Waveshare’s ESP32-C6-Pico and ESP32-C6-Pico-M development boards are equipped with the ESP32-C6-MINI-1 module supporting Wi-Fi 6(802.11ax), Bluetooth 5, Zigbee 3.0, and Thread 1.3, and inspired by the Raspberry Pi Pico form factor. They can be powered either through USB Type-C or an external 5V DC supply connected to the pins.
Previously we have written about similar ESP32-C6-based boards like the SparkFun Thing Plus, ePulse Feather C6, and WeAct ESP32-C6 dev board. However, these boards are priced way over the $6.99 that Waveshare is offering. One exception is the DFRobot’s FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 board, which cuts costs by using the IC directly instead of the fully shielded ESP32-C6-MINI-1 module.
Waveshare’s ESP32-C6-Pico board specifications:
- Wireless module – ESP32-C6-MINI-1
- SoC – ESP32-C6H4 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor up to 160 MHz with 320KB ROM, 512KB HP SRAM, 16KB LP SRAM, 4MB flash
- Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 with Target Wake Time (TWT) support, Bluetooth 5.3 LE and Mesh, 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee, Thread, and Matter
- PCB Antenna
- USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power/charging and programming
- Expansion – 20x multi-function GPIO pins and 7x expanded IO pins
- Power management
- Supply Voltage
- 5V via USB-C port
- 3.3 to 6V via VBUS pin
- MP28164 buck-boost Converter with 2A max load
- Supply Voltage
- Power Consumption – Deep sleep: around 18uA above 3.3V or about 33uA below 3.3V
- Dimensions – 57.3 x 21 mm (Raspberry Pi Pico compatible)
Two main features make this board different than others. First, it includes a TCA9554PWR IO expander IC that adds 7 more pins to the board, and secondly, it has the form factor of the Raspberry Pi Pico, making it compatible with various Waveshare modules like LED displays, RS-232, NB-IoT, and more boards.
The company also provides a pinout diagram and an onboard parts diagram along with a Wiki Page to help users get started with the board quickly and easily, and as this board uses the ESP32-C6 module it can also be programmed with the ESP-IDF framework or the Arduino IDE for which various examples are available on the Internet.
Waveshare’s ESP32-C6-Pico board can be purchased for $12.99 on Amazon and $13.49 including shipping on Aliexpress but the price drops to as low as $6.99 (ESP32-C6-Pico) and $7.99 (ESP32-C6-Pico-M with soldered headers) on Waveshare’s online store. As a side note, there is an anniversary sale on Aliexpres, and you should be able to use coupon codes like US02, US04, US05, etc.. to get a discount depending on the amount of your order. Those codes are valid in the US, but you can try to use CNXSOFT5, CNXSOFT10, CNXSOFT20, etc… in (some) other countries.
Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
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A lot of features … for such a low price. Nice!
Nice, I kinda like the Pico form factor, as noted there are some nifty breakout and application boards for them. The MilkV Duo (RISCV running Linux) took the same approach, it’s cool.
Interesting board as Waveshare makes some nice backplanes (e.g. Joysticks + small display + socket) for the Pico form factor. The quality of their doc for displays and such really is at the top of the market.
I wouldn’t be UNhappy to see some standardization in the market for 3.3v boards with a bunch of GPIOs, A/D, and such. There’s a recent RISC-V RV64 board that does they same, so no maybe we can drive up the volume and down the price on the accessories. There are too many boards now that are almost Espressif Devkit-c, but with just a few annoying differences that ground important voltage pins and other annoyances.
To save bargain hunters some busy work, the cheapest shipping, USPS, is $6 which happens to make it the same price as Amazon for Prime shoppers. So no need to instantly hop on this as a bargain opportunity – hop on it because it’s a nifty board.
This comment is US centric for shipping and pricing…