Seeed Unveils the Compact Matter-Ready XIAO ESP32C6 Dev Board

Seeed Studio has launched a new entry in the XIAO family of small form factor microcontroller development boards, built around the Espressif ESP32-C6: the RISC-V XIAO ESP32C6, boasting Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy (BLE), and Matter-ready IEEE 802.15.4 connectivity.

"XIAO ESP32C6 is a cost-effective MCU [Microcontroller Unit development board] based on Espressif's ESP32-C6," Seeed Studio says of the latest entry in the XIAO family. "This compact MCU excels in Matter-compliant smart home applications with its support for varied wireless connectivity. Desined with the thumb-size footprint and a single-sided mount of the XIAO series, it's perfect for space-limited projects."

The latest entry in the XIAO range, named for the Chinese word for "small" in reference to its diminutive footprint, the XIAO ESP32C6 offers a pair of 32-bit RISC-V processors: a high-performance core running at up to 160MHz, and a companion low-power core running at up to 20MHz. There's 512kB of static RAM (SRAM) on board, 4MB of on-chip flash storage, a battery management circuit, and the promise of a 15µA low-power mode — almost a third of that required by the XIAO ESP32C3, though more than the power-sipping XIAO nRF52840.

It's the connectivity that makes the new XIAO stand out, though: while previous models have been limited to Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and/or Wi-Fi 4, the XIAO ESP32C6 includes Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy, and IEEE 802.15.4 with Zigbee and Thread support — making it ready for developing with the new cross-vendor Matter home automation standard.

Seeed has confirmed that the new board will be supported at launch in the Arduino IDE and Espressif's own ESP-IDF development environment, but that MicroPython and CircuitPython support are not yet available.

The XIAO ESP32C6 is now available to order on the Seeed Studio store, priced at $5.20.