saving power with neopixels(question)

re: 'I suppose one pixel would be about the same as a normal RGB led? am I wrong?'

Well do I have to say it? . . . . Explained in #3 above. The last link forum post explains a lot.

One should focus on the power supply first. What is the plan to power this project? Stand alone? Battery only? What other discreet parts are in the circuit?

re: 'just as an indicator light'

A Neopixel sounds like overkill here. As @allObjects explains in #2 there is a data line and code to be concerned about. How are you powering the Pico? 3.3V battery? The Neopixel requires 5V

What about the LED either Red or Grn on the Pico itself?

There are also ways using eye persistence and pulsing the LED (not a Neopixel :: see edit below) using code to reduce power consumption. Need a bit more on overall project concept.

Edit Wed 2018.08.22
Adafruit indicates that Neopixels may be pulsed via PWM. Looking into that right now . . . .

Edit Thr 2018.08.23
https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_­picker.asp
My misunderstanding was that a neopixel write() is not sending a RGB (actually GRB SK6812) triplet color representation intensity, it is sending a value representing the duty cycle applied to the specific LED by color, unlike a Html page screen pixel write intensity of color

https://learn.adafruit.com/led-tricks-ga­mma-correction/the-issue

"It’s nothing to do with the LEDs or your code, it’s how our eyes work…"