Seeed Studio's Compact Arduino-Compatible XIAO Gets an Expansion Board

Seeed Studio has launched an expansion board that takes its ultra-compact XIAO Arduino-compatible development board and adds an OLED display, high-precision battery-backed real-time clock, microSD slot, buzzer, Grove connectors, and lithium-polymer battery charging circuitry — and more.

Launched earlier this year, the Seeeduino XIAO is a Microchip SAM D21 board measuring just 23.5mm x 17.5mm (around 0.93" x 0.69"). Despite its small size, it packs a fair amount of power in its dual seven-pin breadboard friendly header — but its new expansion board offers considerably more.

"Seeeduino XIAO Expansion Board is a powerful functional expansion board for Seeeduino XIAO of only half [the] Raspberry Pi 4 size," the company explains. "It enables build[ing] prototype and project in an easy and quick way. With its rich peripherals, you could explore infinite possibilities of Seeeduino XIAO."

Playing host to a XIAO board, the carrier adds an 0.96" OLED display panel, a high-precision PCF8563T/5 real-time clock with CR1220 battery backing, microSD slot for storage, a passive buzzer, Grove connectors with I2C, UART, analog, and digital support, a lithium-polymer battery charging system, a 5V servo connector, and a user-addressable button, alongside a ready-to-use reset button and single-wire debug (SWD) pin header.

The board is now available to order ahead of shipping in late November, priced at $14.90 — though the first 200 customers can use the code "LoveXiao" at checkout to get the board for $9.90. More information is up on the Seeed Studio product page.