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Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 TFT
An ESP32-S3 Feather board with an integrated TFT display, providing a compact solution for display-based projects.
52.5 × 22.8 mm
ESP32-S3
MCU
240MHz
clock
4MB
flash
512KB
SRAM
27· 6 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
Pinout
27 pins · 2.54 mm pitch
| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | TXT1PWM | uart | touch · uart | |
| 2 | 2 | RXT2PWM | uart | touch · uart | |
| 3 | 5 | T5PWM | safe | touch | |
| 4 | 6 | T6PWM | safe | touch | |
| 5 | 7 | TFT_CSSSPWM | safe | spi | |
| 6 | 8 | A5T8PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 7 | 9 | T9PWM | strapping | touch | |
| 8 | 10 | T10PWM | strapping | touch | |
| 9 | 11 | T11PWM | strapping | touch | |
| 10 | 12 | T12PWM | strapping | touch | |
| 11 | 13 | LED_BUILTINT13PWM | strapping | touch | |
| 12 | 14 | A4T14PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 13 | 15 | A3PWM | safe | adc | |
| 14 | 16 | A2PWM | safe | adc | |
| 15 | 17 | A1DAC1PWM | safe | adc · dac | |
| 16 | 18 | A0DAC2PWM | safe | adc · dac | |
| 17 | 21 | TFT_I2C_POWERPWM | safe | - | |
| 18 | 33 | PIN_NEOPIXELPWM | strapping | - | |
| 19 | 34 | NEOPIXEL_POWERPWM | strapping | - | |
| 20 | 35 | MOSIPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 21 | 36 | SCKPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 22 | 37 | MISOPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 23 | 39 | TFT_DCPWM | strapping | - | |
| 24 | 40 | TFT_RSTPWM | strapping | - | |
| 25 | 41 | SCLPWM | strapping | i2c | |
| 26 | 42 | SDAPWM | strapping | i2c | |
| 27 | 45 | TFT_BACKLITEPWM | strapping | - |
Start with these
11 pins with no boot or system involvementTXT1RXT2T5PWMT6PWMTFT_CSSSA5T8A3PWMA2PWMA1DAC1A0DAC2TFT_I2C_POWERPWM
Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.
Fine - with a little care
sampled at boot or shared with debug/serial| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| TFT_DC | MTCK (GPIO39) | Default JTAG debugging TCK pin. If JTAG is needed, this pin must be free; it may also be used internally for PSRAM chip select on certain modules, so avoid repurposing it. | Other |
| TFT_RST | MTDO (GPIO40) | Default JTAG TDO output for debugging. Using it as GPIO will interfere with JTAG debugging functionality. | Other |
| SCL | MTDI (GPIO41) | Default JTAG TDI input for debugging. Should be reserved for JTAG or left unused if JTAG is to remain available. | Other |
| SDA | MTMS (GPIO42) | Default JTAG TMS signal for debugging. Using this pin for other purposes will disable the JTAG interface (unless JTAG is rerouted to USB). | Other |
| TFT_BACKLITE | GPIO45 | Determines flash/PSRAM power voltage (3.3 V vs 1.8 V) at boot. Must match hardware configuration; using as GPIO can upset flash supply setting. | Strapping |
Only if you know the tricks
wired to flash or USB - expect a fight| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| T9 | FSPIHD | Connected to external flash (data/hold signal) on most modules. Not recommended for use as GPIO, since it must remain dedicated to flash communication. | Flash |
| T10 | FSPICS0 | Used to select the external flash chip. It is required for flash access and cannot be repurposed without losing flash connectivity | Flash |
| T11 | FSPID | Used as a data line for flash (and in-package PSRAM). It should not be used as GPIO when the flash/PSRAM is in use. | Flash |
| T12 | FSPICLK | Drives the flash (and PSRAM) clock. This critical signal must be reserved for memory and not used as general GPIO. | Flash |
| LED_BUILTIN | FSPIQ | Used as a data line for flash/PSRAM transfers. Not available for other uses when flash/PSRAM is connected. | Flash |
| A4 | FSPIWP | Connected to external flash (data/write-protect signal). Not recommended as GPIO because it’s reserved for flash operations. | Flash |
| PIN_NEOPIXEL | FSPIHD | On chips/modules with integrated flash, this IO is wired to the flash hold pin internally. It cannot be reassigned to GPIO without breaking flash access. | Flash |
| NEOPIXEL_POWER | FSPICS0 | Wired to the chip select of the internal flash in flash-equipped variants. It must remain low during flash operation, so it’s not available for other use. | Flash |
| MOSI | FSPID / PSRAM_D0 | In modules with octal PSRAM, this pin is connected to the PSRAM data line. It is reserved for memory interface and not free for general GPIO when flash/PSRAM is present. | Flash |
| SCK | FSPICLK / PSRAM_CLK | In modules with octal PSRAM, this pin drives the PSRAM clock. It must be dedicated to the memory interface, not used as a regular GPIO when that interface is in use. | Flash |
| MISO | FSPIQ / PSRAM_DQS | In modules with octal PSRAM, this pin is connected to the PSRAM’s DQS signal. It cannot be repurposed without disrupting the PSRAM/flash communication. | Flash |
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.
Pinout notes All 27 pins on the Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 TFT are usable GPIO, spaced at the standard 2.54 mm pitch. Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to…
All 27 pins on the Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 TFT are usable GPIO, spaced at the standard 2.54 mm pitch.
Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO42 and SCL on GPIO41; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO1 and GPIO2 cover serial logging and flashing.
Beyond plain digital I/O you get 6 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 11 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.
5 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (TFT_DC, TFT_RST, SCL and 2 more) - check the guidance above before wiring anything to them. TX, RX, T5, T6 and 7 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks.
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes1
Connect over USB
Native USB - no driver, no serial chip. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.
2
Flash with your tool
Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, ESPHome or esptool - copy the settings on the right.
3
Verify it runs
The blink example uses GPIO5 - swap for your board's LED pin if different.
Board: Adafruit Feather Esp32s3 Tft
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 4MB · DIO
Upload Speed: 921600
// blink
pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(5, LOW); // on (often inverted)[env:adafruit_feather_esp32s3_tft]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: adafruit_feather_esp32s3_tft
framework:
type: esp-idf
# blink - GPIO5
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 5
id: led_out
light:
- platform: binary
name: "LED"
output: led_outesptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
write_flash 0x0 firmware.binBuild details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DIO
Specifications
ESP32-S3 · 52.5 × 22.8 mmCompute
MCU
ESP32-S3
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
512 KB · 4MB · 2MB (QSPI) PSRAM
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
27 · 6
UART · I²C · SPI
3 · 2 · 4
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
Native (CDC)
Boot address
0x0
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
52.5 × 22.8 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm
The Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 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
Inside sits the ESP32-S3 - a dual-core Xtensa with vector extensions suited to AI workloads.
At $24.95 it's cheaper than most ESP32-S3 boards, which usually run around $30.
With 27 GPIO broken out, you get more pins to play with than most ESP32-S3 boards offer.
Around the module: 2MB (QSPI) PSRAM, a TFT 1.14" 240x135 display, a STEMMA QT connector, an addressable RGB LED (GPIO33), a battery fuel gauge (MAX17048), battery charging (MCP73831) via JST-PH 2.0, status LEDs (On, Charge, User) and Reset/Boot buttons.
It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S3 boards.
- Early units (before March 2023) shipped with an LC709203F fuel gauge instead of the MAX17048
Where to buy
prices are typical street pricesAdafruit Feather ESP32-S3 TFT
$24.95per unit, typical
Resources
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