WiFi allows you to connect to your local network and access the Internet. This lets you do things like send/receive data to services like Adafruit IO. Or, you can grab some information from the Internet, like weather, sports scores, etc. and display it locally.
This page contains all of the WiFi enabled CircuitPython compatible boards and a bit about the features of each one. You know you want WiFi, now to figure out what other features will work best for you!
Provides native WiFi support via ESP32-S2 processor.
The Adafruit Metro ESP32-S2 brings native WiFi to the Metro form factor. Unlike other metro boards, this board can be powered by a LiPo battery, as well as USB C and a DC jack.
Since it's a single chip compared to the Metro Airlift, it is less expensive - but it isn't going to be as fast because the one processor has to handle both running Python and managing WiFi. It's a great value with a good number of pins. Unlike the ESP32, the ESP32-S2 does not have bluetooth.
This is a good option if you want something general purpose you can use with Arduino Shields.
Provides WiFi support using an ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor.
The Adafruit Metro M4 AirLift Lite combines the ATSAMD51 with an ESP32 WiFi co-processor in the Metro form factor. Easily add WiFi to projects using any compatible shields. The SAMD51 is powerful, the ESP32 is wireless - the combination of the two is what gives this fast board a solid chip for Python (M4) and offloading the Wireless work to a friend (ESP32). It won't be as cheap as an all-in-one but if you need a well documented processor, the SAMD M4 is very well supported by many languages and IDEs.
This is a good option if you want something general purpose you can use with Arduino Shields.
Provides WiFi support using an ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor.
The Adafruit Matrix Portal is basically a Metro Airlift in a different shape. It combines an ATSAMD51 M4 main processor with an ESP32 WiFi co-processor and can be used to easily add WiFi to RGB LED matrices. It plugs directly into the back of any HUB-75 compatible display (all the ones we stock will work) from 16x32 up to 64x64, and adds three buttons, a STEMMA QT connector and a digital/analog 3-pin JST connector.
This is a good option if you want to easily display things on a RGB matrix, whether that something comes from the Internet or not.
Provides native WiFi support via ESP32-S2 processor.
The Adafruit MagTag 2.9" uses the ESP32-S2 wireless module and has a built-in 2.9" grayscale eInk display. It also has an accelerometer, four buttons, four RGB NeoPixel LEDs and a speaker. It's designed to be low power, so it can run off of a battery connected to the port on the back, for many weeks.
This is a good option if you want a low power option for displaying things from the Internet.
Provides WiFi support using an ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor.
The Adafruit PyPortal is a WiFi enabled board with a built in display. Like the Metro AirLift, it has two processors - a SAMD51 main processor + the ESP32 is a WiFi co-processor. It also comes with a 3.2″ 320 x 240 color TFT with resistive touch screen, a speaker, light sensor, temperature sensor, NeoPixel, microSD card slot, 8MB flash, plug-in ports for I2C and 2 analog/digital connectors. It has a lot of projects and is very very easy to get going to display data from the Internet.
This is a good option if you want to display something from the Internet on a TFT display especially if you want a touch screen (the Matrix Portal and MagTag do not have touch screen overlays)
Provides WiFi support using an ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor.
The Adafruit PyPortal Pynt has everything the PyPortal does but in a smaller package. The display is a 2.4″ diagonal 320 x 240 color TFT with resistive touch screen. It also includes a speaker, light sensor, temperature sensor, NeoPixel, microSD card slot, 8MB flash, plug-in ports for I2C and 2 analog/digital connectors.
This is a good option if you want to display something from the Internet on a TFT display with a touch screen
Provides WiFi support using an ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor.
The Adafruit PyPortal Titano is nearly the same as the PyPortal with a bigger display and no temperature sensor. The display is a higher resolution 3.5″ diagonal 320 x 480 color TFT with resistive touch screen. It also includes a speaker, light sensor, NeoPixel, microSD card slot, 8MB flash, plug-in ports for I2C and 2 analog/digital connectors.
This is a good option if you want to display something from the Internet on a TFT display with a higher resolution and touch screen
