Slight clarification: All ESP32s use RISC processors. The difference between the original and S series vs the C and H series is that the former uses processors that are built using Tensilica's Xtensa Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) which is a proprietary RISC ISA that is licensed for manufacture similar to ARM. The C and H series, however, utilize the RISC-V ISA, which is the fifth free and open source RISC ISA to come out of UC-Berkeley. Interestingly, the S3 also includes a RISC-V core for its Ultra-Low-Power mode. Note that the ISA being FOS does not mean that the processor designs are (some are) the licensing for the ISA is rather permissive. However, there are no inherent fees associated with using the ISA in a design, which significantly lowers the cost barrier for custom silicon.
Thanks john great video as always. For any hobbyists out there reading this who plan to hand-solder or hot-air their ESP32 module to a custom PCB, I was an idiot and learned too late that if you select the "MINI" version (like an ESP32-S3-MINI-1U), all the pads are underneath the chip and not visible around the outer edge like the non-MINI modules (there's literally a picture on the first page of the datasheet *facepalm*). So hand soldering is kinda out of the question for minis (At least the ESP32-S3-MINI). If you intend to use hot air, you won't be able to visually confirm the melting of the solder paste or if there's any shorts or non-soldered pads (cuz the pads are under the chip and not visible) and it was a problem for me. Your results may vary. So I changed to a non-mini version: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U
Great point. I commonly use the MINI but that's also because I never do hand soldering. That's always been my least favorite part of electronics development:)
Lesson learned: that's part of what makes them "mini"-the pads are under, not beside. You actually can hot-air them, but it's an act of faith. Tiny hotplates are really inexpensive these days, but I lack that faith that the floating puddle of flux and motel metal really will do the right thing and magically snap into alignment when cooled. I, too, dislike that and haven't had a great success rate. The videos of people soldering Mac M4 SSDs and such are just sourcery to me with my shaky hands and shot eyes. Plus, if you're having them machine assembled, you either can't have parts on the other side or you are now in the Extra Special price bracket, which is a drag.
May need to distinguish between generic and specific RISC cores such as LX6/7 and RISC-V. For example, C-series use RISC-V cores, a specific type of RISC processors.
Thanks a lot for this video! I have been so confused about which board to order. I am a maker, and i love building electronic projects from the internet and customizing them.
This is really great John! Can you do a video about the software and hardware resources utilized when Wi-Fi and or Bluetooth are turned on and what remaining CPU power and hardware resources are left to your embedded application. This might be more of a software library question.
Thank you John. I believe that the C series also misses the features of capacitive touch and wake on touch that the original ESP32 had? Not sure if that has been deprecated across the range?
Thanks for your explanation, i thought about to start some esp hobby project (also need an excuse to buy a scope), but could not determine which version would be usefull, now i can 👍, subscribed.
It seems the biggest advantage to the dual-core Risc-V C6 is that it has a built-in debugger... whereas the dual-core/bluetooth S3 requires an external esp-prog JTAG adapter? However, in terms of development, I'm a bit confused.. VS Code + IDF Extension you need to first install IDF VS Code + PlatformIO Extension, you DON'T need IDF nor IDF Extension but aside from the different build-systems, what is the difference between VS-Code developing/debugging using IDF versus using PlatformIO? Do you use PlatformIO? If so, do you single-step debug with built-in jtag (C3,C6) or external jtag (esp-prog) ? gdbstub? Can you debug both cores? Would love to see a video on setting up the environment (openocd?) . Many of the videos that show how to configure are a few years old, and the settings (menus options) have changed.
Is there any particular advantage in getting an ESP32 C6 instead of H2 and vice versa? I'll be needing no Wifi and only bluetooth, so which one do you recommend? Also between the WROOM and MINI module, which one? Also I noticed the H2 DevKit is more expensive than C6 DevKit on DigiKey because of low supply, I suppose? So which one can I rely on more when I start mass production? Edit: Also when you go to order samples -- it says N4, N2 or H4 at the end of the module name -- what is that supposed to mean?
If you don't need WiFi, and only need Bluetooth LE, then I'd go with the H2. There's a lot of overhead to support WiFi so if you don't need it then choose a version without it. Also, you may want to consider other non-ESP32 chips if only doing BLE, and especially if you need ultra-low current. For example, for BLE only designs I like the nRF52 BLE microcontrollers from Nordic. The N2, N4, N8,etc at the end of the development kit part number indicates how much memory it has on the dev kit board (Flash and RAM). I wouldn't be too concerned about the prices of the dev kits since you'll very rarely go to production with those. Instead focus on the cost of the SMT module. Hope this helps.
@@PredictableDesigns Thanks a lot! This really helps tons... I think I'm going to go for H2 but now what are pros and cons of MINI and WROOM? It would help a lot if you could clarify this!
Good morning Mr John, I wanted to humbly make a request, I am an undergraduate Electrical Engineering student who is currently working on his final year project, would it be possible to hire your services in aiding me with my project?
Seeing your terribly unhappy face on the thumbnail makes me wondering if the poll asking whether to go for the blue or red thumbnail was the right question 😲😂 I would have voted for a more friendly mimmic ^^
That's not my unhappy face, that's my inquisitive face:) I'm rarely unhappy. So far this video is off to the best start of any video I've done, so I think the thumbnail was a good choice.
@@rdson1621 Of course I agree, and the ESP32 is a hot topic, but I don't think my expression is hurting the video - but then again it's impossible to know. Nonetheless you did give me the idea to do an A/B test on a thumbnail with a smiling photo vs this one, so thanks. Honestly, I'd prefer to not have my photo on them at all:) I appreciate your feedback!
@@PredictableDesigns I see YTbers more and more adding their face with some mimmic on the thumbnail, especially such ones -> 😳 with hand(s) but I don't understand this trend, for me it doesn't look esthetic. I think it's better no face for our kind of topics.
Well I'm going to also test out thumbnails without photos. If most of my videos weren't closeups of me talking then I would have never included it. But it's worth testing. Thanks again for the feedback!
I feel like you're going backwards. People starting with the module should start with the simplest chip, and expand as necessary. Going all-out in the beginning can be a severe turn-off to newcomers. Too many pins+optional / same / different pins=too much thinking. I've been one of those people. It's a great platform, but everyone should start at the bottom, and work their way up. There's a lot to learn from this platform, and starting at the top is a waste.
I disagree. The world changed in the last 40 years. This isn't a Z80 that you can just wirewrap with super sloppy unshielded signalling around your memory bus and not worry about the impedance of your memory busses and such. These are reasonably serious parts. You're potentially looking at a 4mm^2 chip with a 160Mhz external bus and RF concerns with two cores. Given a choice between starting with a tube of unprogrammed chips vs. a $4 board I can plug into a laptop and have reasonably complex code running in an hour for a viability test, the days of "start at the bottom and work up" are gone. I'd do a viability test with those protoboards, maybe even spin a dozen adapter boards to mount sensors or displays or whatever to those very protoboards that already have the high-speed signaling, RF, power, etc. worked out. Need a few hundred to a few thousand? The economy of those modules is just hard to beat. Rake solder a bead around the edge, and you're done. I'm pretty sure of this because you can break open a LOT of name-brand products and see these modules being used. Probably a third of the WiFi iOT things (e.g. holiday lighting) you see at retail are using these modules. Those modules work out which brands of SPI devices are working and set the fuses to work with 1.8 or 3.3V so I don't have to burn up a couple remembering that lesson. Two bucks for a tested, dual-core, high-speed package with (most) international certification? Yes, please. If you're big-league and sell many tens/hundreds of thousands where you have an accounting department that's willing to hire an RF group to help work out the antennas/interference and all the international certification issues and high-speed digital and qualifications for the octal SPI Flash (not just any will do) and RAM and such, THEN talk about going back to "simplest chip" once spending tens of thousands to save nickels per unit makes sense. John got this progression right, IMO. That's why he's at the front of the class.
Get your free guide - From Prototype to Production with the ESP32: predictabledesigns.com/esp32
Thank you 🫡, you are truly a saint.
Thank you. This was immensely helpful.
The production quality of your video is great.
Paying with an email address is not FREE, I don't say it is a bad deal, but it is not FREE!
Slight clarification: All ESP32s use RISC processors. The difference between the original and S series vs the C and H series is that the former uses processors that are built using Tensilica's Xtensa Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) which is a proprietary RISC ISA that is licensed for manufacture similar to ARM. The C and H series, however, utilize the RISC-V ISA, which is the fifth free and open source RISC ISA to come out of UC-Berkeley. Interestingly, the S3 also includes a RISC-V core for its Ultra-Low-Power mode. Note that the ISA being FOS does not mean that the processor designs are (some are) the licensing for the ISA is rather permissive. However, there are no inherent fees associated with using the ISA in a design, which significantly lowers the cost barrier for custom silicon.
Good info, thanks!
"Risc architecture is gunna change the world" "risc is good"
This was the ESP32 refresher I've been looking for. Stepped away from ESP32 a while back and it's good see things are still thriving.
Incredibly clear and helpful. Thank you.
This is great! Exactly the kind of questions I had.
Thanks Mike!
power consumption and pricing range would be helpful as well
Thanks john great video as always. For any hobbyists out there reading this who plan to hand-solder or hot-air their ESP32 module to a custom PCB, I was an idiot and learned too late that if you select the "MINI" version (like an ESP32-S3-MINI-1U), all the pads are underneath the chip and not visible around the outer edge like the non-MINI modules (there's literally a picture on the first page of the datasheet *facepalm*). So hand soldering is kinda out of the question for minis (At least the ESP32-S3-MINI). If you intend to use hot air, you won't be able to visually confirm the melting of the solder paste or if there's any shorts or non-soldered pads (cuz the pads are under the chip and not visible) and it was a problem for me. Your results may vary. So I changed to a non-mini version: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U
Great point. I commonly use the MINI but that's also because I never do hand soldering. That's always been my least favorite part of electronics development:)
Lesson learned: that's part of what makes them "mini"-the pads are under, not beside.
You actually can hot-air them, but it's an act of faith. Tiny hotplates are really inexpensive these days, but I lack that faith that the floating puddle of flux and motel metal really will do the right thing and magically snap into alignment when cooled. I, too, dislike that and haven't had a great success rate. The videos of people soldering Mac M4 SSDs and such are just sourcery to me with my shaky hands and shot eyes.
Plus, if you're having them machine assembled, you either can't have parts on the other side or you are now in the Extra Special price bracket, which is a drag.
Helped me understand why ESP is prominent. Typos: "Desing" at 5:46 and 5:51.
Thanks Steve! Darn it, I missed that typo.
Brilliant guide, exactly what I needed to rent myself with the ESP32 series
Glad it was helpful! Thanks!
great video, it'd be great if it was broken up into sections, makes going back for specific information easier.
May need to distinguish between generic and specific RISC cores such as LX6/7 and RISC-V. For example, C-series use RISC-V cores, a specific type of RISC processors.
Thanks a lot for this video! I have been so confused about which board to order. I am a maker, and i love building electronic projects from the internet and customizing them.
You're very welcome!
Finally! A clear explanation! Thanks!
You're welcome!
This is really great John! Can you do a video about the software and hardware resources utilized when Wi-Fi and or Bluetooth are turned on and what remaining CPU power and hardware resources are left to your embedded application. This might be more of a software library question.
Thank you for the feedback and new video suggestion!
How cool is this video. Thanks.
Thank you!
Thank you John. I believe that the C series also misses the features of capacitive touch and wake on touch that the original ESP32 had? Not sure if that has been deprecated across the range?
Depending on your situation you may be able to use the reset button and read the wakeup case to achieve the same effect as wake on touch
Hi,
Sir,can use this bord,for the humidifire automizer ceramic water transducer,5v dc?
Man this is one of the best videos on UA-cam !
You just made my day! Thank you!!
Great channel! I look forward to the day to just send a small PCB deign for printing. That would be such an achievement for me..
Great to hear! You can do it!
Does c3 series provides native usb? I am having trouble lauching midi over usb...
As he said, (and which the data sheets say) C3 includes USB-Serial bridge. It does not support OTG/Host mode.
Thanks for your explanation, i thought about to start some esp hobby project (also need an excuse to buy a scope), but could not determine which version would be usefull, now i can 👍, subscribed.
Glad I could help!
How many pins are there in each versions
great video, very informative
It seems the biggest advantage to the dual-core Risc-V C6 is that it has a built-in debugger... whereas the dual-core/bluetooth S3 requires an external esp-prog JTAG adapter?
However, in terms of development, I'm a bit confused..
VS Code + IDF Extension you need to first install IDF
VS Code + PlatformIO Extension, you DON'T need IDF nor IDF Extension
but aside from the different build-systems, what is the difference between VS-Code developing/debugging using IDF versus using PlatformIO?
Do you use PlatformIO? If so, do you single-step debug with built-in jtag (C3,C6) or external jtag (esp-prog) ? gdbstub? Can you debug both cores?
Would love to see a video on setting up the environment (openocd?) . Many of the videos that show how to configure are a few years old, and the settings (menus options) have changed.
what package has the lowest power consumption?
Well done video.
nice video sir. have you ever design a product base esp32 to read IEPE sensor sir?
such a useful video thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Is there any particular advantage in getting an ESP32 C6 instead of H2 and vice versa? I'll be needing no Wifi and only bluetooth, so which one do you recommend? Also between the WROOM and MINI module, which one?
Also I noticed the H2 DevKit is more expensive than C6 DevKit on DigiKey because of low supply, I suppose? So which one can I rely on more when I start mass production?
Edit: Also when you go to order samples -- it says N4, N2 or H4 at the end of the module name -- what is that supposed to mean?
If you don't need WiFi, and only need Bluetooth LE, then I'd go with the H2. There's a lot of overhead to support WiFi so if you don't need it then choose a version without it.
Also, you may want to consider other non-ESP32 chips if only doing BLE, and especially if you need ultra-low current. For example, for BLE only designs I like the nRF52 BLE microcontrollers from Nordic.
The N2, N4, N8,etc at the end of the development kit part number indicates how much memory it has on the dev kit board (Flash and RAM).
I wouldn't be too concerned about the prices of the dev kits since you'll very rarely go to production with those. Instead focus on the cost of the SMT module.
Hope this helps.
@@PredictableDesigns Thanks a lot! This really helps tons... I think I'm going to go for H2 but now what are pros and cons of MINI and WROOM? It would help a lot if you could clarify this!
Greetings sir, is esp32 have professional board or it can only used for development
Most professional projects will use an ESP32 SMT module, but you could use the dev board for some projects.
@@PredictableDesigns Thank you sir! Please make a video about AJAX wireless motion detector.
Hi, thanks for your video, I am new in IoT domain, I bought Esp32 WROVER, to which family it belongs?
Thanks in advance.
That module uses the older, original ESP32. Thanks for commenting!
@@PredictableDesigns ah ok, thank you for your reply, if I understood, if I need to use Wifi and Bluetooth it's better to go with S3?
@@PredictableDesignsAnd just for information I bought the starter kit from Freenove, do you think that they have their own references for ESP32?
what would you recomend me if i never use bluettoh or wifi in my projects
That's not quite enough info but I'd probably look at an STM32.
Thank you!
good work
Thanks
Good morning Mr John, I wanted to humbly make a request, I am an undergraduate Electrical Engineering student who is currently working on his final year project, would it be possible to hire your services in aiding me with my project?
Yes I can help you inside my Hardware Academy. Cheers.
glitch at 6:41
Oops, not sure how I missed that:)
Seeing your terribly unhappy face on the thumbnail makes me wondering if the poll asking whether to go for the blue or red thumbnail was the right question 😲😂
I would have voted for a more friendly mimmic ^^
That's not my unhappy face, that's my inquisitive face:) I'm rarely unhappy.
So far this video is off to the best start of any video I've done, so I think the thumbnail was a good choice.
@@PredictableDesigns that is not the thumbnail, that is the topic, there is a huge maker community out there using ESP32, you adressed a need
@@rdson1621 Of course I agree, and the ESP32 is a hot topic, but I don't think my expression is hurting the video - but then again it's impossible to know. Nonetheless you did give me the idea to do an A/B test on a thumbnail with a smiling photo vs this one, so thanks. Honestly, I'd prefer to not have my photo on them at all:) I appreciate your feedback!
@@PredictableDesigns I see YTbers more and more adding their face with some mimmic on the thumbnail, especially such ones -> 😳 with hand(s) but I don't understand this trend, for me it doesn't look esthetic. I think it's better no face for our kind of topics.
Well I'm going to also test out thumbnails without photos. If most of my videos weren't closeups of me talking then I would have never included it. But it's worth testing. Thanks again for the feedback!
time to switch to safe systems ...
Teensy
How rude to call me Teensy:). Haha, just kidding.
I feel like you're going backwards. People starting with the module should start with the simplest chip, and expand as necessary. Going all-out in the beginning can be a severe turn-off to newcomers. Too many pins+optional / same / different pins=too much thinking. I've been one of those people. It's a great platform, but everyone should start at the bottom, and work their way up. There's a lot to learn from this platform, and starting at the top is a waste.
You are the only person that will run in that issue
I disagree. The world changed in the last 40 years. This isn't a Z80 that you can just wirewrap with super sloppy unshielded signalling around your memory bus and not worry about the impedance of your memory busses and such. These are reasonably serious parts. You're potentially looking at a 4mm^2 chip with a 160Mhz external bus and RF concerns with two cores. Given a choice between starting with a tube of unprogrammed chips vs. a $4 board I can plug into a laptop and have reasonably complex code running in an hour for a viability test, the days of "start at the bottom and work up" are gone. I'd do a viability test with those protoboards, maybe even spin a dozen adapter boards to mount sensors or displays or whatever to those very protoboards that already have the high-speed signaling, RF, power, etc. worked out.
Need a few hundred to a few thousand? The economy of those modules is just hard to beat. Rake solder a bead around the edge, and you're done. I'm pretty sure of this because you can break open a LOT of name-brand products and see these modules being used. Probably a third of the WiFi iOT things (e.g. holiday lighting) you see at retail are using these modules. Those modules work out which brands of SPI devices are working and set the fuses to work with 1.8 or 3.3V so I don't have to burn up a couple remembering that lesson. Two bucks for a tested, dual-core, high-speed package with (most) international certification? Yes, please.
If you're big-league and sell many tens/hundreds of thousands where you have an accounting department that's willing to hire an RF group to help work out the antennas/interference and all the international certification issues and high-speed digital and qualifications for the octal SPI Flash (not just any will do) and RAM and such, THEN talk about going back to "simplest chip" once spending tens of thousands to save nickels per unit makes sense.
John got this progression right, IMO. That's why he's at the front of the class.