Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3)

Similar to the WiFi Kit 32 but with additional features for LoRaWAN applications, providing long-range wireless communication.

USB-C
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3) board
50.2 × 25.5 mm
ESP32-S3
MCU
240MHz
clock
8MB
flash
512KB
SRAM
28· 20 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
On this page

Pinout

28 pins · 2.54 mm pitch
View:
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3) pinout diagram
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
11A0T1PWMsafeadc · touch
22A1T2PWMsafeadc · touch
33A2T3PWMstrappingadc · touch
44A3T4PWMsafeadc · touch
55A4T5PWMsafeadc · touch
66A5T6PWMsafeadc · touch
77A6T7PWMsafeadc · touch
88SSA7T8PWMsafeadc · touch · spi
99SCKA8T9PWMstrappingadc · touch · spi
1010MOSIA9T10PWMstrappingadc · touch · spi
1111MISOA10T11PWMstrappingadc · touch · spi
1212A11T12PWMstrappingadc · touch
1313A12T13PWMstrappingadc · touch
1414A13T14PWMstrappingadc · touch
1515A14PWMsafeadc
1616A15PWMsafeadc
1717A16SDA_OLEDPWMsafeadc
1818A17SCL_OLEDPWMsafeadc
1919A18PWMuartadc
2020A19PWMuartadc
2121RST_OLEDPWMsafe-
2235LEDPWMstrapping-
2336VextPWMstrapping-
2441SDAPWMstrappingi2c
2542SCLPWMstrappingi2c
2643TXPWMstrappinguart
2744RXPWMstrappinguart
2848LED_BUILTINstrapping-

Start with these

12 pins with no boot or system involvement
A0T1A1T2A3T4A4T5A5T6A6T7SSA7A14PWMA15PWMA16SDA_OLEDA17SCL_OLEDRST_OLEDPWM

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
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
A2GPIO3Sampled at reset to select JTAG interface (USB Serial/JTAG controller vs. external pins). Improper use can disable external JTAG or alter debug interface.Strapping
SCKFSPIHDIO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.Other
MOSIFSPICS0IO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.Other
MISOFSPIDIO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.Other
A11FSPICLKIO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.Other
A12FSPIQIO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.Other
A13FSPIWPIO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.Other
SDAMTDI (GPIO41)Default JTAG TDI input for debugging. Should be reserved for JTAG or left unused if JTAG is to remain available.Other
SCLMTMS (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
TXU0TXD (GPIO43)Used for bootloader output and UART console logs. If repurposed, you will lose the default serial output (and programming via UART0).Other
RXU0RXD (GPIO44)Used for bootloader input (download mode via serial). If repurposed, you cannot use the default UART0 download mode for programming the chip.Other
LED_BUILTINSPICLK_NOnly the 1.8 V octal parts (ESP32-S3R8V, ESP32-S3R16V) run the differential memory clock here, and on those the pin works at 1.8 V instead of 3.3 V. On the common 3.3 V modules it is a normal GPIO - several devkits drive their RGB LED from GPIO48.Other

Only if you know the tricks

wired to flash or USB - expect a fight
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
A18USB_D-By default connected to the on-chip USB Serial/JTAG controller. Using it as general GPIO without reconfiguring IO MUX will interfere with USB functionality.USB
A19USB_D+By default connected to the on-chip USB Serial/JTAG controller. Using it as general GPIO without reconfiguring IO MUX will interfere with USB functionality.USB
LEDSPIIO6 (GPIO35)The datasheet keeps GPIO33-37 for "the higher 4 bits data line interface and DQS interface for the SPI0/1 interface in 8-line SPI mode", so octal-PSRAM modules (N16R8 and friends) consume it and do not break it out. On quad-PSRAM or PSRAM-less parts it is an ordinary GPIO - check which variant your module carries.Flash
VextSPIIO7 (GPIO36)The datasheet keeps GPIO33-37 for "the higher 4 bits data line interface and DQS interface for the SPI0/1 interface in 8-line SPI mode", so octal-PSRAM modules (N16R8 and friends) consume it and do not break it out. On quad-PSRAM or PSRAM-less parts it is an ordinary GPIO - check which variant your module carries.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 Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3) pinout brings out 28 GPIO pins at a 2.54 mm pitch - every one of them usable in…

The Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3) 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 GPIO41 and SCL on GPIO42; 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 20 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring and 14 capacitive-touch inputs.

If you want zero surprises, A0, A1, A3, A4 and 8 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-S3 (A2, SCK, MOSI and 9 more).

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes
Tool:
1
Connect over USB
Uses a CP2102 bridge - install the CP210x driver if no port appears. 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: "ESP32S3 Dev Module"
Flash Size: "8MB (64Mb)"
Flash Mode: "DIO"
Partition Scheme: "8M with spiffs (3MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)" (default)
Upload Speed: "921600"
▸ every other Tools option - leave at default
Board: ESP32S3 Dev Module
Flash Size: 8MB (64Mb)
Flash Mode: DIO
Partition Scheme: 8M with spiffs (3MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)
Upload Speed: 921600
Find it: Tools ▸ Board ▸ ESP32 Arduino ▸ ESP32S3 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-s3-devkitc-1⧉ copy
platformio.ini Copy
[env:heltec_wifi_lora_32_V3]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
Find it: PlatformIO Home ▸ Boards, search esp32-s3-devkitc-1 - or type it after board =.
board to selectesp32-s3-devkitc-1⧉ copy
device.yaml Copy
esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32s3
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# 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-s3-devkitc-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 esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  --baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin
--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).
Build details: sketch space 3342336 B · data 327680 B · DIO

Specifications

ESP32-S3 · 50.2 × 25.5 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →
Compute
MCU
ESP32-S3
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
512 KB · 8MB
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
28 · 20
UART · I²C · SPI
3 · 2 · 2
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
CP2102
Boot address
0x0
Electrical
Input
5V USB · 3.7V LiPo
Consumption
<10µA sleep
Regulator
-
Display
Screen
OLED · 0.96" · 128x64
Driver
SSD1306
Touch
No
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · QIO
Sketch · Data
3.19 MB · 320 KB
25.5 mm50.2 mm
50.2 × 25.5 mm · pin pitch 2.54 mm
The Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3) 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 3.19 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 $17.90 - less than the ~$29 most ESP32-S3 boards go for.

28 GPIO are broken out - more than most ESP32-S3 boards, so the pin budget is rarely the constraint.

Onboard you'll find an OLED 0.96" 128x64 display, LoRa (SX1262), battery charging via 1.25mm 2-pin and Reset/PRG buttons.

  • Onboard 2.4GHz metal spring antenna for Wi-Fi & Bluetooth
  • IPEX (u.FL) connector for an external LoRa antenna
  • Onboard Li-Po charge & discharge management

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3)
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) / Wireless shell(V3) / Wireless stick lite (V3)
$17.90per unit, typical

Resources

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