Adafruit ESP32-S3 Feather 8MB with w.FL Antenna

The ESP32-S3 has arrived in Feather format - and what a great way to get started with this powerful new chip from Espressif! With dual 240 MHz cores, WiFi and BLE support, native USB, and with this version easy external antenna support thanks to an on-board w.FL connector. This Feather is great for powering your IoT projects.

That's right - it's the new Adafruit ESP32-S3 Feather! With native USB and 8 MB flash, this board will let you upgrade your existing ESP32 projects. If you want some PSRAM for big memory buffers, check out the 4MB Flash / 2MB PSRAM version here!

This feather is exactly like our Feather ESP32-S3 with 8 MB PSRAM but instead of a PCB trace antenna, there's a w.FL connector for attaching an external RF adapter or antenna. Perfect for use in enclosures or when you want a boost in gain from a bigger dipole.

Warning! The antenna connection is an MHF3 / IPEX3 / w.FL is not a common u.FL connector.

Check out the WiFi Antenna with w.FL / MHF3 / IPEX3 Connector we carry or the RP-SMA to w.FL / MHF3 / IPEX3 Adapter if you already have an RP-SMA antenna.

Native USB means it can act like a keyboard or a disk drive, and no external USB-to-Serial converter is required. WiFi and BLE mean it's awesome for IoT projects. And Feather means it works with the large community of Feather Wings for expandability.

The ESP32-S3 is a highly integrated, low-power, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi/BLE System-on-Chip (SoC) solution that has built-in native USB as well as some other interesting new technologies like Time of Flight distance measurements and AI acceleration. With its state-of-the-art power and RF performance, this SoC is an ideal choice for a wide variety of application scenarios relating to the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable electronics, and smart homes.

The Feather ESP32-S3 has a dual-core 240 MHz chip, so it is comparable to ESP32's dual-core. However, there is no Bluetooth Classic support, only Bluetooth LE. This chip is a great step up from the earlier ESP32-S2! This ESP32-S3 mini-module we are using on the Feather comes with 8 MB flash and no PSRAM, but it does have 512KB of SRAM so it is fine for use with CircuitPython support as long as massive buffers are not needed. It's also great for use in ESP-IDF or with Arduino support.

Features

• ESP32-S3 Dual Core 240MHz Tensilica processor - the next generation of ESP32-Sx, with native USB so it can act like a keyboard/mouse, MIDI device, disk drive, etc!
• The mini-module has FCC/CE certification and comes with 8 MByte of Flash, no PSRAM
• Power options - USB type C or Lipoly battery
• Built-in battery charging when powered over USB-C
• LiPoly battery monitor - MAX17048 chip actively monitors your battery for voltage and state of charge/percentage reporting over I2C
• Reset and DFU (BOOT0) buttons to get into the ROM bootloader (which is a USB serial port so you don't need a separate cable!)
• Serial debug output pin (optional, for checking the hardware serial debug console)
• STEMMA QT connector for I2C devices, with switchable power, so you can go into low power mode.
• On/Charge/User LEDs + status NeoPixel with pin-controlled power for low power usage
• Low Power friendly! In deep sleep mode, we can get down to ~100uA of current draw from the Lipoly connection. Quiescent current is from the power regulator, ESP32-S3 chip, and Lipoly monitor. Turn off the NeoPixel and external I2C power for the lowest quiescent current draw.
• Works with ESP-IDF, Arduino or CircuitPython (not recommended since there is no PSRAM, but for some simple IoT projects without large buffers it will work)

Resources

• Primary Guide