1. ELEGOO UNO R3 Project Smart Robot Car Kit V 3.0
2. Arduino Starter Kit
3. ELEGOO UNO Project Super Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 Compatible with Arduino IDE
4. Freenove Ultimate Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi 4 B 3 B+
5. SunFounder Mega 2560 R3 Project Super Starter Kit
The best arduino starter kit products allow you to experiment with and learn all about electronic programming including several common components and how they can control the world around you. They’re a vital and engaging learning and entertainment tool.
The problem is that for any electronics enthusiast out there, the sheer number of different options available in this product niche is enormous. It’s crucial that you have a helping hand to ensure that you get the most effective kit to suit your needs.
We spent hours upon hours comparing the different kits on the market to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the different features to compare when stacking one product up against another as well as a click list of the five best options currently on the market. There’s no need to go anywhere else. Read on for everything you need to know.
What Is an Arduino Starter Kit?
A basic description of an arduino starter kit would be that it’s an all-encompassing package that contains everything you need to start experimenting with and learning about electronic programming. It’s a useful learning tool as well as providing plentiful entertainment.
Included in almost all kits of this nature is a foundational bread board that serves as your basis for piecing together an array of different circuit types and component combinations that serve to influence the world around you.
Some examples of the components included in a typical Arduino package include LED bulbs, water sensors, buttons, switches, and all manner of items to effectively control electronic circuits and use them to influence your surroundings.
While this can make for a fun and engaging experience for an adult, teen, or child alike if they’re the type of person that enjoys tinkering and creating things, they’re also fantastic for practicing electronics with if you’re a would-be engineer, too.
This makes them as entertaining as they are functional and the massive variety of kits on offer means that you can customise your experience if you want to focus on a particular area of electronic circuitry for entertainment or as a means of brushing up on your skills.
Regardless of your reasons for choosing to delve into the world of arduino starter kits, it’s safe to say that you’ll enjoy the endless hours of fun and education they provide to anyone from the most casual electronics enthusiast to a professional engineer looking to further refine their craft.
How to Pick Right Arduino Starter Kit
As there are so many different kits out there, we’re going to take some time to delve into the key areas you need to be paying attention to when comparison shopping for one of these products to ensure that you get the best kit for you.
It’s important to remember that each and every kit will be slightly different therefore one may suit the preferences and requirements of one person over another. By carefully stacking these features and points of consideration up, you’ll be sure to get the right variety.
User Level
This area is a big one if you want to get the most out of your kit being that each product is designed to cater for individuals of varying experience, from beginner right through to a seasoned electronic engineering professional.
Always check before buying to see who the target audience for a kit is because it’s crucial that you can use it effectively. If you’re new to this kind of thing, then you’ll need an introductory kit to help you learn the basics. On balance, a seasoned professional who wants a practical home practice tool is definitely going to need something more substantial.
Does It Offer Any Support or Guidance?
Some kits will come packaged with bestselling books to support your use of them from the second you open the box or a well-written content-packed instruction manual that contains everything you need to know for optimum experimentation.
If you’re totally new to electronic engineering or even if you’re looking for a few new ideas to freshen things up, it might be worth purchasing a kit that comes with supportive material like this to massively amplify both your enjoyment and practical benefit when using it.
How Many Components Does It Contain?
The most expansive kits on the market contain 200+ pieces whereas others feature significantly less. Even though the number of pieces a product contains doesn’t necessarily determine how advanced it is, it does certainly guarantee a wider variety of possible circuit and component combinations.
Depending on what you’re looking to use your kit for it’s worth looking at the component list to see whether or not it’s going to allow you to perform the tasks that you want. Sometimes a product with less parts can match your requirements better!
What’s the Kit Designed for?
Tying into our last point, take your time to browse through all of the available options because some arduino starter kit products are created for experimentation within very specific areas of electronic engineering.
This means that regardless of your area of speciality as a practicing or would-be professional (or even hardcore enthusiast), you can focus on specifically developing certain circuit and outcome types based on your preferences and requirements. Always shop smart and weigh every option.
How Functional Is It?
The sad truth is that not all kits are created equal and some simply don’t offer the same level of functionality for the money as others. It’s worth checking existing user reviews to see what other people’s experiences of a certain product are like for maximum clarity.
There’s nothing worse than piecing together a complicated circuit only to have it not work due to poor quality components. Always strive to make sure that your chosen kit has been extensively tried and tested and works to a high degree of efficiency.
Will You Need to Purchase Other Tools?
When you’re using an arduino uno starter kit or any other type of product in this category, there’s a high chance that you might need additional tools like soldering irons and multi meters to get the most out of it.
Though it’s great to purchase these additional elements to enhance functionality anyway, if you’re a beginner, you’re ideally going to need something simple that works effectively straight out of the box without additional supportive tools being required for optimal benefit. Choose carefully to avoid any unexpected additional costs.
Brands
As per any other item, it’s always a good idea to purchase a product that comes from a well-established brand name as this means that it is almost definitely already being used effectively by thousands of people to a high level of satisfaction. The following manufacturers are all producing really high quality arduino starter kit products: ELEGOO, UNIROI, Smraza, Greekcreit, Arduino, Freenove, Arducam, Teenii. Any kit purchased from one of the above manufacturers will be sure to deliver the utmost in quality and satisfaction.
Top 5 Best Arduino Starter Kits
In this section, we’re going to provide you with a rundown of what we feel are the five best Arduino kits available on the market for your hard earned money. We’ve done this for those people who prefer to use simple click lists as opposed to performing lengthy comparison shopping.
Though every item listed here is featured due to being strong in a particular area, it’s worth noting that any of the featured kits are also strong all round options that will satisfy the needs of pretty much any would-be Arduino user, too. Without further ado, here are the five best arduino starter kit products on the market.
1. Our Pick: ELEGOO UNO R3 Project Smart Robot Car Kit V 3.0
Features:
- Easy to assemble
- Contains 24 module parts
- Refined CD tutorial included
- Offers hands-on experience about programming
For those who want the perfect starter kit to teach their kids all about electronic programming, this option from Elegoo is going to cater for all of your needs thanks to the cleverly thought out contents that keep fun at the forefront of the kit design. Basically, this is more of a car model kit than it is an arduino uno kit. What makes the design of this product so ingenious is that you can build a highly functional automated robot car using an array of contents that you’d usually find in a typical Arduino kit.
Pros
Pros
- Ingenious design that puts fun at the forefront
- Great for those who struggle with more traditional learning method
- The perfect introductory kit for leading onto advanced programming
- It’ll encourage your child to learn due to the engaging content
Cons
Cons
- Not the best kit for advanced programming practice
- Restricted to younger age groups
What this means is that your child ends up with a fun toy that they’ve had to build themselves, thus ensuring that they’re learning all about the individual electronic components as they construct it including how they interact with other components and the world around them. This makes for an engaging kit that’s as entertaining as it is educational and serves as the perfect platform to lead onto advanced kit use.
Public Review Summary: This kit is quite easy to assemble and will be great for kids to understand how computers and robots work. Everything needed is in the box with the kit and the details are made from high quality materials. It comes pre-programmed to follow lines, run by IR like a remote control car and does basic object detection. But the kit has quite weak motors and the software doesn’t work well in some cases.
2. Best for First Time Users: Arduino Starter Kit
Features:
- Comes with a 170-page guide book
- Includes over 100 components
- Walks you through the basics of Arduino and electronics in a hands on way
- You can build 15 projects
If you’re in the market for the best arduino starter kit for programming education and entertainment, then this kit has everything you need in abundance thanks to the 100+ components that offer just enough variety to ensure that you can master all of the basics.
Because this product comes straight from Arduino themselves, you know that everything in the box is high quality thanks to the outstanding reputation of the company who started it all. As the forerunners in this product category, they know how to deliver the perfect first time programming experience.
Pros
Pros
- Includes just enough components to make it perfect for a beginner
- Lots of project variety for an optimum learning experience
- The included guide is incredibly expansive and well thought out
- Very easy to understand
Cons
Cons
- Doesn’t include enough components to challenge more advanced users
- It’s a little on the expensive side
Though 100+ pieces might not be as high as other offerings out there, this serves as the perfect basis for a beginner or novice to hone their craft without feeling overwhelmed in the process. There are a total of 15 projects to complete, and by the time the user has fulfilled them all, they’re going to feel confident enough to progress onto more advance kits of over 200+ pieces.
Public Review Summary: It is great starter set to introduce people and small kids how work electrical components and programming. The kit includes a little bit of everything for most hobbyists and even pro’s to get a fast jump start in Arduino. But the instructions are quite hard to understand for some people and that is a con.
3. Best for Electronics Students: ELEGOO UNO Project Super Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 Compatible with Arduino IDE
Features:
- Includes a free PDF tutorial with 22 lessons
- The most economical kit based on the Arduino platform
- 100% compatible with Arduino Uno R3, MEGA 2560 and NANO
- Includes protective hard case
For the budding future programming genius, this kit from Elegoo serves as the perfect platform for them to learn everything they need to know about the basics of electronic programming thanks to the enormous 22 different lessons it provides. The included PDF tutorial is comprehensive and makes it easy to pick this product up and start experimenting straight out of the box and the massive variety of included components will allow any electronics student or casual enthusiast to spread their wings.
Pros
Pros
- A great supportive tool for any student studying electronic programming
- The included hard case keeps things neat and tidy
- The integrated lessons will boost knowledge in almost every area of programming
- Wide compatibility makes it useful for almost any user
Cons
Cons
- May be too complicated for total beginners
- Some components are a little cheap looking
Though the diverse lessons on offer make this the perfect supplementary product for a student wanting to refine their craft away from the classroom, the massive array of components will also serve to satisfy the needs of curious hobbyists and even expert programmers, too. All in all, it’s an accessible kit that can be used as an incredibly effective educational tool or for sheer entertainment purposes if desired too.
Public Review Summary: It is quality Arduino kit with all pieces included to start improving knowledge in programming. The kit contains several types of sensors to experiment with and provides extensive code examples and tutorials to walk you through several different projects. Although, the kit does not come with the best instructions and sometimes break fast.
4. Best for Experienced Users: Freenove Ultimate Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi 4 B 3 B+
Features:
- 223 included components
- A total of 57 integrated projects
- Compatible with a wide array of models
- Includes access to an always ready technical team
This is absolutely the most effective starter kit on the market for experienced users thanks to its massive array of components and an enormous 434-page guide that provides an excellent basis for you to endlessly experiment with. Featuring 223 individual components and compatibility with three different programming languages, this isn’t just one of the most advanced kits available on the market but also one of the most practical too.
Pros
Pros
- The included PDF guide is enormous and hugely supportive
- It’s a perfect kit for more experienced users
- Includes more components and projects than most other kits on the market
- Three language compatibility offers optimum project diversity
Cons
Cons
- Probably too advanced for beginner users
- Some of the included components may not be as high quality as other kits
Thanks to the always available technical service team you have free access to with your purchase, you can get assistance any time you need it for a helping hand while you’re learning how to piece together some of the more advanced projects. There’s not much negative to say here other than that this is probably going to be a little too advanced of a kit to be suitable for total beginners. If you don’t fall into that category, however, then it’s definitely the best option for those who are already confident with Arduino technology.
Public Review Summary: All the parts from kit are nicely machined and the quality is excellent. Many of the individual components are shipped plugged into the breadboard, so be prepared to carefully extract them when you start using your kit. The easy to follow tutorial guides for each of the components is great. But it can contain resisters that are incorrect.
5. Best Budget: SunFounder Mega 2560 R3 Project Super Starter Kit
Features:
- Includes detailed instructions
- Housed in a plastic packaging box
- Integrated professional support
- Offers a dynamic creative learning experience
This is easily the best arduino starter kit for those on a budget who want all of the functionality that you’d find in some of the market leading premium options but without paying the elevated price tag in the process. The compatibility with Arduino alongside other formats means that no matter what your programming interests are, you’re completely free to experiment to your heart’s content. The 25 provided projects are sure to keep you busy for weeks on end.
Pros
Pros
- Offers more projects than other kits
- Compatible with a wide array of formats for optimum engagement
- Professional support means no confusion and maximum accessibility
- The included guide is easy to understand
Cons
Cons
- Other kits include more components
- Though there are a large number of projects other kits offer more
The kit comes housed in a tidy storage box that makes it easy to keep everything in check without having to worry about losing some of the smaller components and the detailed instruction book makes it a total breeze to use. You’ve also got access to included professional support, which means that you can boost your knowledge regardless of your experience level as you strive to accomplish the variety of different project outcomes this kit provides. It’s a winner on every front.
Public Review Summary: It great affordable option for introduction into electronics and computer systems. The kit comes with many accessories to constructs many projects. Each project has very detailed step-by-step instructions. The only thing is that the instructions for it could be too hard to understand for some people.
Best Arduino Starter Kit FAQ
In this section, we’re going to cover the five most frequently asked questions that prospective users have about Arduino kits prior to purchasing them. We’ve strived to give you the most effective answers possible to ensure that there is no confusion for maximum reassurance before you make a final purchase decision.
What Is An Arduino Board?
An arduino board serves as a foundation for building electronic processes that are capable of interacting with the world around them and impacting it physically. Most of them feature staple integrations like LED lights and buttons to control circuits.
Though they are all slightly different, you should view one of these boards as a controller and foundation to make electronic components operate successfully.
Which Programming Language Does Arduino Use?
Arduino kits typically have in-built Arduino IDE programming software that can speak with the most modern electronic programming platforms like Linux and Java for maximum compatibility.
What Exactly Is Arduino?
Arduino is computer hardware that is open sourced and is used to design and manufacture controllers for building digital devices that can both monitor and sense objects in the real world.
Can Anyone Use an Arduino Kit?
Technically yes they can, but if you have absolutely no prior knowledge in computer or electronic programming whatsoever, then it’s likely that you’re going to have to spend longer to fully understand how the platform and components work.
How Do I Power an Arduino Board?
Every individual board has its own set of power pins that you need to connect to provide a power source for the breadboard itself. These pins will typically carry different voltage values ranging from 3 to 5V. Some boards are also powered by an I/O port or GND-pin.
Always read the manufacturer’s specifications before use to ensure that you can successfully connect with the pins or other power supply on your chosen kits bread board to power it up.
Conclusion
Arduino starter kits may seem like a minefield of confusion upon first glance, but they’re incredibly easy to understand if you’re willing to take a little time to either read the integrated guide they come with or any other bestselling book on this beloved and widely used technology.
Many professional programmers operating in the world now simply wouldn’t be where they are if they hadn’t spent countless hours experimenting with an Arduino board and fulfilling one of the many projects they offer.
Whether you’re looking for some entertainment at home or a platform to help you better understand electronic programming as a novice or advanced user, choose any of the top five options on our list now to ensure that you’ve got everything you need for a stress-free programming future.