The DFRobot FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3-U is a compact IoT development board built on the ESP32-S3-U chip, featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5 LE, 8MB PSRAM, 16MB Flash, native USB OTG, and a U.FL connector for an external antenna. Designed in the FireBeetle 2 form factor with LiPo battery charging built in, it targets battery-powered Wi-Fi and BLE IoT applications where deep-sleep power efficiency, expanded memory for edge AI, and strong wireless connectivity are all required simultaneously. Specifications MCU: ESP32-S3-U (Xtensa LX7 dual-core @ 240MHz) Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n (Wi-Fi 4) Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0 LE RAM: 512KB SRAM + 8MB PSRAM Flash: 16MB GPIO: 26 usable GPIO pins Interfaces: UART, SPI, I2C, I2S, USB OTG USB: Native USB OTG (no CH340 chip required) Power: 3.3V / 5V; LiPo battery charging via onboard charger Dimensions: 25.4mm × 48mm (FireBeetle 2 form factor) Key Features ESP32-S3-U with U-shaped antenna footprint for external antenna support 8MB PSRAM enables large buffer operations and TensorFlow Lite inference Native USB OTG — acts as USB device without external USB-UART chip FireBeetle 2 pinout is backward-compatible with FireBeetle ecosystem shields Integrated LiPo charger for battery-powered IoT builds Ultra-low deep sleep current for long battery life Supports Arduino, MicroPython, ESP-IDF frameworks AI acceleration unit for edge machine learning applications Applications Wi-Fi + Bluetooth IoT sensor nodes Wearable devices with external antenna Edge AI inference with TensorFlow Lite Micro USB HID and serial device firmware Smart home automation controllers Battery-powered data loggers with deep sleep BLE beacon and mesh networking nodes MQTT IoT gateways Package Includes 1x DFRobot FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3-U Development Board Note: LiPo battery and antenna sold separately FAQ Q: What is the difference between ESP32-S3 and ESP32-S3-U? A: The -U variant has a U.FL connector for an external antenna, which improves Wi-Fi/BLE range significantly. Q: Can I program it with Arduino IDE? A: Yes — install the ESP32 Arduino core (v2.x or later) and select the ESP32-S3 board. Q: Does it support MicroPython? A: Yes — flash official MicroPython for ESP32-S3 and use Thonny or rshell. Q: How long can it run on a LiPo battery? A: In deep sleep, current drops below 20μA. A 1000mAh LiPo can power it for months in light-duty sleep cycles. Q: Is it compatible with FireBeetle shields? A: Yes — the FireBeetle 2 pinout is backward-compatible with DFRobot FireBeetle shields and expansions.
