Chip Series Comparison
The comparison below covers key features of chips supported by ESP-IDF. For the full list of features please refer to respective datasheets in Section Related Documents.
Feature  | 
ESP32 Series  | 
ESP32-S2 Series  | 
ESP32-C3 Series  | 
ESP32-S3 Series  | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
Launch year  | 
2016  | 
2020  | 
2020  | 
2020  | 
Variants  | 
||||
Core  | 
Xtensa® dual-/single core 32-bit LX6  | 
Xtensa® single-core 32-bit LX7  | 
32-bit single-core RISC-V  | 
Xtensa® dual-core 32-bit LX7  | 
Wi-Fi protocols  | 
802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz  | 
802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz  | 
802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz  | 
802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz  | 
Bluetooth®  | 
Bluetooth v4.2 BR/EDR and Bluetooth Low Energy  | 
✖️  | 
Bluetooth 5.0  | 
Bluetooth 5.0  | 
Typical frequency  | 
240 MHz (160 MHz for ESP32-S0WD)  | 
240 MHz  | 
160 MHz  | 
240 MHz  | 
SRAM  | 
520 KB  | 
320 KB  | 
400 KB  | 
512 KB  | 
ROM  | 
448 KB for booting and core functions  | 
128 KB for booting and core functions  | 
384 KB for booting and core functions  | 
384 KB for booting and core functions  | 
Embedded flash  | 
2 MB, 4 MB, or none, depending on variants  | 
2 MB, 4 MB, or none, depending on variants  | 
4 MB or none, depending on variants  | 
8 MB or none, depending on variants  | 
External flash  | 
Up to 16 MB device, address 11 MB + 248 KB each time  | 
Up to 1 GB device, address 11.5 MB each time  | 
Up to 16 MB device, address 8 MB each time  | 
Up to 1 GB device, address 32 MB each time  | 
External RAM  | 
Up to 8 MB device, address 4 MB each time  | 
Up to 1 GB device, address 11.5 MB each time  | 
✖️  | 
Up to 1 GB device, address 32 MB each time  | 
Cache  | 
✔️ Two-way set associative  | 
✔️ Four-way set associative, independent instruction cache and data cache  | 
✔️ Eight-way set associative, 32-bit data/instruction bus width  | 
✔️ Four-way or eight-way set associative for instruction cache; four-way set associative for data cache, 32-bit data/instruction bus width  | 
Peripherals  | 
||||
ADC  | 
Two 12-bit, 18 channels  | 
Two 12-bit, 20 channels  | 
Two 12-bit SAR ADCs, at most 6 channels  | 
Two 12-bit SAR ADCs, 20 channels  | 
DAC  | 
Two 8-bit channels  | 
Two 8-bit channels  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
Timers  | 
Four 64-bit general-purpose timers, and three watchdog timers  | 
Four 64-bit general-purpose timers, and three watchdog timers  | 
Two 54-bit general-purpose timers, and three watchdog timers  | 
Four 54-bit general-purpose timers, and three watchdog timers  | 
Temperature sensor  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
1  | 
1  | 
Touch sensor  | 
10  | 
14  | 
✖️  | 
14  | 
Hall sensor  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
GPIO  | 
34  | 
43  | 
22  | 
45  | 
SPI  | 
4  | 
4  | 
3  | 
4  | 
LCD interface  | 
1  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
UART  | 
3  | 
2 1  | 
2 1  | 
3  | 
I2C  | 
2  | 
2  | 
1  | 
2  | 
I2S  | 
2, can be configured to operate with 8/16/32/40/48-bit resolution as an input or output channel.  | 
1, can be configured to operate with 8/16/24/32/48/64-bit resolution as an input or output channel.  | 
1, can be configured to operate with 8/16/24/32-bit resolution as an input or output channel.  | 
2, can be configured to operate with 8/16/24/32-bit resolution as an input or output channel.  | 
Camera interface  | 
1  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
DMA  | 
Dedicated DMA to UART, SPI, I2S, SDIO slave, SD/MMC host, EMAC, BT, and Wi-Fi  | 
Dedicated DMA to UART, SPI, AES, SHA, I2S, and ADC Controller  | 
General-purpose, 3 TX channels, 3 RX channels  | 
General-purpose, 5 TX channels, 5 RX channels  | 
RMT  | 
8 channels  | 
4 channels 1, can be configured to TX/RX channels  | 
4 channels 2, 2 TX channels, 2 RX channels  | 
8 channels 2, 4 TX channels, 4 RX channels  | 
Pulse counter  | 
8 channels  | 
4 channels 1  | 
✖️  | 
4 channels 1  | 
LED PWM  | 
16 channels  | 
8 channels 1  | 
6 channels 2  | 
8 channels 1  | 
MCPWM  | 
2, six PWM outputs  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
2, six PWM outputs  | 
USB OTG  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
TWAI® controller (compatible with ISO 11898-1)  | 
1  | 
1  | 
1  | 
1  | 
SD/SDIO/MMC host controller  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
SDIO slave controller  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
Ethernet MAC  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
ULP  | 
ULP FSM  | 
PicoRV32 core with 8 KB SRAM, ULP FSM  | 
✖️  | 
PicoRV32 core with 8 KB SRAM, ULP FSM  | 
Debug Assist  | 
✖️  | 
✖️  | 
1  | 
✖️  | 
Security  | 
||||
Secure boot  | 
✔️  | 
✔️ Faster and safer, compared with ESP32  | 
✔️ Faster and safer, compared with ESP32  | 
✔️ Faster and safer, compared with ESP32  | 
Flash encryption  | 
✔️  | 
✔️ Support for PSRAM encryption. Safer, compared with ESP32  | 
✔️ Safer, compared with ESP32  | 
✔️ Support for PSRAM encryption. Safer, compared with ESP32  | 
OTP  | 
1024-bit  | 
4096-bit  | 
4096-bit  | 
4096-bit  | 
AES  | 
✔️ AES-128, AES-192, AES-256 (FIPS PUB 197)  | 
✔️ AES-128, AES-192, AES-256 (FIPS PUB 197); DMA support  | 
✔️ AES-128, AES-256 (FIPS PUB 197); DMA support  | 
✔️ AES-128, AES-256 (FIPS PUB 197); DMA support  | 
HASH  | 
SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512 (FIPS PUB 180-4)  | 
SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/224, SHA-512/256, SHA-512/t (FIPS PUB 180-4); DMA support  | 
SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256 (FIPS PUB 180-4); DMA support  | 
SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/224, SHA-512/256, SHA-512/t (FIPS PUB 180-4); DMA support  | 
RSA  | 
Up to 4096 bits  | 
Up to 4096 bits  | 
Up to 3072 bits  | 
Up to 4096 bits  | 
RNG  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
HMAC  | 
✖️  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
Digital signature  | 
✖️  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
✔️  | 
XTS  | 
✖️  | 
✔️ XTS-AES-128, XTS-AES-256  | 
✔️ XTS-AES-128  | 
✔️ XTS-AES-128, XTS-AES-256  | 
Other  | 
||||
Deep-sleep (ULP sensor-monitored pattern)  | 
100 μA (when ADC work with a duty cycle of 1%)  | 
22 μA (when touch sensors work with a duty cycle of 1%)  | 
No such pattern  | 
TBD  | 
Size  | 
QFN48 5*5, 6*6, depending on variants  | 
QFN56 7*7  | 
QFN32 5*5  | 
QFN56 7*7  | 
Note 1: Reduced chip area compared with ESP32
Note 2: Reduced chip area compared with ESP32 and ESP32-S2
Note 3: Die size: ESP32-C3 < ESP32-S2 < ESP32-S3 < ESP32