UM TinyS3

A compact development board from Unexpected Maker, offering wireless connectivity and ample Flash and PSRAM in a small form factor.

USB-C Native USB
UM TinyS3 board
35 × 17.8 mm
ESP32-S3
MCU
240MHz
clock
8MB
flash
512KB
SRAM
19· 9 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
On this page

Pinout

19 pins
View:
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
11A0T1PWMsafeadc · touch
22A1T2PWMsafeadc · touch
33A2T3PWMstrappingadc · touch
44A3T4PWMsafeadc · touch
55A4T5PWMsafeadc · touch
66A5T6PWMsafeadc · touch
77A6T7PWMsafeadc · touch
88SDAA7T8PWMsafeadc · touch · i2c
99SCLA8T9PWMstrappingadc · touch · i2c
1010VBAT_SENSEPWMstrapping-
1117RGB_PWRPWMsafe-
1218RGB_DATAPWMsafe-
1333VBUS_SENSEPWMstrapping-
1434SSPWMstrappingspi
1535MOSISDOPWMstrappingspi
1636SCKPWMstrappingspi
1737MISOSDIPWMstrappingspi
1843TXPWMstrappinguart
1944RXPWMstrappinguart

Start with these

9 pins with no boot or system involvement
A0T1A1T2A3T4A4T5A5T6A6T7SDAA7RGB_PWRPWMRGB_DATAPWM

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
SCLFSPIHDIO 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
VBAT_SENSEFSPICS0IO 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
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

Only if you know the tricks

wired to flash or USB - expect a fight
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
VBUS_SENSESPIIO4 (GPIO33)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
SSSPIIO5 (GPIO34)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
MOSISPIIO6 (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
SCKSPIIO7 (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
MISOSPIDQS (GPIO37)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 UM TinyS3 pinout brings out 19 GPIO pins - every one of them usable in your project. For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO8 and SCL on GPIO9; the…

The UM TinyS3 pinout brings out 19 GPIO pins - every one of them usable in your project.

For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO8 and SCL on GPIO9; 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 9 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring and 9 capacitive-touch inputs.

If you want zero surprises, A0, A1, A3, A4 and 5 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 5 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (A2, SCL, VBAT_SENSE and 2 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: "ESP32S3 Dev Module"
USB CDC On Boot: "Enabled"
Flash Size: "8MB (64Mb)"
Flash Mode: "DIO"
PSRAM: "QSPI PSRAM"
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
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 8MB (64Mb)
Flash Mode: DIO
PSRAM: QSPI PSRAM
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:tinys3]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-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-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
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-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 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DIO

Specifications

ESP32-S3 · 35 × 17.8 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →
Compute
MCU
ESP32-S3
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
512 KB · 8MB · 8MB (QSPI) PSRAM
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0 LE
Antenna
3D
I/O
GPIO · ADC
19 · 9
UART · I²C · SPI
3 · 2 · 2
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
Native (CDC)
Boot address
0x0
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · QIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB
17.8 mm35 mm
35 × 17.8 mm
The UM TinyS3 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 $20.00 - less than the ~$29 most ESP32-S3 boards go for.

Onboard you'll find 8MB (QSPI) PSRAM, an addressable RGB LED (GPIO18), battery charging via JST-PH 2.0 and Reset/Boot buttons.

It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S3 boards.

  • Battery via header pins + a top JST-PH connector; single 700mA 3V3 LDO; VBAT voltage sensing on GPIO10
  • Onboard 3D (ceramic chip) antenna

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices
UM TinyS3
UM TinyS3
$20.00per unit, typical

Resources

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