Supplied by Pimoroni, the micro:bit is designed around the Nordic Semiconductor nRF51822 Bluetooth LE microcontroller. The board includes an accelerometer, magnetometer / compass, two user configurable buttons, and a 5x5 LED matrix that can also serve as a light sensor. The micro:bit measures 4 cm by 5 cm, is available in a range of colors, and is designed to be fun and easy to use. The bottom of the board has a card-edge style connector with five large contacts for expansion via alligator clips and additional contacts provide a total of 19 GPIO.

Designed with education in mind, the board can be coded easily from PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone and is programmable using JavaScript, Python, MakeCode, mbed™, C, and C++. It also connects to other devices, sensors, kits, and objects, and is a good companion to Arduino, Galileo, Kano™, littleBits™, and Raspberry Pi®, acting as a spring board to more complex learning.