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ESP32-S3-BOX-3
Feature-rich ESP32-S3 board with screen, mic, and AI support - perfect for voice interfaces, smart hubs, and demos.
ESP32-S3
MCU
240MHz
clock
16MB
flash
512KB
SRAM
27· 6 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
Pinout
31 pins
| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | TFT_MISO | strapping | - | |
| 2 | 1 | MUTE_PINPWM | safe | - | |
| 3 | 2 | I2S_MCLKPWM | safe | - | |
| 4 | 3 | TS_IRQPWM | strapping | - | |
| 5 | 4 | TFT_DCPWM | safe | - | |
| 6 | 5 | TFT_CSPWM | safe | - | |
| 7 | 6 | TFT_MOSIPWM | safe | - | |
| 8 | 7 | TFT_CLKPWM | safe | - | |
| 9 | 8 | I2C_SDAPWM | safe | - | |
| 10 | 9 | A8T9PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 11 | 10 | SSA9T10PWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 12 | 11 | MOSIA10T11PWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 13 | 12 | SCKA11T12PWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 14 | 13 | MISOA12T13PWM | strapping | adc · touch · spi | |
| 15 | 14 | A13T14PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 16 | 15 | I2S_DOUTPWM | safe | - | |
| 17 | 16 | I2S_SDINPWM | safe | - | |
| 18 | 17 | I2S_SCLKPWM | safe | - | |
| 19 | 18 | I2C_SCLPWM | safe | - | |
| 20 | 40 | SCLPWM | strapping | i2c | |
| 21 | 41 | SDAPWM | strapping | i2c | |
| 22 | 43 | TXPWM | strapping | uart | |
| 23 | 44 | RXPWM | strapping | uart | |
| 24 | 45 | TFT_BLPWM | strapping | - | |
| 25 | 46 | PA_PIN | strapping | - | |
| 26 | 47 | I2S_LRCK | strapping | - | |
| 27 | 48 | TFT_RST | strapping | - | |
| 28 | - | ES7210_ADDR | safe | - | |
| 29 | - | ES8311_ADDRPWM | safe | - | |
| 30 | - | ICM42607P_ADDR | safe | - | |
| 31 | - | TT21100_ADDRPWM | safe | - |
Start with these
11 pins with no boot or system involvementMUTE_PINPWMI2S_MCLKPWMTFT_DCPWMTFT_CSPWMTFT_MOSIPWMTFT_CLKPWMI2C_SDAPWMI2S_DOUTPWMI2S_SDINPWMI2S_SCLKPWMI2C_SCLPWM
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_MISO | GPIO0 | Must be pulled high (default) or low (to enter UART download mode) at reset. Using it for other functions can interfere with boot mode configuration. | Strapping |
| TS_IRQ | GPIO3 | Sampled at reset to select JTAG interface (USB Serial/JTAG controller vs. external pins). Improper use can disable external JTAG or alter debug interface. | Strapping |
| SCL | MTDO (GPIO40) | Default JTAG TDO output for debugging. Using it as GPIO will interfere with JTAG debugging functionality. | Other |
| SDA | MTDI (GPIO41) | Default JTAG TDI input for debugging. Should be reserved for JTAG or left unused if JTAG is to remain available. | Other |
| TX | U0TXD (GPIO43) | Used for bootloader output and UART console logs. If repurposed, you will lose the default serial output (and programming via UART0). | Other |
| RX | U0RXD (GPIO44) | Used for bootloader input (download mode via serial). If repurposed, you cannot use the default UART0 download mode for programming the chip. | Other |
| TFT_BL | 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 |
| PA_PIN | GPIO46 | Must be at a defined level during reset (with GPIO0) to select normal or download boot and UART/USB print mode. This pin is input-only (no output drive), so it should be left for its intended strapping function. | Strapping |
Only if you know the tricks
wired to flash or USB - expect a fight| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| A8 | 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 |
| SS | FSPICS0 | Used to select the external flash chip. It is required for flash access and cannot be repurposed without losing flash connectivity | Flash |
| MOSI | 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 |
| SCK | FSPICLK | Drives the flash (and PSRAM) clock. This critical signal must be reserved for memory and not used as general GPIO. | Flash |
| MISO | FSPIQ | Used as a data line for flash/PSRAM transfers. Not available for other uses when flash/PSRAM is connected. | Flash |
| A13 | FSPIWP | Connected to external flash (data/write-protect signal). Not recommended as GPIO because it’s reserved for flash operations. | Flash |
| I2S_LRCK | SPICLK_P | Used only on variants with Octal SPI interface (e.g. ESP32-S3R16V) as part of the differential clock pair. On such chips it operates at 1.8 V and is reserved for the high-speed octal SPI clock, not for general GPIO use. | Flash |
| TFT_RST | SPICLK_N | Used only on variants with Octal SPI interface, as the negative leg of the differential clock&. On such chips it operates at 1.8 V; it should be avoided for GPIO to prevent conflicts with the octal flash/PSRAM clock. | 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 The ESP32-S3-BOX-3 breaks out 31 pins in total: 27 GPIO for your project. For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO41 and SCL on GPIO40; the SPI bus ( MOSI…
The ESP32-S3-BOX-3 breaks out 31 pins in total: 27 GPIO for your project.
For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO41 and SCL on GPIO40; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO43 and GPIO44 cover serial logging and flashing.
On the analog side there are 6 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring and 6 capacitive-touch inputs.
If you want zero surprises, MUTE_PIN, I2S_MCLK, TFT_DC, TFT_CS and 7 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 8 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (TFT_MISO, TS_IRQ, SCL and 5 more).
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 GPIO1 - swap for your board's LED pin if different.
Board: Esp32 S3 Box
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 16MB · DIO
Upload Speed: 921600
// blink
pinMode(1, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(1, LOW); // on (often inverted)[env:esp32s3box]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: esp32s3box
framework:
type: esp-idf
# blink - GPIO1
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 1
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-S3Compute
MCU
ESP32-S3
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
512 KB · 16MB · 8MB (OPI) 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
LCD · 2.4" · 320x240
Driver
ILI9341
Touch
GT911
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · QIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB
The ESP32-S3-BOX-3 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-S3 - a dual-core Xtensa with vector extensions suited to AI workloads.
Expect to pay about $49.95 - above the ~$30 typical for ESP32-S3 boards.
27 GPIO are broken out - more than most ESP32-S3 boards, so the pin budget is rarely the constraint.
Onboard you'll find 8MB (OPI) PSRAM, an LCD 2.4" 320x240 display with touch, a microphone (Dual mic array), a speaker, an audio codec (ES8311) and an ICM-42670-P IMU.
It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S3 boards.
- Current model is the ESP32-S3-BOX-3 (ILI9341 display, GT911 touch, ICM-42670-P 6-axis IMU, ES7210 mic ADC); the original BOX and BOX-Lite are end-of-life
- microSD lives on the bundled ESP32-S3-BOX-3-SENSOR dock accessory, not the main unit
- Detachable dock with a high-density PCIe-style expansion connector; ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 N16R8 (16MB flash + 8MB octal PSRAM)
Where to buy
prices are typical street pricesAs an Amazon Associate, ESPboards earns from qualifying purchases.
Resources
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