ESP32 Super Mini Comparison: C3 vs S3 vs C6 vs H2
Compare all ESP32 Super Mini (SuperMini) boards: C3, C3 Plus, S3, C6 and H2. Real dimensions, battery charging, measured sleep currents, antenna quirks, software support and which to buy.
"Super Mini" (SuperMini, one word, on most listings) is not an Espressif product. It is a footprint: 18 mm wide, USB-C at one end, a ceramic antenna at the other, two rows of 2.54 mm pins, and whichever Espressif chip a factory chose to put in the middle. Five of them are common enough to matter: the ESP32-C3 Super Mini that started it, its red C3 Plus sibling, and the S3, C6 and H2 versions that copied the outline and added battery pads. They come from unnamed factories, so the same name can hide different antennas, LEDs and charging circuits. This page lists what is actually on each board, not only what is inside the chip.
Short answer: the C3 Super Mini ($3) for any small Wi-Fi or Bluetooth gadget; the S3 for compute, PSRAM and native USB; the C6 for Zigbee, Thread or Matter with Wi-Fi as a fallback; the H2 only when the device lives on a Zigbee or Thread mesh and must not have Wi-Fi; the C3 Plus when the C3 fits but its antenna does not reach.
Size comparison: the Super Mini lineup at true scale
All five SuperMini boards share the 18 mm width, the 2.54 mm pin pitch and the 15.24 mm gap between the two pin rows, so the same header fits all of them. They differ in length because they differ in pin count. Drawn to scale from the vendor dimension drawings, on a millimetre ruler, with the C3's length as the reference line; the C6 and H2 lengths are ranges because vendors disagree, and we say so rather than pick one.
Which Super Mini should you buy?
Start from the job, not the chip letter. Each card opens the board's profile below; prices are our catalog prices in September 2026.
ESP32 Super Mini specifications: the board first, then the chip
The top half is what is on the board, the bottom half is what is inside the chip. All five columns show by default; on a phone it opens with the C3, S3 and C6 and you can add the others. "Hide identical rows" keeps only the rows where your selection differs.
| Spec | C3ESP32-C3 · $3 | C3 PlusESP32-C3 · $5 | S3ESP32-S3 · $5 | C6ESP32-C6 · $5 | H2ESP32-H2 · $5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On the board | |||||
| Size | 22.52 x 18 mm | 22.52 x 18 mm | 23.5 x 18 mm | 25-27 x 18 mm ? | 23-25 x 18 mm ? |
| Header pins | 2 x 8 | 2 x 8 | 2 x 9 | 2 x 10 | 2 x 9 |
| Header GPIOs | 13 (0-10, 20, 21) | 13 (0-10, 20, 21) | 13 (1-13) + TX/RX | 15 + TX/RX | 15 |
| Underside pads | none | none | 19 | 5 | 4 |
| ADC-capable header pins | 6 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 5 |
| Antenna | Ceramic | Ceramic + u.FL | Ceramic (check it) | Ceramic | Ceramic |
| Battery pads | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charger | - | - | yes, IC n/s | LTH7R | yes, IC n/s |
| Charge current | - | - | 100 mA; 300 mA jumper | n/s | n/s |
| RGB LED | No | WS2812B on GPIO8 | WS2812 on GPIO48 | WS2812 on GPIO8 | WS2812 on GPIO8 |
| User LED | Blue on GPIO8 | Blue on GPIO8 (shares the pin) | Blue on GPIO48 (shares the pin) | Plain LED on GPIO15 | Blue on GPIO13 |
| PSRAM | No | No | 2 MB, off by default | No | No |
| Flash | 4 MB in-package | 4 MB in-package | 4 MB in-package | 4 MB in-package | 4 MB in-package |
| USB | Serial/JTAG | Serial/JTAG | OTG + Serial/JTAG | Serial/JTAG | Serial/JTAG |
| Deep sleep (board, measured) | 4.8 uA (5 V pad, one unit) | 0.6-1.5 mA (WS2812) | n/s | 54 uA (3.7 V on BAT) | 0.42 mA (BAT pads) |
| Deep sleep (vendor claim) | about 43 uA | about 43 uA | about 43 uA | n/s | n/s |
| Buttons | Reset, Boot | Reset, Boot | Reset, Boot | Reset (EN), Boot (GPIO9) | Reset, Boot |
| Weight | n/s | n/s | 3 g | n/s | 1.55 g (2.5 g with headers) |
| Zephyr | Official board esp32c3_supermini | Use esp32c3_supermini | Generic ESP32-S3 target | Generic ESP32-C6 target | Official board esp32h2_supermini |
| Price (catalog) | $3 | $5 | $5 | $5 | $5 |
| Inside the chip | |||||
| Chip | ESP32-C3 (4 MB flash) | ESP32-C3 (4 MB flash) | ESP32-S3FH4R2 | ESP32-C6 (4 MB flash) | ESP32-H2 (4 MB flash) |
| CPU | 1x RISC-V | 1x RISC-V | 2x Xtensa LX7 | 1x RISC-V + LP core | 1x RISC-V |
| Clock | 160 MHz | 160 MHz | 240 MHz | 160 MHz | 96 MHz |
| SRAM | 400 KB | 400 KB | 512 KB | 512 KB | 320 KB |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) | Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) | Wi-Fi 4 (2.4 GHz) | Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz) | None |
| Bluetooth | BLE 5 (5.4 cert.) | BLE 5 (5.4 cert.) | BLE 5 (5.4 cert.) | BLE 5 (5.3 cert.) | BLE 5 (5.3 cert.) |
| Thread / Zigbee | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Deep sleep (chip datasheet) | 5 uA | 5 uA | 7 uA | 7 uA | 7 uA |
| GPIOs on the chip | 22 | 22 | 45 | 30 / 22 | 19 |
| Package | QFN32 5x5 mm | QFN32 5x5 mm | QFN56 7x7 mm | QFN40 / QFN32 5x5 mm | QFN32 4x4 mm |
| ADC | 6 ch, 12-bit | 6 ch, 12-bit | 20 ch, 12-bit | 7 ch, 12-bit | 5 ch, 12-bit |
| Espressif supply until | 2033 | 2033 | 2033 | 2035 | 2035 |
Every ESP32 Super Mini board, one at a time
Same structure for each: what it is, what it is good at, what will bite you, the measured numbers we could find, and where the board page and the pinout live.
The board that made the footprint: the ESP32-C3 SuperMini, 4 MB flash, 2 x 8 pins, $3. Everything else on this page is measured against it.
Good
- Cheapest board here and the best supported: an official Zephyr target, ESPHome on Arduino or ESP-IDF, official MicroPython, Tasmota
- 13 GPIOs on the headers, six of them ADC, both UART pins, in 22.52 x 18 mm
- 4.8 uA deep sleep measured at the 5 V pad on one unit; the vendor claims 43 uA
Watch out for
- The ceramic antenna sits over the ground plane: weak range, fixed by a 31 mm wire or by buying the Plus
- No battery pads or charger: add a TP4056 module or the expansion board
- Identical-looking boards come from many factories; antenna placement and boot behaviour vary by batch
Pick it when: any small Wi-Fi or Bluetooth sensor or gadget where $3 and 22.5 mm matter more than speed.
Same chip, same pinout, red PCB: the ESP32-C3 SuperMini Plus adds a u.FL antenna socket and a WS2812 RGB LED. Sold by Tenstar Robot among others.
Good
- External antenna through the u.FL socket (solder one jumper pad to switch the RF path): the fix for the C3's range
- WS2812 on GPIO8 next to the blue LED, so you get colour status without extra parts
- Identical footprint and code: swap it in for a plain C3 without changing a line
Watch out for
- Same chip, same 13 GPIOs, still no battery pads: the Plus is not faster or bigger
- WS2812 quiescent current: 0.6-1.5 mA in deep sleep reported, against about 43 uA claimed for the plain C3
- $5 instead of $3, and fewer sellers
Pick it when: the C3 fits the project but the ceramic antenna does not reach.
The dual-core one: the ESP32-S3 SuperMini uses an ESP32-S3FH4R2 with 2 MB PSRAM inside, native USB OTG and battery pads with a charger, in 23.5 x 18 mm.
Good
- Two 240 MHz Xtensa LX7 cores, 512 KB SRAM and 2 MB PSRAM (off by default: set PSRAM to QSPI in Arduino, mode: quad in ESPHome)
- 32 GPIOs if you use the 19 underside pads, 13 on the headers, 13 of them ADC-capable
- BAT+ / BAT- pads with a 100 mA charger (300 mA via the BOOST jumper) and a charge LED
Watch out for
- Some units ship with the ceramic antenna soldered the wrong way round: check range before blaming the chip
- The vendor sheet calls it a "RISC-V single core at 160 MHz with 400 KB": it is a dual-core Xtensa S3; trust the chip marking, not the listing
- Blue LED and WS2812 share GPIO48; no published deep-sleep measurement for this board yet
Pick it when: displays, audio, USB host or anything that needs PSRAM in a Super Mini footprint.
The ESP32-C6 SuperMini: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee and Thread in the longest Super Mini, with battery pads and an LTH7R charger.
Good
- Three radios: the cheapest Matter-over-Thread or Zigbee board that keeps Wi-Fi as a fallback
- 2 x 10 pins: 15 GPIOs plus TX/RX on the headers, five more on underside pads
- 54 uA deep sleep measured from a 3.7 V cell on the BAT pad (Nordic PPK2)
Watch out for
- Feed it 3.3 V instead of a real cell and the sleep current jumps to 392 uA: power battery projects from the BAT pad
- Length is contested: listings say 22.5, 25 or 27 mm, and ten pins per side cannot fit in 22.5
- ESPHome supports it on ESP-IDF only; PlatformIO needs the pioarduino fork for the Arduino framework
Pick it when: Zigbee, Thread or Matter devices, or any new Wi-Fi sensor node where a current-generation chip matters.
The ESP32-H2 SuperMini has no Wi-Fi on purpose: 802.15.4 for Zigbee and Thread plus Bluetooth LE on a 96 MHz RISC-V, with battery pads and a charge LED.
Good
- The cheapest Zigbee or Thread end device you can buy, with an official Zephyr target and ESP-IDF's certified stacks
- About 0.42 mA deep sleep measured from the BAT pads, roughly 1 mA less than via USB
- 2 x 9 pins with 15 GPIOs, 4 MB flash, USB-C, 1.55 g
Watch out for
- No Wi-Fi at all: no OTA over Wi-Fi and no MQTT without a border router or Zigbee coordinator
- 96 MHz and 320 KB SRAM: the slowest board here, and Tasmota has no H2 build
- ESPHome is ESP-IDF only; length is quoted as 23 or 25 mm depending on the seller
Pick it when: a Zigbee or Thread sensor on a battery, next to a coordinator or border router you already own.
Head-to-head: C3 vs C3 Plus, C3 vs S3, C6 vs H2, C3 vs C6
The pairs people search for, board against board. Verdict first, then the three rows that decide it. For chip-versus-chip questions such as ESP32-S3 vs ESP32-C6, use the ESP32 comparison chart.
ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-C3 Plus Super Mini
Same board. The $2 buys an antenna socket and an RGB LED, and costs you sleep current.
Buy the Plus only for range. For a battery sensor that sits close to the router, the plain C3 sleeps better and costs less; the pinout and code are identical.
ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-S3 Super Mini
C3 for cost and sleep; S3 for compute, PSRAM, USB and a charger.
The S3 is the only Super Mini with PSRAM and USB OTG, and it adds a charger. If the project is a sensor with a few pins, none of that is worth the extra $2 and the missing sleep figure.
ESP32-C6 vs ESP32-H2 Super Mini
C6, unless the device must not carry a Wi-Fi radio.
Both do Zigbee and Thread and both have battery pads at the same price. The H2 wins only on principle: no Wi-Fi radio to share airtime with, an official Zephyr target, and a smaller chip. On this board its measured sleep is worse, not better.
ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-C6 Super Mini
The C6 is the newer chip; the C3 is still the better $3.
Pick the C6 the day you want Zigbee, Thread or a LiPo on the board. For a plain Wi-Fi sensor the C3 is shorter, cheaper and runs the Arduino framework inside ESPHome.
What is on the board: battery, LEDs, pins, USB, antenna and names
Six things the table rows cannot explain: what each board does about batteries, LEDs, USB power and its antenna, and what the confusing names mean.
Battery pads and charging
- S3, C6 and H2 SuperMini: BAT solder pads with a charger and a charge LED. C3 and C3 Plus: none; use a TP4056 module or the C3 expansion board.
- Charge current: S3 100 mA, or 300 mA with the BOOST jumper closed (cells over 500 mAh only). C6 (LTH7R charger) and H2: not documented.
- Power the C6 from a real cell, not a 3.3 V supply: it sleeps at 54 uA on 3.7 V and 392 uA on 3.3 V.
Onboard LEDs and their GPIOs
- C3 SuperMini: blue LED on GPIO8 plus a red power LED. C3 SuperMini Plus: WS2812 RGB on GPIO8, shared with a blue LED.
- S3: WS2812 and blue LED, both on GPIO48. C6: WS2812 on GPIO8, plain LED on GPIO15, green charge LED. H2: WS2812 on GPIO8, blue LED on GPIO13, green charge LED.
- A WS2812 draws current even when dark: the C3 Plus is reported at 0.6-1.5 mA in deep sleep. Desolder it for battery builds.
No USB-serial chip
- USB-C goes straight to the chip's USB Serial/JTAG port (USB OTG on the S3). Nothing to install, nothing to bridge.
- Arduino: enable USB CDC On Boot, or Serial prints go to the UART pins instead of the monitor.
- No port? Hold BOOT (GPIO9 on the C3 and C6) while plugging in, flash, then press RESET. A sketch in deep sleep takes the port down; that is normal.
A small LDO, not a power supply
- The on-board regulator is rated about 400-500 mA on the C3 boards and dissipates 255 mW at 150 mA.
- Fine for sensors and a small display; not for an LED strip or a motor. Feed those from 5 V directly.
- 5V is USB pass-through, 3V3 is the LDO output; the C3 Plus accepts 3.3-6 V on VCC.
The antenna lottery
- All five use a ceramic chip antenna over the ground plane. Range is modest at best.
- A 31 mm quarter-wave wire on the feed pad adds 6-10 dB; the C3 Plus has the only u.FL socket.
- Some S3 units ship with the antenna mounted backwards. Boards come from many factories under one name: buy from a seller with reviews and test range on arrival.
ESP32-C3 Mini vs SuperMini vs Zero vs XIAO
- A generic "ESP32-C3 Mini" from AliExpress is almost always this SuperMini: 22.52 x 18 mm, two rows of through-hole pins, USB-C.
- Zero boards (23.5 x 18 mm, castellated edges) and the Seeed XIAO family (21 x 17.8 mm) share the width but not the pinout.
- There is no C5 SuperMini yet; the closest are the XIAO ESP32C5 and NiceMCU's ESP32-C5 Mini (27.9 x 17.8 mm).
Same footprint, other names
Same 18 mm width, different names, different pinouts. If your board does not match a photo above, it is probably one of these.
Software support: Arduino, ESPHome, MicroPython, Tasmota, Zephyr, PlatformIO
Checked against each project's current release on 7 September 2026. "ESP-IDF only" means ESPHome builds it, but not with the Arduino framework.
| Framework | C3 | C3 Plus | S3 | C6 | H2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arduino IDE (esp32 core 3.x)Board: ESP32C3 / S3 / C6 / H2 Dev Module; enable USB CDC On Boot. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ESPHomeC6 and H2 official since ESPHome 2025.6, with OpenThread. | IDF or Arduino | IDF or Arduino | IDF or Arduino | ESP-IDF only | ESP-IDF only |
| MicroPythonOfficial builds on micropython.org; flash at address 0. | ESP32_GENERIC_C3 | ESP32_GENERIC_C3 | ESP32_GENERIC_S3 | ESP32_GENERIC_C6 | ESP32_GENERIC_H2 |
| Tasmota 15.6The old table said the S3 had no Tasmota build; it does. | tasmota32c3 | tasmota32c3 | tasmota32s3 | tasmota32c6 | No build |
| ZephyrOfficial board definitions exist for the C3 and H2 Super Mini. | esp32c3_supermini | esp32c3_supermini | Generic target | Generic target | esp32h2_supermini |
| PlatformIOThe official platform stops at Arduino core 2.x; pioarduino carries 3.x and the C6/H2. | Official / pioarduino | Official / pioarduino | Official / pioarduino | pioarduino (Arduino) | pioarduino (Arduino) |
3D-printed enclosures
Printed enclosures for the C3 and S3 Super Mini, with or without pin cutouts, vented or solid lids.
Headers with or without pin cutouts, vented or solid lids, USB-C aligned. Made by us.
View cases on Etsy →Frequently asked questions
What is the smallest ESP32 Super Mini board?
Which ESP32 Super Mini boards have built-in battery charging?
How much current does a Super Mini draw in deep sleep?
Which GPIO is the LED on each ESP32 Super Mini?
Does the ESP32-S3 Super Mini have PSRAM?
Does the ESP32-C3 Super Mini support Zigbee or Thread?
Why is the Wi-Fi range so bad on my Super Mini?
What is the difference between ESP32-C3 Mini and SuperMini?
Is there an ESP32-C5 Super Mini?
How many GPIOs does each Super Mini have?
Which ESP32 Super Mini is best for ESPHome?
Can I run Tasmota on a Super Mini?
Where to go next
If you are still unsure, buy the C3 Super Mini: it is $3, every framework supports it, and most of what you learn on it carries over to the others. Move to the S3 when you run out of RAM or need USB, to the C6 the day you want Zigbee or Thread, and to the H2 only for a mesh device that must not carry a Wi-Fi radio.
How we checked: Sizes from the vendor dimension drawings and our own pinout data; battery, LED and USB details from the vendor sheets and the board pages linked in each profile; sleep currents from the named measurements, not from listings; framework support checked against each project's current release. Checked 7 September 2026; the fact file behind this page lists every source.