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.
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.
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.
