ESP ESP-32-S3 Development Board ESP-32-S3 Module with ESP-1-N16R8 Low Power MCU with Dual-Mode Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Type-C Connector Compatible with Arduino

All worked great and the extra memory these utilize is of great benefit when using I2S Audio. Very useful boards.

Took me 3 months to figure out I was trying to upload code with the wrong PORT. DO NOT USE THE COM PORT regardless of what AI other documentation may say, use the USB port. Don't try to do the hold boot button and reset sequence, that won't work. Also the RGB Led won't light up unless you close the jumper connection on the board. I just rubbed the cold solder and bent it in place, but you should heat it up. There are jumpers for other things too. I'm on Mac osx using vscode and cursor with the platform.io extension. platform.io.ini for me is: [env:freenove_esp32_s3_wroom] platform = espressif32 board = lolin_s3 framework = arduino monitor_speed = 115200 upload_protocol = esptool upload_speed = 9600 board_build.flash_size = 2MB board_build.partitions = default.csv upload_flags = --no-stub --baud=9600 build_flags = -D ARDUINO_USB_CDC_ON_BOOT=1 my RGB LED code is: #include <Arduino.h> // RGB LED pin (works on any pin for built-in RGB on ESP32-S3) #define RGB_LED_PIN 48 // Disco effect variables unsigned long lastUpdate = 0; int discoMode = 0; int brightness = 255; bool fadeDirection = true; // Color arrays for disco effects uint8_t discoColors[][3] = { {255, 0, 0}, // Red {0, 255, 0}, // Green {0, 0, 255}, // Blue {255, 255, 0}, // Yellow {255, 0, 255}, // Magenta {0, 255, 255}, // Cyan {255, 128, 0}, // Orange {128, 0, 255}, // Purple {255, 192, 203}, // Pink {0, 255, 128} // Spring Green }; void setRGB(uint8_t red, uint8_t green, uint8_t blue) { neopixelWrite(RGB_LED_PIN, red, green, blue); } // Random color flash void randomFlash() { int colorIndex = random(0, 10); setRGB(discoColors[colorIndex][0], discoColors[colorIndex][1], discoColors[colorIndex][2]); delay(random(50, 200)); setRGB(0, 0, 0); // Off delay(random(20, 100)); } // Strobe effect void strobe(uint8_t red, uint8_t green, uint8_t blue) { for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { setRGB(red, green, blue); delay(50); setRGB(0, 0, 0); delay(50); } } // Rainbow cycle void rainbow() { static int hue = 0; // Convert HSV to RGB uint8_t red, green, blue; if(hue < 60) { red = 255; green = hue * 255 / 60; blue = 0; } else if(hue < 120) { red = (120 - hue) * 255 / 60; green = 255; blue = 0; } else if(hue < 180) { red = 0; green = 255; blue = (hue - 120) * 255 / 60; } else if(hue < 240) { red = 0; green = (240 - hue) * 255 / 60; blue = 255; } else if(hue < 300) { red = (hue - 240) * 255 / 60; green = 0; blue = 255; } else { red = 255; green = 0; blue = (360 - hue) * 255 / 60; } setRGB(red, green, blue); hue = (hue + 2) % 360; delay(30); } // Breathing effect void breathe(uint8_t red, uint8_t green, uint8_t blue) { static int brightness = 0; static bool increasing = true; if(increasing) { brightness += 5; if(brightness >= 255) { brightness = 255; increasing = false; } } else { brightness -= 5; if(brightness <= 0) { brightness = 0; increasing = true; } } setRGB((red * brightness) / 255, (green * brightness) / 255, (blue * brightness) / 255); delay(20); } // Police lights effect void policeFlash() { // Red/Blue alternating for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) { setRGB(255, 0, 0); // Red delay(100); setRGB(0, 0, 0); delay(50); } for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) { setRGB(0, 0, 255); // Blue delay(100); setRGB(0, 0, 0); delay(50); } } void setup() { Serial.begin(115200); Serial.println("🕺 ESP32-S3 DISCO MODE ACTIVATED! 🪩"); Serial.println("================================="); randomSeed(analogRead(0)); // Seed random number generator setRGB(0, 0, 0); // Start with LED off Serial.println("Get ready to party! 🎉"); delay(1000); } void loop() { Serial.println("🎵 DISCO EFFECT 1: Random Color Flash"); for(int i = 0; i < 20; i++) { randomFlash(); } delay(500); Serial.println("🌈 DISCO EFFECT 2: Rainbow Cycle"); for(int i = 0; i < 180; i++) { rainbow(); } delay(500); Serial.println("⚡ DISCO EFFECT 3: White Strobe"); strobe(255, 255, 255); delay(500); Serial.println("💫 DISCO EFFECT 4: Breathing Purple"); for(int i = 0; i < 50; i++) { breathe(128, 0, 255); } delay(500); Serial.println("🚨 DISCO EFFECT 5: Police Flash"); policeFlash(); delay(500); Serial.println("🎊 DISCO EFFECT 6: Color Strobe Party"); for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) { int colorIndex = random(0, 10); strobe(discoColors[colorIndex][0], discoColors[colorIndex][1], discoColors[colorIndex][2]); delay(200); } delay(1000); Serial.println("🔄 Restarting disco sequence..."); Serial.println(); }

These ESP32-S3 DevKitC-1 are great. Each of them work exactly like they are supposed to. Will buy again if I need more.

4 stars — hardware has potential, but ESP-IDF on Ubuntu was brittle (toolchain bloat, config opacity, USB/serial instability) Bought: 3 PCS ESP-32-S3 Dev Board (ESP-1-N16R8, USB-C), AYWHP. I’m giving 3 stars because the boards themselves seem capable (ESP32-S3 + external flash/PSRAM), but in practice the Espressif development workflow on Ubuntu was far more fragile and noisy than it should be for “development boards,” especially if you want a terminal-only workflow. What I ran into (Ubuntu + USB-C cable via powered hub) 1) Toolchain sprawl / “activation required” On Ubuntu you don’t just “install tools and go.” You typically must source an ESP-IDF environment script (export.sh) every session to get the right toolchain and esptool in PATH. If you don’t, basic commands appear to be “missing.” 2) Very noisy builds; hard to see the signal idf.py build outputs pages of boilerplate (component lists, Kconfig reports, CMake diagnostics). It buries the few lines that matter (flash args, errors, actual config). 3) Build state tied to absolute paths (folder-copy pitfalls) ESP-IDF’s build/ directory caches project path state. If you copy an example project directory, you can get “configured for X not Y” errors unless you wipe build/ and reconfigure. This is an easy foot-gun. 4) Config opacity / confusing conflicts I saw flash-size mismatch warnings (chip detected one size, image header used another) and Kconfig “choice” default conflicts even after editing sdkconfig. It’s not transparent what settings actually “win” unless you already know ESP-IDF’s Kconfig machinery. 5) USB/serial brittleness At times the board wouldn’t connect (“no serial data received”), then it would flash, then monitoring would end in brownout reset messages and host-side errors like device ready but returned no data / disconnected. I was not using Wi-Fi or BLE—this was USB cable only. Practical hints (if you still want to use these) Expect to run source esp-idf/export.sh in every shell before using idf.py/esptool. When copying projects, delete build/ before configuring. If flash size is misdetected, you may need to set it explicitly (and verify the final write-flash args). If you see brownouts, suspect power/USB behavior even on a powered hub; these boards can be sensitive. Bottom line The boards may be fine hardware for the price, but the ESP-IDF experience on Ubuntu felt brittle and bloated, with configuration that’s harder to audit than it should be and USB/serial behavior that wasn’t stable in my setup. If you’re a beginner expecting “plug in and build,” be warned.

Works great, no issues

Pros: Cheap ESP32! Quantity discount! 2 USB ports, looks like it supports USB host mode. Has a built in Neopixel RGB led. Got a kit of 3 and they were recognized by ESP-IDF. Flashed my own firmware without any problems, was up and running quickly. Pins appear to be labeled correctly on the PCB. Lots of flash storage and PSRAM. Cons: Pin out isn't the same as ESP32-S3-DevKitM1; even though they show off images of the incorrect pinout in the product images at the time of my purchase. There is no documentation and what was provided in the listing is just incorrect. If you're familiar with ESP32 devices and programming them, these seem to be a great value, but be aware you don't even really have a pinout diagram to go on.

Do not buy this board if you actually need PSRAM for your project. The listing title and the main product graphics prominently advertise this as an ESP32-S3 with an "N16R8" module (which implies 16MB Flash and 8MB PSRAM). This is a complete bait-and-switch. If you look deep into the fine print of the specs at the bottom of the page, it quietly admits to only having the base 512 KB SRAM. When you attempt to allocate memory using standard ps_malloc in PlatformIO, the board instantly crashes, throws a Watchdog Timer reset (TG1WDT_SYS_RST), and outputs a PSRAM ID read error: 0x00ffffff via the serial monitor. The PSRAM chip physically does not exist on this board. To make matters worse, the flash memory is incredibly cheap. If you compile your firmware using the standard QIO flash mode expected for a modern S3, it will continuously boot-loop. You are forced to downgrade your build environment to the slower dio flash mode just to get the board to boot up and run simple code. If you are building a project that requires an audio buffer, smooth display rendering, or a large data array, look elsewhere. You are paying for a premium N16R8 and receiving a bare-minimum, base-model S3 with slow flash.

Very good product