to your custom base board. As the software is fully compatible between the Electron and E Series, you can easily move from prototyping to mass production with the same software.

• The E310, E313, and E314 are deprecated due to the end-of-life of the u-blox SARA-U201 cellular modem module.
• The E402 and E404 has been replaced by the E404X. Note, however, that this is not a drop-in replacement as there are significant differences between these two modules. See the E404X migration guide for more information.
• New designs should use the B Series M.2 SoM instead of the E Series form-factor.

¹The built-in Particle SIM card is free for use up to certain limits, no credit card required.

• E Series datasheet
• E Series evaluation board
• E Series integration guide

• Global models except in areas that have or will soon discontinue the use of 2G/3G, including the United States.
• Do not deploy the E314 or E310 in the United States, see 2G/3G sunset.
• See the Carrier List for compatibility in specific countries.
• For more in-depth information on cellular devices see the cellular introduction page.
• If you are currently using a Gen 2 cellular device (Electron or E Series) and are interested in migrating to a Gen 3 device (Boron or B Series SoM), see Gen 2 Cellular Migration.

Wi-Fi

The following are the Wi-Fi compatible devices:

For product creators, Wi-Fi devices require a way to set the Wi-Fi credentials for the user's Wi-Fi network. This is typically done using a custom mobile app. The P1 has an available Device Setup SDK that makes it easy to create a custom white-label mobile app to set up the P1.

For the P2 and Photon 2, a sample BLE setup app using React will be available.

Photon 2 (Prototyping Wi-Fi)

The Photon 2 will replace the Argon as the prototyping Wi-Fi device.

• Photon 2 datasheet
• Ways to expand Gen 3 feather devices (above)
• Photon 2 from Argon migration guide

¹A small amount of the flash file system is used by Device OS, most is available for user data storage using the POSIX filesystem API. This is separate from the flash memory used for Device OS, user application, and OTA transfers.

² Total RAM; amount available to user applications is smaller. On the Photon 2, available RAM is approximately 3072 KB. On the Argon, it is 80 KB.

³ Total built-in flash; amount available to user applications is smaller. The Argon also has a 4 MB external flash, a portion of which is available to user applications as a flash file system.

⁴ Onboard or external antenna is selectable in software.

Argon (Prototyping Gen 3 Wi-Fi)

The Argon in a Gen 3 Wi-Fi device in a prototyping form-factor (pins on the bottom). It is deprecated and has been replaced by the Photon 2.

• Argon datasheet
• Ways to expand Gen 3 feather devices (above)
• Photon 2 from Argon migration guide

P2 (Production Wi-Fi)

• P2 datasheet
• P2 from P1 migration guide
• P2 from Argon migration guide
• P2 from Photon migration guide

† Optional but recommended. Add to your base board.

¹A small amount of the flash file system is used by Device OS, most is available for user data storage using the POSIX filesystem API. This is separate from the flash memory used for Device OS, user application, and OTA transfers.

² Total RAM; amount available to user applications is smaller. On the P2, available RAM is approximately 3072 KB. On the Argon, it is 80 KB. On the Photon, it is 55 KB.

³ Total built-in flash; amount available to user applications is smaller. The Argon also has a 4 MB external flash, a portion of which is available to user applications as a flash file system.

⁴ Onboard or external antenna is selectable in software.

⁵ The STM32 hardware supports I2S but there is no software support in Device OS or 3rd-party libraries.

⁶ The second UART on the Photon shares pins with the status LED, and requires unsoldering it (or its current limiting resistors) and using pads on the bottom of the module, making it impractical to use.

P1 (Production Gen 2 Wi-Fi)

The P1 is intended for production use. It is an older Gen 2 models as is deprecated. The P2 should be used instead.

• P1 datasheet
• P2 from P1 migration guide

Both cellular and Wi-Fi

There are no Particle devices that include both cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity in a single device. While the Tracker SoM and Tracker One include cellular and Wi-Fi, the Tracker Wi-Fi can only be used for geolocation and cannot be used to connect to the Internet.

If you want an option of cellular or Wi-Fi in your product, you'll need two or three different SKUs, however the best choice is:

• Wi-Fi: Photon 2, Argon
• Cellular: Boron LTE (North America), Boron 2G/3G (Global except NORAM)

These modules are pin-compatible in the Feather form-factor, so you can make two versions of your hardware, one cellular and one Wi-Fi, which you can use depending on local connectivity, for example.

Ethernet

The Photon 2, Argon, Boron are compatible with the Ethernet FeatherWing.

With the B Series SoM you can implement Ethernet on your custom base board fairly simply using the WIZnet W5500 chipset. The B Series Eval Board includes this circuitry.

With the P2 module, you can implement Ethernet on your custom base board fairly simply using the WIZnet W5500 chipset. There is no evaluation board for this combination, but the circuitry is straightforward and conceptually the same as the B Series, though the specific pins are different.

You can also include Ethernet functionality on your Tracker SoM base board, but this is an unusual configuration and the Tracker SoM Eval board does not include Ethernet.

It is not possible to use Ethernet with Gen 2 devices (Photon, P1, Electron, or E Series).

Ethernet is only intended for use as a method of connecting to the Internet. It is not intended to connect to isolated Ethernet segments such as Ethernet control networks, and relay information over cellular, for example. See the AN037 Ethernet application note for more information.

The following pins are used by Ethernet. In Device OS 5.3.0 and later these can be reconfigured.