UM TinyS3
A compact development board from Unexpected Maker, offering wireless connectivity and ample Flash and PSRAM in a small form factor.

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Pinout
19 pins| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A0T1PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 2 | 2 | A1T2PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 3 | 3 | A2T3PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 4 | 4 | A3T4PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 5 | 5 | A4T5PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 6 | 6 | A5T6PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 7 | 7 | A6T7PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 8 | 8 | SDAA7T8PWM | safe | adc · touch · i2c | |
| 9 | 9 | SCLA8T9PWM | strapping | adc · touch · i2c | |
| 10 | 10 | VBAT_SENSEPWM | strapping | - | |
| 11 | 17 | RGB_PWRPWM | safe | - | |
| 12 | 18 | RGB_DATAPWM | safe | - | |
| 13 | 33 | VBUS_SENSEPWM | strapping | - | |
| 14 | 34 | SSPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 15 | 35 | MOSISDOPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 16 | 36 | SCKPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 17 | 37 | MISOSDIPWM | strapping | spi | |
| 18 | 43 | TXPWM | strapping | uart | |
| 19 | 44 | RXPWM | strapping | uart |
Start with these
9 pins with no boot or system involvementFreely 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 | 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 | FSPIHD | IO 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_SENSE | FSPICS0 | IO 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 |
| 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 |
Only if you know the tricks
wired to flash or USB - expect a fight| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| VBUS_SENSE | SPIIO4 (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 |
| SS | SPIIO5 (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 |
| MOSI | SPIIO6 (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 |
| SCK | SPIIO7 (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 |
| MISO | SPIDQS (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 |
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 minutesBoard: 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
// 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);
}[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_PSRAMesp32-s3-devkitc-1 - or type it after board =.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_outesp32-s3-devkitc-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).esptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
--baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).Specifications
ESP32-S3 · 35 × 17.8 mm · vs other ESP32 chips →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
Resources
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