Adafruit Adds a More Flexible Feather to Its Cap: The Adafruit ESP32-S2 Feather with w.FL Antenna

Adafruit has added another new Feather to its cap, launching an Adafruit ESP32-S2 Feather variant with w.FL connector — making it easier to use external antennas for improved reception or when building a project inside a signal-blocking metal chassis.

"What's Feather-shaped and has an ESP32-S2 Wi-Fi module," the company asks, rhetorically, regarding its latest launch. "What has a STEMMA QT connector for I2C devices? What has your favorite Espressif Wi-Fi microcontroller and lots of flash and RAM memory for your next IoT [Internet of Things] project? What will make your next IoT project flyyyyy? That's right — it's the new Adafruit ESP32-S2 Feather with with w.FL antenna connector!"

The base specification of Adafruit's new ESP32-S2 Feather are unchanged from the original: an Espressif ESP32-S2 module sits on a Feather-footprint carrier board, delivering a single Tensilica Xtensa LX7 32-bit CPU running at up to 240MHz plus a RISC-V ultra-low-power coprocessor, 320kB of SRAM and 128kB of program cache on-chip with an addition 2MB of pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM) and 4MB of flash on-module, plus a 2.4GHz single-band Wi-Fi radio.

Where it differs from the original is in how that radio talks to the world. The original Adafruit ESP32-S2 Feather used a module with a PCB antenna, which results in a compact self-contained device — but one that is unlikely to perform as well as if it had the benefit of a larger high-gain external antenna, and is unlikely to perform at all if sealed inside a metal chassis. The new model, by contrast, drops the PCB antenna for a w.FL connector — meaning it's possible to add you choice of external antenna, whether that's an external patch antenna mounted in a more convenient location or a larger dipole or directional antenna for boosted signal strength.

The Adafruit ESP32-S2 Feather with w.FL Antenna is now available to buy on the Adafruit store at the same $17.50 as the original, before volume discounts — but buyers will need to pick up an antenna before using the Wi-Fi radio, with Adafruit recommending its own patch antenna with w.FL connector at an additional $2.50.