Difference between ESP32 vs ESP32-S2

The ESP32 and ESP32-S2 development boards from Espressif Systems include various features like; analog inputs, outputs, multiple I/O ports, Bluetooth, WiFi, touch switches, BLE, real-time clocks, timers, etc. Espressif systems provide basic hardware & software resources to assist application developers in realizing their ideas with the ESP32-S2 series hardware. The software development frame from Espressif Systems is intended for Internet-of-Things development applications with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, power management & numerous other system features. As compared to the ESP32 board, the ESP32-S2 board will bring some benefits like; performance & power consumption, although it lacks some significant hardware features such as; a dual-core CPU or Bluetooth. This article provides brief information on the difference between ESP32 vs ESP32-S2 boards.


Difference between ESP32 vs ESP32-S2

The difference between ESP32 vs ESP32-S2 mainly includes their definitions and specifications which are discussed below.

What is ESP32-S2?

ESP32-S2 is an SoC (system on a chip) that includes different features like; 2.4 GHz band Wi-Fi, USB OTG interface, various peripherals, in-built security hardware, single core Xtensa 32-bit LX7 CPU, ultra-low power based co-processor that runs either FSM core/RISC-V. ESP32-S2 is powered through 40 nm technology and it offers a robust, extremely integrated platform to meet the continuous demands for compact design, very efficient usage of power, safety, reliability & high performance.

Espressif system gives fundamental hardware & software resources to assist application developers in realizing their ideas with the ESP32-S2 series hardware. The Espressif systems’s software development framework is intended for IoT application development with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, power management & other system features.

ESP32-S2 Board
ESP32-S2 Board

What is ESP32?

ESP32 development board with a series of System on a Chip is the successor to the most popular ESP8266. ESP32 board has in-built Wi-Fi & also Bluetooth. This board is based on a Tensilica Xtensa LX6 dual-core microprocessor including up to 240 MHz operating frequency. The ESP32 package includes antenna switches, a power amplifier, a balun to control RF, a low noise-based reception amplifier, filters & power management modules.

These boards also achieve extremely low power consumption through power-saving features like; synchronization of the clock & various operation modes. The quiescent current of this board is < 5 μA which makes it the perfect tool for your IoT applications or battery-powered projects.

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ESP32 Microcontroller Board
ESP32 Microcontroller Board

ESP32 vs ESP32-S2

The difference between ESP32 vs ESP32-S2 includes the following.

ESP32 ESP32-S2
ESP32 is a low-cost and low-power SOC microcontroller including Wi-Fi & dual-mode Bluetooth. ESP32-S2 is a low-power, highly integrated and single-core Wi-Fi-based microcontroller.
It was launched in September 2016. It was launched in September 2019.
The main processor used is Tensilica Xtensa LX6. The main processor used is Tensilica Xtensa LX7.
ESP32 is not energy efficient as compared to ESP32-S2. ESP32-S2 is more energy efficient as compared to ESP32 in both RF & CPU power consumption.
SRAM is 520KB. SRAM is 320KB.
ROM is 448KB. ROM is 128KB.
The cache is 64KB The cache is  8/16KB.
Bluetooth used is BLE 4.2. It doesn’t have Bluetooth.
It doesn’t have a ULP coprocessor. It has ULP-RISC-V ULP coprocessor.
It has cryptographic accelerators like; SHA, RNG, AES & RSA. It has cryptographic accelerators like; RSA, SHA, AES, HMAC, RNG, and digital Signature.
It has two I2S. It has a single I2S.
It has three UARTs. It has two UARTs.
It includes 34 – GPIO pins. It includes 43 – GPIO pins.
LED PWM -16. LED PWM -8.
The pulse counter is 8. The pulse counter is 4.
ADC – 12-bit SAR -2 and up to 18 channels. ADC – 13-bit SAR-2 and up to 20 channels.
The Remote Control Transceiver or RMT is 8 transmission or reception. The Remote Control Transceiver or RMT is 4 transmission or reception.
It has 10 touch sensors. It has 14 touch sensors.
It has a hall sensor. It doesn’t have a hall sensor.
Its clock frequency is 160/240 MHz. Its clock frequency is 240 MHz.
It has 1024-bit OTP safe boot flash encryption.

External flash is up to 16 MB device and 11 MB address + 248 KB every time.

It has 4096-bit OTP safe boot flash encryption.

External flash is up to 1 GB device and 11.5 MB address every time.

RSA is up to 4096 bits. RSA is up to 4096 bits with improved acceleration options as compared to ESP32.
OTP is 1024-bit. OTP is 4096-bit.

Thus, this is an overview of ESP32 vs ESP32-S2. As compared to ESP32, the ESP32-S2 board is more energy efficient in both CPU & RF power consumption.  ESP32-S2 has some advantages as compared to ESP32 like performance & power consumption, however, it lacks some significant hardware features like dual-core CPU or Bluetooth. Here is a question for you, what is ESP32-S3?