XIAO ESP32S3 Sense
An enhanced version of the XIAO ESP32S3 with additional sensors, designed for environmental monitoring and sensing applications.
Pinout
14 pins · 2.54 mm pitch
| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | D0A0GPIO1 | safe | adc · pwm | |
| 2 | 2 | D1A1GPIO2 | safe | adc · pwm | |
| 3 | 3 | D2A2GPIO3 | strapping | adc · pwm | |
| 4 | 4 | D3A3GPIO4 | safe | adc · pwm | |
| 5 | 5 | D4A4SDAGPIO5 | safe | adc · pwm · i2c | |
| 6 | 6 | D5A5SCLGPIO6 | safe | adc · pwm · i2c | |
| 7 | 43 | D6TXGPIO43 | strapping | uart · pwm | |
| 8 | - | 5V | power | - | 5V power input/output |
| 9 | - | GND | ground | - | |
| 10 | - | 3V3 | power | - | 3.3V power |
| 11 | 9 | D10A10MOSIGPIO9 | strapping | adc · pwm · spi | |
| 12 | 8 | D9A9MISOGPIO8 | safe | adc · pwm · spi | |
| 13 | 7 | D8A8SCKGPIO7 | safe | adc · pwm · spi | |
| 14 | 44 | D7RXGPIO44 | strapping | uart · pwm |
Start with these
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| D2 | 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 |
| D6 | U0TXD (GPIO43) | Used for bootloader output and UART console logs. If repurposed, you will lose the default serial output (and programming via UART0). | Other |
| D7 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| D10 | 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 |
Pinout notes Across 14 pins (2.54 mm pitch), the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense exposes 11 GPIO plus 5V , GND and 3V3 for power. For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO5 and SCL…
Across 14 pins (2.54 mm pitch), the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense exposes 11 GPIO plus 5V, GND and 3V3 for power.
For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO5 and SCL on GPIO6; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK) 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 PWM on every GPIO.
If you want zero surprises, D0, D1, D3, D4 and 3 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 3 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (D2, D6 and D7).
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutesBoard: Xiao Esp32s3
USB CDC On Boot: Enabled
Flash Size: 8MB · QIO
Upload Speed: 921600
// blink
pinMode(1, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(1, LOW); // on (often inverted)[env:xiao-esp32s3-sense]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: XIAO_ESP32S3
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.binGood to know
board-specific quirks worth 60 seconds
Specifications
ESP32-S3 · 21 × 17.8 mmAbout this board
At 21 × 17.8 mm it's among the smallest boards in the whole ESP32 family.
At its core is the ESP32-S3 - a dual-core Xtensa with vector extensions suited to AI workloads.
Expect to pay about $18.00 - less than the ~$30 most ESP32-S3 boards go for.
Only 11 GPIO are left for your own hardware - the camera interface claims most of the pins.
Onboard you'll find 8MB (OPI) PSRAM, an OV2640 camera (1600x1200), a microSD slot, a microphone (PDM MEMS), battery charging via Solder pads, status LEDs (User, Charge) and Reset/Boot buttons.
It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S3 boards.
The XIAO ESP32S3 Sense is an advanced AI-powered development board featuring the ESP32-S3 dual-core processor with an integrated camera and microphone. It supports WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 (LE), making it an excellent choice for AI vision applications, voice recognition, and smart IoT projects.
With a compact form factor, it includes a USB-C port for fast programming and power, as well as an onboard reset button and bootloader mode button for seamless debugging.
The XIAO ESP32S3 Sense supports multiple communication interfaces, including UART, I2C, SPI, and ADC, along with AI capabilities for real-time edge computing applications.
- Dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor with AI acceleration
- Integrated camera and microphone for AI applications
- Camera is an OV2640 (2MP, 1600×1200) on the detachable expansion board; some batches shipped an OV3660 (3MP) during OV2640 supply gaps
- Supports WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 (LE)
- Ultra-small size (21x17.5 mm)
Where to buy
prices are typical street pricesResources
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