Previously, Arduino released the Arduino UNO R4 Wi-Fi version, which was ridiculed by many, as the performance of the Wi-Fi module was better than that of its onboard Renesas main chip. At that time, I thought ESP32 and Arduino were unlikely to cross paths.

But unexpectedly, Arduino has indeed launched a development board based on the ESP32S3.

It’s called

Arduino Nano ESP32

Very straightforward, although it is called ESP32, it actually has the ESP32S3 chip onboard, which is currently the flagship chip from Espressif.

Its price is the same as that of the Arduino UNO Minima, which is 20 USD. In China, it is priced at 159.

This price is quite low for the Arduino Nano series, even lower than the original Arduino with the ATmega328.

However, it is not the cheapest; currently, the cheapest Arduino Nano Every is priced at 13.7 USD, which I found out is a remarkable development board that uses the ATMega4809, with larger SRAM and Flash.

The Arduino Nano 33 BLE, Arduino Nano 33 IoT, and Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect are all priced above 20 USD, which is quite expensive.

The Arduino Nano product line is characterized by its very compact size, basically measuring 45x18mm. It has removed one voltage conversion chip that the Arduino UNO has, leaving only one, while the Arduino UNO has two. Personally, I find it slightly less durable than the Arduino UNO, but the advantage is that it can be used as a core board and can be directly plugged into a breadboard, which is very convenient.

This time, the Arduino Nano ESP32 uses a module that is not from Espressif.

Instead, it uses a module from Switzerland called U-Blox, specifically the u-blox® NORA-W106 (ESP32-S3).

The reason for using this module, I guess, is that U-Blox is a long-term partner of Arduino; you will find that most of the Wi-Fi modules from Arduino are from this brand.

I took a look at its schematic

and found that its voltage regulator is a DC-DC from Monolithic Power Systems (MPS), specifically the MP2322GQH.

It uses a Buck converter with a maximum input voltage of 21V and a maximum output current of 1A, which looks pretty good on paper.

The Arduino configuration includes 8MB PSRAM and 16MB Flash. It is important to note that its 16MB Flash is external, which means it could potentially be upgraded to a larger size later.

Three LEDs are connected to pins 0, 45, and 46, all of which are Strapping pins, allowing you to see the current state of the pins and also use them for programming.

There is also a pin 48 that can be used as a light for the Blink program. ESD protection has been implemented on the power side.

The pin naming is similar to that of many other Arduino boards, but has been renamed for the ESP32S3 pins. It does look a bit messy.

Other than that, there isn’t much to say. Overall, compared to many domestic ESP32 development boards, it doesn’t have any particularly outstanding features. However, compared to other official Arduino development boards, its cost-performance ratio is surprisingly good.

One more thing to mention is that ESP32 has officially entered the Arduino official IDE. As long as you are using the latest Arduino IDE version 2.1.1, you can find the installation of the ESP32 development board in the board manager, which includes two options: one is just the Arduino Nano ESP32.

The other includes all ESP32 development boards, including the Arduino Nano ESP32.

Moreover, the software is no longer bound to the Arduino AVR development boards as before, and now you can uninstall that.

The Arduino ecosystem has indeed become better; it can be said that boards from most chip brands can be found there. The hardware and software are perfectly compatible with the Arduino IDE, which is quite good. Although it previously received investment from Renesas, its actions still appear to be quite steady.

The appearance of the Arduino Nano ESP32 can be seen as a win-win for both Espressif and Arduino. It should sell well abroad, but I estimate it won’t have much of a market in China. Espressif has truly entered the Arduino ecosystem.

It is no longer a brand on the unofficial Arduino development board address list.

Arduino Nano ESP32

https://m.tb.cn/h.5XwuZUn?tk=9CztdvRk1aJ

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