Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT

ESP32-S2 Feather board with a front-facing TFT - perfect for compact dashboards and visual projects.

USB-C Native USB
Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT board
52 × 23 mm
ESP32-S2
MCU
240MHz
clock
4MB
flash
320KB
SRAM
27· 6 ADC
GPIO
Wi-Fi
radio
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Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT Pinout

28 pins · 2.54 mm pitch
Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT pinout diagram
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
11NEOPIXEL_NUMPWMsafe-
23SDAPWMsafei2c
34SCLPWMsafei2c
45T5PWMsafetouch
56T6PWMsafetouch
67TFT_I2C_POWERPWMsafe-
78A5T8PWMsafeadc · touch
89T9PWMstrappingtouch
910T10PWMstrappingtouch
1011T11PWMstrappingtouch
1112T12PWMstrappingtouch
1213LED_BUILTINT13PWMstrappingtouch
1314A4T14PWMstrappingadc · touch
1415A3PWMstrappingadc
1516A2PWMstrappingadc
1617A1DAC1PWMsafeadc · dac
1718A0DAC2PWMsafeadc · dac
1821NEOPIXEL_POWERPWMsafe-
1933PIN_NEOPIXELPWMsafe-
2035MOSIPWMsafespi
2136SCKPWMsafespi
2237MISOPWMsafespi
232RXPWMuartuart
241TXPWMuartuart
2540TFT_DCPWMstrapping-
2641TFT_RSTPWMstrapping-
2742TFT_CSSSPWMstrappingspi
2845TFT_BACKLITEPWMstrapping-
28 GPIOs broken out 16 free · 12 need care · 0 to avoid

Start with these

16 pins with no boot or system involvement
NEOPIXEL_NUMGPIO1SDAGPIO3SCLGPIO4T5GPIO5T6GPIO6TFT_I2C_POWERGPIO7A5GPIO8A1GPIO17A0GPIO18NEOPIXEL_POWERGPIO21PIN_NEOPIXELGPIO33MOSIGPIO35SCKGPIO36MISOGPIO37RXGPIO2TXGPIO1

Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.

Fine - with a little care

12 pins · 7 things to know
T9GPIO9T10GPIO10T11GPIO11T12GPIO12LED_BUILTINGPIO13A4GPIO14 General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pins Other

IO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet does not restrict it, so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.

  • T9General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - hold/data line (FSPIHD)
  • T10General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - chip select (FSPICS0)
  • T11General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - data in (FSPID)
  • T12General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - clock (FSPICLK)
  • LED_BUILTINGeneral-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - data out (FSPIQ)
  • A4General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - write-protect/data line (FSPIWP)
A3GPIO15 32.768 kHz RTC crystal oscillator positive input (XTAL_32K_P); also functions as GPIO15 (U0RTS, ADC2_CH4). Other

If an external 32 kHz crystal is used for RTC, this pin is dedicated to the crystal and cannot be used as GPIO.

A2GPIO16 32.768 kHz RTC crystal negative input (XTAL_32K_N); also GPIO16 (U0CTS, ADC2_CH5). Other

If using an external 32 kHz crystal, this pin is connected to the crystal and should not be used as general I/O.

TFT_DCGPIO40 JTAG test data-out pin (MTDO); also GPIO40, supports CLK_OUT2. JTAG

Part of JTAG interface (TDO); should be avoided as GPIO if JTAG debugging is needed.

TFT_RSTGPIO41 JTAG test data-in pin (MTDI); also GPIO41, supports CLK_OUT1. JTAG

Part of JTAG interface (TDI); avoid using as GPIO to retain ability for JTAG debug.

TFT_CSGPIO42 JTAG test mode select pin (MTMS); also GPIO42. JTAG

JTAG TMS pin; should not be repurposed if JTAG debugging or programming via JTAG is required.

TFT_BACKLITEGPIO45 Bootstrapping pin; selects flash supply voltage (VDD_SPI) (0 = 3.3 V, 1 = 1.8 V). Strapping

Must be set correctly at boot (usually low for 3.3 V); improper level can cause boot failure or flash malfunction.

These are recommendations, not hard rules - with the right pull-ups, timing and boot-state awareness most pins can be made to work. When in doubt, start green.

The Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT pinout brings out 28 GPIO pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - every one of them usable in your project.

For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO3 and SCL on GPIO4; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO1 and GPIO2 cover serial logging and flashing.

On the analog side there are 6 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 9 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.

If you want zero surprises, NEOPIXEL_NUM, SDA, SCL, T5 and 12 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 12 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S2 (T9, T10, T11 and 9 more).

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes
Tool:
1
Connect over USB
Native USB - shows up as a port right away, no driver needed. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.
2
Match & flash
Set the Tools options shown, then click Upload.
3
Verify it runs
GPIO1 toggles - wire an LED and resistor to it, or change the pin to your board's own LED.
Set these in Tools · leave everything else at default
Arduino IDE 2.x - Tools Copy
Board: "ESP32S2 Dev Module"▸
USB CDC On Boot: "Enabled"▸
Flash Size: "4MB (32Mb)"▸
Flash Mode: "DIO"▸
PSRAM: "QSPI PSRAM"▸
Partition Scheme: "Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)" (default)▸
Upload Speed: "921600"▸
▸ every other Tools option - leave at default
Board: ESP32S2 Dev Module
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 4MB (32Mb)
Flash Mode: DIO
PSRAM: QSPI PSRAM
Partition Scheme: Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)
Upload Speed: 921600
Find it: Tools ▸ Board ▸ ESP32 Arduino ▸ ESP32S2 Dev Module
blink.ino Copy
// toggle GPIO1 - wire an LED and resistor to it
void setup() {
  pinMode(1, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(1, HIGH); delay(500);
  digitalWrite(1, LOW);  delay(500);
}
board to selectesp32-s2-saola-1⧉ copy
platformio.ini Copy
[env:adafruit_feather_esp32s2_reversetft]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s2-saola-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
board_build.arduino.memory_type = qio_qspi
build_flags = -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAM
Find it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search esp32-s2-saola-1 - or type it after board =.
board to selectesp32-s2-saola-1⧉ copy
device.yaml Copy
esp32:
  board: esp32-s2-saola-1
  variant: esp32s2
  framework:
    type: esp-idf
psram:
  mode: quad
  speed: 80MHz

# blink - GPIO1
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 1
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out
Find it: search ESPHome's board list for esp32-s2-saola-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).
esptool doesn't pick board settings - a prebuilt .bin already has them baked in. This is just the raw flash command.
terminal Copy
esptool.py --chip esp32s2 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  --baud 921600 write_flash 0x1000 firmware.bin
--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).
Build details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DIO

Specifications

ESP32-S2 · 52 × 23 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →
Compute
MCU
ESP32-S2
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
320 KB · 4MB · 2MB PSRAM
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz
Bluetooth
-
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
27 · 6
UART · I²C · SPI
2 · 2 · 2
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
Native (CDC)
Boot address
0x1000
Electrical
Input
5V USB · 3.7V LiPo
Consumption
~40µA sleep
Regulator
-
Display
Screen
TFT · 1.14" · 240x135
Driver
ST7789
Touch
No
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · QIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB

Dimensions

23 mm52 mm
52 × 23 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm
The Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is DIO with QIO boot mode. The maximum sketch size is 1.25 MB with 320 KB available for data.

About this board

At its core is the ESP32-S2 - a single-core Xtensa with native USB-OTG and no Bluetooth.

Expect to pay about $24.95 - above the ~$20 typical for ESP32-S2 boards.

Onboard you'll find 2MB PSRAM, a TFT 1.14" 240x135 display, a STEMMA QT connector, an addressable RGB LED (GPIO33), a battery fuel gauge (MAX17048), battery charging via JST-PH 2.0, status LEDs (On, Charge, User (D13)) and Reset/D0/D1/D2 buttons.

It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S2 boards.

  • Also sold in a u.FL external-antenna variant (product
  • Early units shipped with an LC709203F fuel gauge instead of the MAX17048
  • Reverse-mounted display sits on the same face as the three user buttons

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices
Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT
Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT
$24.95per unit, typical

Resources

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