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Blog Adafruit Pi Pico Enclosure: A Quick Review
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Engagement
  • Author Author: shabaz
  • Date Created: 28 Jan 2026 9:43 PM Date Created
  • Views 98 views
  • Likes 8 likes
  • Comments 11 comments
  • Pi Pico W
  • enclosure
  • adafruit
  • case
  • pi pico
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Adafruit Pi Pico Enclosure: A Quick Review

shabaz
shabaz
28 Jan 2026

I recently purchased an unusual Adafruit product: a Pi Pico enclosure. Rather an odd product, it's really more for standalone projects because there is no space to easily attach additional hardware. The case is two-part and snaps together, but easily re-opened if desired, using fingernails to pull off the top cover. Technically, it is a waste of money (although admittedly it's not an expensive item), since you could just wrap a Pico in some paper, or maybe heatshrink tubing. 

If you're using this enclosure and really need to wire the Pico to external circuitry, then, at a pinch, you could tack a few wires onto the Pi Pico connections and thread them through the cover slots.

image

Aesthetically, the case doesn't look or feel great; it seems to be a 3D-printed item. I don't really mind that, since it doesn't need to look pretty.

The Pi Pico loosely fits in the locator pegs.

image

The Pi Pico rattles inside the enclosure; the Pico is only lightly held in the vertical plane at one end by the small internal bump on the Boot button lever. 

image

USB connectors have enough clearance.

image

The Pi Pico's green LED is usable; it glows through the white plastic.

I think a better enclosure would have left some space to insert a few standard tact buttons, so you could wire them to Reset and a few GPIO pins.

An even better enclosure would have left space on one side, perhaps, for a small prototyping board. Adafruit was probably constrained by the cost of 3D printing, so they may have needed to keep the enclosure size small.

I will probably glue an SMD switch to poke out through one of the slots if possible, as well as an LED.

In summary, the enclosure is more than fine for what it is, but obviously, a larger enclosure would be more useful. I think this enclosure is intended for those without a 3D printer. If you have a 3D printer and some time, you'd be better off making a larger, better enclosure. Or, if you have a few tools and some time, you may as well use a larger standard project box, cut and file a small hole for a USB socket, and maybe create a 3D-printed clip to secure the Pi Pico inside the box.

Thanks for reading.

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  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave 1 hour ago in reply to shabaz

    Some of the Arduino UNOs shipped with a plastic base which was handy for avoiding shorting and ESD damage.

    Just a play on Pico W I guess. Pico W -> PiCow -> PiCowbell

    There appear to be protoboards, breakouts, CAN bus, camera, DVI, logger versions of PiCowbells. I think I have a dual RS232 one floating around that I was going to use for a serial BAUD rate converter.   

    There appears to be one designed with a deeper lid with a PiCowbell inside. 

    John Park used one for his Pico Bluetooth Keyboard Bridge project.

    There are links to the STL files there if people want to customise them.

       

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  • shabaz
    shabaz 1 hour ago in reply to beacon_dave

    I agree, I think it's useful for preventing the shorting and ESD damage, that's handy for me because often I will write and try out code before I get to the hardware cinnections.

    I didn't understand what the PiCowbell is (looks like a proto board? I wish they would name products sensibly) or what it might look like with the enclosure on it. The Pico with headers attached normally has the headers protruding on the underside of the Pico, so then it wouldn't fit in the case. 

    Good idea with the hot glue!

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  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave 2 hours ago in reply to shabaz

    I could see the base being used in a number of prototyping or educational projects. Stops the exposed underside from being shorted out and the slots allow an elastic or velcro strap to be fitted to allow easy attachments to everyday things. A dab of hot glue on top of the locator pegs would hold the Pico in place. 

    Adafruit themselves even suggest to leave the lid off to fit a PiCowbell on top.

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  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave 3 hours ago in reply to dougw

    Perhaps there is a USB power bank strapped to the arm or incorporated into your latest energy harvesting attire.

    Pretty sure you could squeeze some sensors into the space that is left.

    Sounds like another contender for Project 14... "What can you do with this ?"

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  • dougw
    dougw 4 hours ago in reply to genebren

    No power, no I/O, no user interface - pretty inert wearable accessory.

    It could be a HID login device - plug it into a PC and it logs on for you....or types your email address

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