Espressif unveils ESP32‑S31 SoC for low‑power IoT

Espressif unveiled the ESP32‑S31, the newest member of its ESP32 line, targeting battery‑powered IoT devices. The chip pairs a 32‑bit LX7 core that can run up to 240 MHz with Wi‑Fi 4 (802.11n) and Bluetooth 5.0, and integrates SPI, I²C, UART, PWM and other peripherals for flexible hardware designs [Espressif].

Power‑saving features include deep‑sleep current below 5 µA and dynamic frequency scaling, which extend battery life compared with earlier ESP32 models. The SoC is fully compatible with the ESP‑IDF SDK and the Arduino IDE, letting developers reuse existing code and tooling without a steep learning curve [Espressif].

The ESP32‑S31 joins a crowded low‑power IoT market that already features Microchip’s PIC32‑MX series and STMicroelectronics’ STM32WL line, both of which offer comparable Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. Its competitive edge will hinge on how quickly manufacturers adopt the new silicon and whether the promised power savings translate into real‑world device longevity [Espressif].