The Nano 33 BLE (with headers) is Arduino’s 3.3V compatible board in the smallest available form factor: 45x18mm!
The Arduino Nano 33 BLE is a completely new board on a well-known form factor. It comes with an embedded 9 axis inertial sensor what makes this board ideal for wearable devices, but also for a large range of scientific experiments in the need of short-distance wireless communication.
The Arduino Nano 33 BLE is an evolution of the traditional Arduino Nano, but featuring a lot more powerful processor, the nRF52840 from Nordic Semiconductors, a 32-bit ARM® Cortex™-M4 CPU running at 64 MHz. This will allow you to make larger programs than with the Arduino Uno (it has 1MB of program memory, 32 times bigger), and with a lot more variables (the RAM is 128 times bigger). The main processor includes other amazing features like Bluetooth® pairing via NFC and ultra low power consumption modes.
The Nano 33 BLE comes with a 9 axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) which means that it includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer with 3-axis resolution each. This makes the Nano 33 BLE the perfect choice for more advanced robotics experiments, exercise trackers, digital compasses, etc.
An Improved Arduino Nano
If you used Arduino Nano in your projects in the past, the Nano 33 BLE is a pin-equivalent substitute. Your code will still work, but remember, it operates at 3.3V. This means that you need to revise your original design in case it is not 3.3V compatible. Besides that, the main differences to the classic Nano are: a better processor, a micro-USB connector, and a 9 axis IMU.
You can get the board with or without headers, what will allow you embedding the Nano inside any kind of inventions, including wearables. The board comes with tessellated connectors and no components on the B-side. These features allow you to solder the board directly onto your own design, minimizing the height of your whole prototype.
Bluetooth® and BLE
The communications chipset on the Nano 33 BLE can be both a BLE and Bluetooth® client and host device. Something pretty unique in the world of microcontroller platforms. If you want to see how easy it is to create a Bluetooth® central or a peripheral device, explore the examples at ArduinoBLE library.