ESP32-S31 • Hacker News Board

Re: ESP32-S31

#31

Post by bobmcnamara » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

nubinetwork wrote: post #25

This looks like a nucleo144, except its risc-v... but why would I use it over said nucleo144?

WiFi+BLE?

Re: ESP32-S31

#32

Post by orphea » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

It being RISC-V is awesome, but how does it make sense that it's S series when S series have been Xtensa cores? Why is it not C series?

Re: ESP32-S31

#33

Post by mort96 » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

This looks like the long-awaited replacement for the original ESP32. The S and C series have been relatively low performance (the S better than the C but stuck on the outgoing Xtensa architecture), the P4 is powerful but lacks wireless. This is a relatively high performance, dual core MCU with wireless; a nice default option for low volume designs where being able to copy a previous implementation is more important than saving a few cents. Just like the ESP32. Nice.

Re: ESP32-S31

#34

Post by mherkender » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

hart_russell wrote: post #26

Any reason why this device wouldn't have Z-Wave? Is the wireless protocol significantly different than Thread and Zigbee?

I don't know for sure but Bluetooth, WiFi and Zigbee are on the same frequency band. Z-Wave is not.

(at least in the US, not sure about other countries)

Re: ESP32-S31

#35

Post by cassepipe » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

mentalpagefault wrote: post #15

cassepipe wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious: What does the "imac" stand for in the architecture target name ?

IMAC are the RISC-V extensions supported: I = Base integer instruction set, 32-bit M = Standard extension for integer multiplication and division A = Standard extension for atomic instructions C = Standard extension for compressed instructions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC-V#ISA_base_and_extensions

Thanks.I can't believe they chose non-arcane, memory-friendly letters. Kind of rare in naming hardware I feel (unless it's not ?)

Re: ESP32-S31

#36

Post by KZerda » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #4

The 1GB bandwidth is interesting. It also has Simd instructions too. Could this theoretically be used as a router or wireguard vpn instance?

Theoretically, yeah. Though at 320Mhz, with only 2.4ghz wireless, even with two cores, I doubt it's going to get anywhere near the throughput to fill the gigabit connection.

Re: ESP32-S31

#37

Post by zuzululu » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

How do I order a few samples, seem like there is a MOQ ?

Also I want to dive into hardware stuff but I'm always clueless as to what I do afterwards when this would arrive? Are you using a generic board or are you ordering and designing PCBs to hook this up to?

What are you using it for ? How do I go from a prototype to mass production via kickstarter?

Re: ESP32-S31

#38

Post by jml7c5 » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

Previous discussion from two months ago, when this was announced: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47561678

Re: ESP32-S31

#39

Post by mort96 » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

bobmcnamara wrote: post #31

nubinetwork wrote: post #25

This looks like a nucleo144, except its risc-v... but why would I use it over said nucleo144?

WiFi+BLE?

And even if you don't need WiFi + BLE for a particular project, you may need it for other projects, and it might have value for you to standardise on one ecosystem.

Re: ESP32-S31

#40

Post by KZerda » Wed, Jun 03, 2026, 5:25 PM UTC

nubinetwork wrote: post #25

This looks like a nucleo144, except its risc-v... but why would I use it over said nucleo144?

Better connectivity. The Nucleo 144 only has 100mbit ethernet, as far as I can tell, but the new ESP chip has gigabit, along with wireless.