Raspberry Pi Zero WH review

The Raspberry Pi Zero WH is the Zero with its GPIO header already soldered on. Raspberry Pi's documentation describes it as the first Zero model to offer pre-soldered headers. A January 2018 trade article announced it as a new model on that basis. The board is for small, single-purpose builds where you want to connect parts to the header without picking up a soldering iron first.

The board uses a Broadcom BCM2835 with a 1 GHz single-core 32-bit ARM11 CPU and a 400 MHz VideoCore IV GPU. Memory is 512 MB of LPDDR2 at 450 MHz. The research lists no other RAM option.

With one core and 512 MB, it suits a single dedicated task more than several services running side by side. A sensor logger, a small display controller or a simple network-connected gadget fits that profile. Anything that needs multiple containers or virtual machines does not.

The 40-pin header uses a 0.1in (2.54 mm) pin pitch and arrives pre-soldered. According to the research, it is the same header as on the flagship Model B devices, which gives HAT compatibility. That is the main reason to choose the WH over a bare Zero: the pins are ready on day one, and the pinout matches the larger boards.

Video comes from a mini HDMI port. Composite video is also available, but only through two unpopulated pins, so that route needs extra work on your side.

Wireless is 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth with BLE. Sources disagree on the Bluetooth version. Raspberry Pi lists 4.0, while The Pi Hut lists 4.1. Treat the manufacturer's figure as the reference.

There is no wired Ethernet port, and the Wi-Fi band is 2.4 GHz only. A project that depends on a wired link or a 5 GHz network does not match the listed specification.

Power comes in at 5V over micro USB. The board has two micro-USB ports: one takes input power and the other connects external devices. The research lists no USB 3.

Storage is a microSD slot and nothing else. The research lists no NVMe, PCIe or eMMC option. For the small tasks this board targets, that is a limit on speed and capacity choices rather than a blocker, but it does mean microSD is the only storage the board offers.

Raspberry Pi publishes Zero documentation and a guide on what you can build with the Zero. That puts the board inside the manufacturer's own documented range, which matters for anyone who wants guidance from the maker. The research gives no detail on specific OS images or kernel status, so check Raspberry Pi's pages for the current software before you commit to a build.

Retailer listings in the research show the board out of stock. One listing gives a restock date of 25 November 2026. Stock may have changed since, so check before you plan around it. Kiwi Electronics lists the part as MPN SC0065 with EAN 5056561800295. That detail comes from a retailer, not the manufacturer.

The Zero WH is a narrow, specific board. Its strengths are the ready-fitted header, HAT compatibility through the Model B-style pinout, and built-in wireless. Its limits are the single 32-bit core, 512 MB of RAM, microSD-only storage and no wired Ethernet. Buy it for a small, dedicated, wireless job that uses the header. Look elsewhere if you need more processing power or a wired network connection.