Which Arduino should I buy? How do I select my first Arduino kit to buy? These are questions that all of us who want to start enjoying and learning with these electronic development boards ask ourselves. In this article we will explain how to select your first development kit and what to consider when choosing it. We will use real examples that we will select based entirely on our experience of use.
Let’s get started!
What is an Arduino?
This is a question that we have answered many, many times on our website. But if this is the first time you read one of our articles and you want to know more in depth about these devices so you can understand this reading perfectly, we recommend you to stop for a moment, and open a new tab with the following articles that I recommend about Arduinos, this way you can answer the previous question very quickly.
Recommended articles about Arduino
These two articles above are very basic and will help you as a complement of information to understand how to select your first Arduino.
What is an Arduino Kit?
Since there is no generalized term for these words, we will give you our own definition.
An Arduino Kit is nothing more than a set of electronic elements, sensors and accessories that will give us the ability to perform countless projects, all this accompanied by an Arduino, which will be the brain of our creations. They usually come with breadboards, wires for connection and even some test PCBs so you can directly solder your components to use.
What is the best Arduino Kit to start with?
If you listened to me and read the 2 articles that I have recommended above you should already know what an Arduino is, how it works, and even the alternatives that exist and the software used for programming.
Having all the above clear, the time has come to select our first Arduino Kit.
1-Arduino Starter Kit K030007 Oficial
This first Arduino Kit, as its name suggests, is the Arduino Starter Kit par excellence within this range of products. By excellence does not mean that it is the best, but it is one of the most famous in the market of these devices. It is supplied by the manufacturer of these microcontrollers and among all the alternatives is the most expensive of all, but do not worry, because we will show you other options in case you do not want to spend what this model costs.
What does the Official Arduino Starter Kit K030007 include?
Below you can see everything included in this kit according to the manufacturer for the development of your projects:
- 1 Manual of the projects (176 pages).
- 1 Arduino UNO.
- 1 USB cable.
- 1 Prototyping board 400 points.
- 70 solid core jumper wires, 1 braided jumper wire (black), 1 braided jumper wire (red)
- 1 Single mounting base
- 1 9 v battery holder
- 6 Phototransistors (VT90N2 LDR)
- 3 10 kOhm potentiometers
- 10 Pushbuttons
- 1 Temperature sensor [TMP36] 1 Tilt sensor [TMP36
- 1 Tilt sensor
- 1 LCD display (16×2 characters)
- LED’s: 1 LED (bright white), 1 LED (RGB), 8 LED’s (red), 8 LED’s (green), 8 LED’s (yellow), 3 LED’s (blue)
- 1 small DC motor 6/9 V
- 1 small servomotor
- 1 Piezo cartridge (PKM17EPP-4001-B0)
- 1 H-bridge motor actuator (L293D)
- 1 Optocoupler (4N35)
- 2 Mosfet transistors [IRF520] 5 100µF capacitors (PKM17EPP-4001-B0)
- 5 Capacitors 100µF
- 5 Diodes (1N4007)
- 3 Transparent gel films (red, green, blue)
- 1 Male pin plate (40*1)
- Resistors: 20 Resistors of 220 ohms, 5 Resistors of 560 ohms, 5 Resistors of 1 kilo ohms, 5 Resistors of 4.7 kilo ohms, 20 Resistors of 10 kilo ohms, 5 Resistors of 1 mega ohm, 5 Resistors of 10 mega ohm.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Official Arduino Starter Kit K030007
✅High variety of electronic components
✅Teaching manual with 15 basic projects from scratch.
✅Arduino and official Manufacturer’s Kit.
❌High price.
❌Little variety of sensors
We will now present two Arduino Starter Kits that we think are the best to start with from our point of view. They are from other well known manufacturers in the world of development boards, but offer much better value for money than the original manufacturer. Let’s take a look at them below.
2-Arduino Starter Kit ELEGOO Mega R3 2560
Esta es una de las opciones de Arduino Starter Kit que comentamos anteriormente y que valoramos muy positivamente como primer Kit para adquirir. Ya en la imagen pueden hacerse una idea de todos los componentes que incluye por un precio considerablemente menor que la opción anterior. Uno de las características que tiene este Arduino Starter Kit es que vale tanto para un usuario principiante que quiera comenzar con Arduino, o uno más avanzado que quiera sacarle partido a todos estos componentes que veremos a continuación en este Kit.
What is included in the Arduino Starter Kit ELEGOO Mega R3 2560?
- Arduino MEGA R3 (high quality generic) + USB cable
- Bluetooth Master/Slave module HC-05
- Plastic box with cells (component organizer)
- 4xAA battery holder (6V)
- Prototyping shield + Mini-Protoboard
- Large Protoboard (830 points)
- 10*Female-Female + 10*Male-Female + 10 Male-Male Dupont cables
- Jumper cables for breadboard
- 6 Buttons with multicolor caps
- PS2 type Joystick Module
- RC-522 RFID module with white RFID card and RFID key fob
- High precision RTC Real Time Clock Module DS3231 and EEPROM AT24C32
- PIR Presence Sensor HC-SR501
- Ultrasonic Sensor for distance measurement HCSR04
- Sound detector sensor with programmable threshold
- LM35 Temperature Sensor
- Tilt Detector Sensor
- Servo Motor SG90 – Stepper Motor (5V)
- Stepper motor driver module ULN2003
- 5V Active Buzzer Chicharra Buzzer Chicharra Passive Buzzer Chicharra
- Passive 5V LCD 1602 16 characters * 2 linesLED Display Driver Circuit MAX7219
8*8 LED Matrix Display - 7 Segment 1 Digit Display
- 7 Segment Display * 4 digits
- Single Relay Module
- Infrared Remote Control 38kHz
- 38kHz Infrared Decoder Receiver (1838 type)
- Infrared Phototransistor (Flame Sensor)
- Infrared LED -Light sensor (Photoresistor)
- 10* LEDs 5mm RED diffuse 10* LEDs 5mm GREEN diffuse 10* LEDs 5mm YELLOW diffuse 5* LEDs 5mm WHITE ultra-bright diffuse 3* LEDs 5mm RED/GREEN/BLUE diffuse RGB diffuse
- Shift Register Circuit (Series to Parallel) 74HC595
- SS8050 NPN Transistor
- Adjustable Knob Resistor 1kOhm (Potentiometer) -Adjustable Knob Resistor 10kOhm (Potentiometer)
- Resistor Pack 1/4W 1% accuracy, with 10pc of each value: 100, 220, 330, 470, 1K, 2K2, 4k7, 10K, 22K, 47K, 100K, 220K, 1M
- 40-pin header strip 2.54mm
- 40-pin header strip right angle 2.54mm
- 5* Tantalum bypass capacitors 0.1uF
- 5* Jumpers for header
Advantages and Disadvantages of Arduino Starter Kit ELEGOO Mega R3 2560
✅Price/quality ratio.
✅Teaching manual included on CD with more than 35 basic projects from scratch.
✅ELEGOO MEGA Arduino included.
✅Variety of sensors.
✅Tutorials downloadable through the following link .
❌We did not find any negatives as a Starter Kit.
3-Arduino Starter Kit KUMAN R3
In this last option we opt for a manufacturer not so well known with a fairly acceptable offer in relation to what this Arduino Starter Kit offers. In this case in quality and purchase option we would be placed by a better option than the Arduino Starter Kit Original but a little below the Arduino Starter Kit ELEGOO. Here we show it to you.
What is included in the Arduino Starter Kit KUMAN R3?
- 1x Kuman R3 Board.
- 1x 830 point test board.
- 1x USB Cable.
- 1x 9V Wall power adapter(1A).
- 1x Remote control.
- 1x 1602 LCD.
- 1x Protoshield w/Mini Breadboard.
- 1x 65x Jumper cables.
- 1x SG90 9G Servo.
- 1x Stepper motor.
- 1x Stepper motor driver.
- 100x Resistors(10 each/10,100,200,200,330,1K,2K,5K,10K,100K,1m ohm).
- 1x 9V battery connection.
- 1x Relay module.
- 2x MAX7219.
- 1x 7 Segment display(4 digits).
- 1x 7 Segment 1 digit.
- 1x ADXL335 Gyroscope module.
- 1x XY joystick.
- 1x HCSR04 Ultrasonic sensor module.
- 1x Small plastic box (with components).
- 5x BC547 NPN Transistor.
- 5x BC557 PNP Transistor.
- 5x NPN2222 Transistors
- 2x Photoresistor (LDR).
- 5x 1N4007 Diodes.
- 5mm LED(5 each /blue, green, yellow, white, red).
- 1x RGB LED.
- 2x 10K Potentiometer.
- 1x 74HC595 8-register displacement.
- 1x Thermistor.
- 1x Active buzzer.
- 1x Buzzer.
- 5x Capacitors 22pF, 5x 0.1uF, 2x 50V 10uF, 2x50V 100uF.
- 5x Push button.
- 1x H-Bridge Motor Driver.
- 1x IR Receiver Module.
- 1x 3V DC Motor.
- 1x DHT11.
- 1x Keypad module.
- 1x Rotary encoder module.
- 1x HC-SR501 PIR.
- 1x Board power supply module.
- 1x Tilt switch.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Arduino Starter Kit KUMAN R3
✅Price/quality ratio.
✅Teaching manual included in PDF with 30 basic projects from scratch in several languages.
✅Variety of sensors.
✅Variety and quantity of basic electronic components.
❌Includes only the Arduino UNO R3.
❌Manufacturer not so recognized, although it presents good ratings at the time of making this article.
Which Arduino Starter Kit should I buy?
At this point and based on the analysis and options that we have put on the table we believe that the best value for money option is the Arduino Starter Kit from ELEGOO.
In the case of the Original Arduino we consider that it is a rather expensive option in the current times where there are many manufacturers and offers of these devices for much more competitive prices and with a number of sensors and electronic components much more striking than what the creator of these boards offers. Although, if you get to the point where the budget is not a problem because the experience of having an Original Arduino Kit is not so far-fetched.
Coming to the point of users who have a tighter budget or simply seek to spend less and get all the possible return on our investment, the ELEGOO option we consider it is perfect as a Starter Kit and would be a purchase more than recommended by us. We would leave the KUMAN R3 for even tighter budgets and those who want to venture with a manufacturer that is not so well known but offers a visibly adequate product.
Even if you want to take the leap and instead of buying an Arduino you prefer to have a KIT with an ESP01 or a Raspberry, you could do it without any problem, since all components are fully compatible. If you would like to know more about these two devices we leave these two articles for you to take a look at:
In conclusion
We hope this article has cleared most of the doubts you had to start getting into the world of microcontrollers and programming, if so leave us a Like 👍 and share this article with everyone you know. If thanks to this article you acquire any of these devices let us know in the comments what it was and what experience you are having with it.
Also, if you are more experienced we would like to know what was your first device you acquired and how did it go? We read you!
See you in the next article🙌.
You forgot the GAR Monster Kit. Much more comprehensive tool set for the $.
It is quite expensive.