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You cannot make this modification by simply placing an unmodified Raspberry Pi Pico inside a Nokia 3310. The documented approach removes the phone’s proprietary mainboard and replaces it with a custom PCB that carries the Pico and reproduces the Nokia’s display, keypad, battery, buzzer, vibration-motor and other contact interfaces.
The starting point is Hoani’s 3310_pico project, which includes KiCad design files, fabrication outputs and mechanical data. Treat it as a reference design to inspect, measure against your own handset, fabricate and validate—not as a guaranteed drop-in board for every Nokia 3310 revision.
What the Nokia 3310 Pico mod actually replaces
The Nokia 3310’s original circuit board is the part being replaced. The Pico is only the controller module mounted on a new carrier or adapter PCB. That board must preserve the phone’s physical geometry while routing the Pico’s signals to the existing LCD, keypad and peripheral contacts.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThis distinction matters because a standard Pico has no Nokia-specific spring contacts, board outline or keypad/display routing. A Pico by itself cannot connect correctly to the phone shell. The custom PCB is the project.
#1 Best Overall
- RP2040 microcontroller chip designed by Raspberry Pi in the United Kingdom
- Dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ processor, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz
- 264KB of SRAM, and 2MB of on-board Flash memory
- Castellated module allows soldering direct to carrier boards
- 26 × multi-function GPIO pins
The creator’s Nokia 3310 hardware teardown describes the original arrangement and reports that the Nokia 3310 and 3315 share identical hardware for this board swap. That observation comes from the project documentation; inspect your own handset before fabrication because age, damage and regional or production revisions may affect fit.
What you need before starting
Core hardware
- A Nokia 3310 handset suitable for disassembly, including its LCD, keypad, battery contacts, buzzer and vibration motor if those features are to be retained.
- A Raspberry Pi Pico module. The Pico is the controller mounted on the custom board, not a substitute for the custom board itself.
- A fabricated PCB based on the current 3310_pico repository, or a new board you design from its mechanical and electrical reference.
- Components specified by the repository’s current schematic and bill of materials. Do not order a guessed parts list: substitutions and the complete current BOM must be checked in the design files.
- Assembly equipment appropriate to the selected parts, such as a fine-tip soldering setup, flux, magnification and a multimeter.
Design and reference material
- KiCad, if you intend to inspect or edit the schematic and PCB layout.
- The repository’s board outline, fabrication archive and mechanical assets.
- Raspberry Pi’s official Hardware design with RP2040 guide for Pico footprints, carrier-board mounting and power arrangements.
- A way to measure your phone and prototype clearances before placing a fabrication order.
Fabrication pricing, delivery time and component availability vary by board house and region. The project documentation does not establish a universal cost or an approved supplier, so obtain current quotations only after confirming the board revision, thickness and finish you need.
Inspect the published design before changing anything
Download or clone the 3310_pico repository and identify which files represent the revision you plan to fabricate. The repository listing contains KiCad schematic and PCB files, fabrication outputs and mechanical material, but a file being present does not prove that every artifact belongs to the same production revision or that a completed board is commercially available.
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- Open the schematic and record every connector, contact pad, power net and Pico connection.
- Open the PCB layout and check the board outline, mounting features, pad positions and component-side orientation.
- Review the fabrication archive for the layer count, drill data, solder-mask files and drawing notes.
- Compare the mechanical files with the phone shell and keypad/LCD stack. Look for component-height notes and any keep-out regions.
- Check the repository history or documentation for revision identifiers before sending files to a fabricator. Do not mix a schematic from one revision with fabrication outputs from another.
Keep a copy of the exact revision and fabrication package you send out. If a later revision changes a contact or outline, you will need to know which design your physical board implements.
Measure the actual Nokia 3310 before fabrication
Electrical continuity does not guarantee that the phone will close. The strongest practical warning in the documented project is mechanical: the original board is reported as 1 mm thick, while the creator’s first 1.6 mm prototype worked electrically but prevented the case from clipping together correctly.
Rank #2
- The Raspberry Pi Pico is a beginner-friendly microcontroller board that uses MicroPython to give you a taste of the Internet of Things and microcontrollers. The RP2040 is a well-designed microprocessor that can be utilized in almost any Internet of Things project. It has enough power to complete the task quickly.
- 【Raspberry Pi RP2040 Microcontroller】Raspberry Pi Pico features Dual-core ARM Cortex M0+ processor, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz. With 264KB of SRAM, and 2MB of on-board Flash memory.Supports up to 16 MB of off chip flash memory via a dedicated QSPI bus
- 【Multiple Software Support】Pico has rich and complete software support, it comes with a complete Rasberry Pi official C/C++ SDK, Micropython SDK.The programming and burning of Pico need to be carried out on the computer. Supported operating systems and computers include:Raspberry Pie with Raspberry Pi OS,Other platforms equipped with Debian based Linux system Computer with MacOS, Computers with Windows, etc.
- 【Rich Hardware Interface】Raspberry Pi Pico has 30 GPIO pins, 4 pins for analog signal input and 26 × multi-function GPIO pins, 2 × SPI, 2 × I2C, 2 × UART, 3 × 12-bit ADC, 16 × controllable PWM channels.USB 1.1 supported by host and device, The installation mode can be flexibly selected by users to facilitate welding with other development boards.
- 【Build Project in Tiny Size】Only 2.1cm*5.1cm ( as small as your thumb). Pico has been designed to use either soldered 0.1" pin-headers or can be used as a surface-mountable 'module'.
Record the board envelope
- Remove the battery and open the phone using an appropriate non-marring tool. Photograph the original board before disconnecting anything.
- Measure the original PCB thickness with calipers if available. Record the board outline, corners, slots, screw or locating features and every edge clearance.
- Measure the vertical space below the keypad and LCD, above the board and around the battery compartment.
- Note the height and location of every component that could touch the shell, keypad membrane, display frame or battery.
Map contact locations
The project write-up describes the battery, LCD, buzzer and vibration-motor interfaces as contact-sensitive. Use the original board as a physical reference: mark each spring, press-fit or exposed contact location and measure its center from two board edges. Do not assume that a visually similar pad is electrically interchangeable.
Check the phone’s condition
- Inspect corroded or flattened spring contacts; a replacement PCB cannot compensate for a damaged contact in the shell.
- Check that the keypad membrane and LCD frame are seated correctly before taking measurements.
- Verify that the battery compartment and shell clips are intact. Broken clips can look like a board-thickness problem during reassembly.
- Compare the phone’s markings and board revision with the project’s stated 3310/3315 compatibility. Broader compatibility has not been comprehensively surveyed.
Make a dimensioned sketch or export measurements to your CAD notes. A few tenths of a millimeter at a contact or shell interference can determine whether the finished phone works.
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Raspberry Pi documents two general ways to attach a Pico to a carrier: soldering through-hole headers or soldering directly to the Pico’s castellated edges. The official guidance is in the RP2040 hardware design guide. Which method fits a Nokia shell depends on the adapter layout and the available vertical clearance.
| Mounting method | Advantages | Risks for a 3310 housing | When to select it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through-hole headers | Mechanical support, easier replacement and a familiar soldering process | Header height can consume the clearance needed by the keypad, LCD or shell | Only when the measured stack leaves sufficient room and the PCB layout allows it |
| Direct castellated-edge soldering | Lower profile and fewer added parts | Harder rework and greater dependence on accurate alignment and soldering | When the adapter’s height budget is tight and the design provides suitable pads |
Do not choose headers merely because they are convenient. Model or measure the complete stack: PCB, Pico, headers or solder fillets, components, keypad, LCD and shell. The 1 mm-versus-1.6 mm example shows that a board can function on the bench yet still fail at final assembly.
Get the PCB thickness and fabrication notes right
The project creator reports the original phone board as 1 mm thick. Their 1.6 mm first-run board reportedly operated but caused the case not to clip together. This is an observed outcome for that build, not a guarantee that every 1 mm board will fit or every 1.6 mm board will fail.
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- with pre-soldered header Raspberry Pi Pico. RP2040 microcontroller chip designed by Raspberry Pi in the United Kingdom
- Dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ processor, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz. 264KB of SRAM, and 2MB of on-board Flash memory.
- Castellated module allows soldering direct to carrier boards. USB 1.1 with device and host support. Low-power sleep and dormant modes. Drag-and-drop programming using mass storage over USB. 26 × multi-function GPIO pins.
- 2 × SPI, 2 × I2C, 2 × UART, 3 × 12-bit ADC, 16 × controllable PWM channels.Accurate clock and timer on-chip.Temperature sensor.
- Accelerated floating-point libraries on-chip.8 × Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support
| Thickness choice | Documented implication | Required action |
|---|---|---|
| Approximately 1 mm | Matches the original-board thickness reported in the teardown | Confirm the fabricator’s finished thickness tolerance, copper buildup and solder-mask assumptions |
| 1.6 mm prototype | The creator reported electrical operation but incorrect case clipping | Do not repeat this stack without rechecking shell, keypad and component clearances |
| Any alternative | No universal fit result is established | Recalculate contact heights and mechanical clearances before ordering |
Ask the fabricator for the finished, not nominal, thickness and include plating and solder-mask effects in your mechanical review. If the board house cannot supply the required thickness, change the stack or find a process that can—not just the schematic.
Review power and RP2040 constraints before connecting a battery
Read the official Raspberry Pi guide before modifying the carrier design. It covers powering a Pico through USB, VBUS or VSYS, and explains both header-based and castellated attachment methods.
The Pico’s 3.3 V pin is an output intended to power suitable external circuitry. It is not an external power input and must not be tied to a separate source. Treating it as an input can create a damaging supply conflict.
The available project landing-page material does not establish the Nokia battery’s exact input circuit, charging arrangement or expected runtime. Therefore:
- Do not publish or follow a battery wiring diagram unless it is confirmed in the current project schematic.
- Do not infer a safe battery voltage, charging method or runtime from the presence of a Pico alone.
- Trace the battery contacts, regulators, protection components and ground return in the actual KiCad design.
- Check polarity and continuity with the battery removed before applying power.
For initial bring-up, use the power method explicitly supported by the design and the RP2040 guidance. If you adapt the circuit, document the source, regulation and protection so a later maintainer can distinguish the phone battery path from USB-powered development.
Rank #4
- New Flexible Microcontroller Board --- Raspberry Pi Pico is a tiny, fast, and versatile board. It's based on RP2040 chip, which features a dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ processor with 264KB internal RAM and support for up to 16MB of off-chip Flash, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz.
- Multi-Function GPIO Pins---It has 26 multifunction GPIO pins, including 3 analogue inputs, 2 × UART, 2 × SPI controllers, 2 × I2C controllers, 16 × PWM channels.
- Rich Peripheral Set---A wide range of flexible I/O options includes I2C, SPI, and — uniquely —8 × Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support.
- Multiple Software Support---Raspberry Pi Pico has rich and complete software support and community resources. Programmable in C and MicroPython. Drag-and-drop programming using mass storage over USB.
- Low-power sleep and dormant modes; Accurate on-chip clock; Temperature sensor; Accelerated integer and floating-point libraries on-chip
Fabricate the board in a controlled sequence
- Freeze a revision. Record the repository commit or revision, the KiCad files used and your measured phone dimensions.
- Run design-rule checks. Resolve unconnected nets, clearance errors, unplated holes, silkscreen overlaps and edge-clearance violations.
- Verify the outline. Compare the plotted outline with your phone measurements, including notches, slots and contact edges.
- Confirm the stack-up. Specify the required finished thickness and copper, dielectric and finish details to the fabricator.
- Review orientation. Make sure the Pico’s USB connector, pin numbering and component side face the intended direction in the phone.
- Order a small prototype run. Do not commit to a large quantity until one board passes dimensional and electrical checks.
- Inspect incoming boards. Measure thickness, outline and critical pad positions before soldering components.
A fabrication output is not proof that the board fits your handset. If the delivered thickness or outline is outside the design requirement, stop and resolve that discrepancy before assembly.
Assemble and validate incrementally
No complete, independently validated assembly sequence is established for this project, so use the following as a cautious workflow rather than a claim about the creator’s exact process.
- Dry-fit the bare PCB in the shell with no Pico or tall components installed. Check locating features, keypad pressure, LCD clearance and shell clips.
- Inspect every contact pad for burrs, contamination or incorrect plating. Compare pad centers with the measurements taken from the original board.
- Install low-profile passive parts first, checking orientation and polarity against the schematic.
- Install the Pico using the selected header or castellated method. Check alignment from both sides before completing solder joints.
- Use a multimeter to check ground-to-power resistance and to look for unintended shorts. Verify continuity from each critical contact to its intended schematic net.
- Connect the display, keypad and peripherals only after the board passes the unpowered checks.
- Apply power through the design’s approved path with current limiting where practical. Watch for unexpected current draw, heat or smell and disconnect immediately if any appears.
- Test one subsystem at a time: power, display, keypad, buzzer, vibration motor and any other documented interface.
- Only after functional checks, install the board fully and test the shell’s clips, buttons and battery fit.
Keep the firmware and the phone PCB as separate layers
The companion 3310_engine project describes an engine intended to run on desktop and browser environments as well as on a microcontroller so games can be played using real 3310 hardware. The engine is software; it does not replace the phone-specific adapter PCB.
Likewise, the existence of the engine does not prove that it is the only firmware needed for every use of the replacement board. Before promising a particular game, menu or phone function:
- Read the current engine build instructions and supported targets.
- Confirm which firmware image is intended for the Pico variant you are using.
- Check the project’s pin mapping against the PCB revision you fabricated.
- Verify how input, LCD output, audio and vibration are exposed by the board.
Do not flash firmware until the electrical identity of the board is known. A software pin map for one revision can be wrong for a modified layout.
Best Value
- Raspberry Pi Pico: A tiny, fast, and versatile board built using dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ processor (Comes with pinout card and stickers)
- Detailed Tutorial: Provides step-by-step guide with MicroPython, C and Processing (Java) Code (The download link can be found on the product box) (No paper tutorial)
- Example Projects: Each project has schematics, wiring diagrams, complete code and detailed explanations (Need extra items)
- Easy to Use: Just connect the board to your computer (installed IDE) with the USB cable to program it
- Get Support: Our technical support team is always ready to answer your questions
Recommended bring-up checklist
Mechanical checks
- Finished PCB thickness measured and recorded.
- Board outline, slots and contact positions match the phone.
- Pico and all components clear the keypad, LCD, battery and shell.
- Shell clips close without force and the keypad buttons move freely.
Electrical checks
- Power and ground nets match the schematic.
- No short exists between the supply rail and ground before power is applied.
- Battery polarity and the regulator or protection path are confirmed from the current design.
- Each display, keypad and peripheral contact has continuity to the intended net.
- The 3.3 V Pico pin is used only as an output for suitable external circuitry.
Functional checks
- The Pico starts without abnormal heat or current draw.
- The LCD initializes and remains stable while the keypad is pressed.
- Buzzer and vibration outputs operate without resetting the controller.
- The phone can be opened and closed again without shifting contacts.
Common failure modes and practical fixes
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check next |
|---|---|---|
| The board works on a bench but the case will not clip shut | PCB or component stack is too tall | Measure finished board thickness, header height, solder buildup and shell clearances; compare with the documented 1 mm original and 1.6 mm prototype outcome |
| LCD is intermittent | Misaligned or insufficient contact pressure | Compare pad centers and spring locations with the original board; inspect contamination and shell pressure |
| Key presses are missing | Keypad membrane is not seated or the PCB contact pattern is offset | Dry-fit the membrane, inspect contact geometry and verify continuity to the schematic nets |
| Buzzer or vibration motor does not operate | Peripheral contact, polarity or drive path is wrong | Trace the interface in the current schematic and test continuity before changing firmware |
| Pico resets when a peripheral activates | Power path, grounding or load handling is incorrect | Review the regulator and supply design, check for shorts and confirm that no external source is tied to the 3.3 V output |
| USB works but the phone battery does not | Battery path is incomplete, incorrectly wired or not supported by the design | Inspect the project schematic; do not infer charging or battery compatibility from USB behavior |
| Firmware appears functional but controls are wrong | Firmware pin map does not match the PCB revision | Compare the flashed code’s mapping with the fabricated schematic and layout |
Reuse the published board or design your own?
| Approach | Benefits | Additional work and risk |
|---|---|---|
| Reuse the published adapter design | Existing KiCad files, fabrication assets and a documented mechanical starting point | You still must confirm revision, thickness, phone fit, BOM and electrical safety |
| Redraw or substantially modify the board | Freedom to change Pico placement, connectors, mounting and features | You take responsibility for every contact coordinate, signal, clearance, power decision and validation step |
| Use headers on the Pico | Easier replacement and inspection | Greater stack height; may prevent reassembly |
| Solder the Pico directly | Lower profile | More difficult rework and stricter alignment requirements |
For a first build, preserving the published geometry while changing as little as possible reduces the number of unknowns. A redesign is reasonable when you have a measured reason—such as a different shell, a new controller placement or an unavailable component—but it should be treated as a new hardware project.
Compatibility, documentation and maintenance limits
The creator reports the design working across Nokia 3310 and 3315 hardware with identical boards, but that is not a comprehensive survey of every 3310 revision. Do not assume compatibility with another Nokia model, a substantially modified shell or a damaged handset without comparing dimensions and contacts.
Keep the following with the finished phone:
- The exact PCB revision and fabrication thickness.
- A copy of the schematic and pin map.
- The component substitutions actually installed.
- Notes about battery wiring and the approved power source.
- Any firmware version and build settings used.
This record makes later troubleshooting possible when a replacement Pico, LCD or keypad is installed.
Is this mod realistic for your workbench?
Yes, if you approach it as a custom PCB replacement rather than a Pico-in-a-phone experiment. The published project gives you a substantial starting point, but success depends on reproducing the original board’s mechanical envelope, contact geometry and power behavior. The documented 1.6 mm prototype demonstrates why electrical operation alone is not enough: the housing must also close correctly.
Use the repository as the design source, the teardown as a mechanical reference, the RP2040 guide as the Pico and power reference, and the engine project as a separate software layer. Measure first, order a controlled prototype, test without the battery, and only then commit to a complete assembly.
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