Tiny ESP32 Dev Board Is Tiny
Paul Price's ESP32-C3 board is barely larger than the QFN32 itself, but has USB and an RGB LED!
Sometimes, a printed circuit board design mistake can become an opportunity. This scenario happened with YouTuber Paul Price. While debugging a design, he revised an already small board to be even smaller. Thus, the Tiny ESP32 was born. It contains an SoC, a handful of components, and a USB connector. And it fits on the tip of a finger.
The Tiny ESP32 contains an ESP32-C3 system-on-chip (SoC) and a few passives on the front side of the PCB. On the back are two push buttons, a USB connector, and an RGB LED. For external IO, the board breaks out four pins: GPIO 3, 5V, GND, and Reset.
The ESP32-C3 is a single-core RISC-V microcontroller that runs up to 160 MHz. It has 400 kilobytes of SRAM and 384 kilobytes of ROM on chip.
Price did not mention the final dimensions in the video. But based on the QFN32's 5-millimeter square package, we estimate the board's width is approximately 8 millimeters, and length is 14 millimeters. It also suggests the board has 2.00 millimeter spaced pin headers instead of the breadboard-friendly 2.54 millimeter.
There are a few compromises with this board design. For example, even though the ESP32-C3 has a rich set of serial protocol options, only one GPIO pin is available. Another trade-off is the lack of external PSRAM or Flash ROM. However, the biggest surprise is the lack of any antenna for either WiFi or Bluetooth — both of which the ESP32-C3 supports.
A couple of options could slightly reduce the size of the board. For example, Price could replace the USB connector with contact points for a temporary connection. However, that would make development more difficult.
How practical is the board? Like all development boards, it depends on your particular needs. If the compromises of this Tiny ESP32 are acceptable, then it is a great option. After all, not every ESP32-based project needs to include wireless connectivity!
Unfortunately, while the ESP32 is programmable, the board is not fully functional. A minor mistake occurred when moving the RGB LED from the front of the board to the back. So, in this current revision, it is not working.
You can see the short five-minute video that reviews the board. However, check out the he live streams on the Paul's Projects YouTube channel. There, you can see this board take (its small) shape.