“It's got pretty coloured lights that you can easily control with some Python scripts. What's not to love? I am working on some scripts to display some status updates from various other devices on my network using the Unicorn pHAT on a Pi Zero. Very easy to use and the display looks great, especially when coupled with a pHAT diffuser. With the 8x4 matrix, I can display a graph of 8 different statuses, each in varying colours depending on their values. It looks very cool and gives me a quick at-a-glance update on my servers. Awesome stuff!”
“Wow, this little board packs a punch. The 32 RGB LEDs are some of the brightest I've come across and they truly can create any colour on the rainbow.
I would definitely recommend this li'l guy.”
“The Unicorn pHAT is great in so many ways. It is a great display, and adds a real world dimension to your pi, allowing status indications etc.
Only Downsides:
- Python library provided requires sudo to work, which is not so much of an issue but adds extra complexity.
- The only library provided is Python, a Java library would be a great addition (if possible?)
NOTE TO NEW BUYERS OF PHAT'S/HAT'S:
If you are going to be using this on a Raspberry Pi Zero, then you will need to order a male header to be soldered onto your Pi, alternatively you can use hammer headers (no soldering) or solder the female header (included) to the pi and a male one to the pHAT!”
“Another great pHAT well worth getting. Both the hardware, the Python API and the example code works great. There are only two small caveats: 1) The rgb diodes look great from a distance but the individual sub-diodes become very visible when closer, and 2) all scripts have to be run with sudo.
That said, in less than 1 hour I was able to install the Unicorn pHAT on a Pi Zero W (with hammer headers) and code up a small client-server example that fetches data from the light sensor of an Enviro pHAT on a different Pi Zero W and "mirrors" that onto the Unicorn pHAT by setting the brightness and rgb of all diodes accordingly.”
“the unicorn phat is the first add on i bought. It was really easy to set up with the one line installer. When i bought my one hammer headers didn't exist yet, so i had to solder it which wasn't a problem for me but i do recommend the hammer headers for the installation. As for the programming with the getting started page it was very helpful as i am very interested in making animations and programming in general, if you are looking for a add on for you raspberry pi 0/1/2/ or 3 this a good one for starting - Daniel F”
“Works really nicely and is well documented for Python. Lots of examples are provided and there's a lot of granularity in how you can control it. The combination of the small size of the lights and their brightness does make them a little bit pointy if used at high power so use a diffuser to soften them if you can.”
