The newest ESP32 can run Linux and it's getting close to a Raspberry Pi
4 hours ago
- Espressif's new ESP32-S31 features a gigabit Ethernet MAC, USB 2.0 High-Speed host, SDIO with two slots, and camera input, resembling SBC capabilities.
- It includes two 320 MHz RISC-V cores with FPU, 128-bit SIMD, a 40 MHz low-power core, up to 64 MB PSRAM, and 256 MB flash.
- The ESP32-S31 has a true RISC-V MMU (Sv32) with supervisor/user modes, enabling native Linux support via provided BSP (Buildroot/U-Boot).
- Memory limitations (max 64 MB PSRAM, no DRAM controller) and lack of GPU/NPU hinder full desktop Linux, but community ports run kernel and drivers.
- Power efficiency is high: Wi-Fi receive at ~110-117 mA, transmit peaks at 265 mA, cores consume 91-147 mA in modem-sleep.
- On-board radios include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 (LE and Classic), and 802.15.4 for Thread/Zigbee, supporting Matter.
- The 'S31' naming is misleading as it's unrelated to the ESP32-S3, and documentation is preliminary (v0.5) with inconsistencies like PSRAM clock speed.