In response to community feedback for more I/O options, Seeed Studio has recently launched the Seeed Studio XIAO Plus series with 23 castellated mounting pins (20 GPIOs, 3 power pins) and improved back solder points, improving compatibility with carrier boards for complex projects.
The new series includes the XIAO ESP32S3 Plus, XIAO nRF52840 Plus, and XIAO nRF52840 SensePlus which are direct upgrades of the XIAO ESP32S3, Seeed XIAO nRF52840 BLE, and XIAO nRF52840 Sense boards. The new design allows for easier assembly and scalable production, with double the I/O options.
XIAO ESP32S3 Plus
The Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Plus is a compact development board with a total of 23 pins on the board out of which 11 are through-hole GPIO pins 9 additional SMD castellations GPIO pins and 3 through-hole are power pins. The board is built around an ESP32-S3 MCU so it has 2.4GHz WiFi and BLE 5.0 connectivity. Other than that, the board supports various power modes, with ultra-low consumption in deep sleep (14μA), and has an integrated Li-ion battery charging system. The board is also compatible with various XIAO accessory add-ons making it suitable for space-constrained applications, wearables, and production-ready system-on-modules (SoMs).
XIAO ESP32S3 Plus specifications:
- SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8
- CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration
- Memory – 8MB PSRAM
- Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity
- Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card socket
- Antennas – IPEX1 antenna for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
- USB – USB 2.0 Type-C for power supply and console
- Expansion
- 2x UART
- 1x IIC
- 2x IIS
- 1x SPI (connect to SX1262)
- 18x GPIO(PWM)
- 9x ADC
- 23x GPIO
- 11x standard pins: 11
- 9x 1.27 mm pitch castellations pins
- 3x power pins
- Misc
- Boot and Reset buttons
- B2B Connector or expansion
- User and Charge LEDs
- Power
- Input voltage (Type-C) – 5V @ 28mA
- Input voltage (BAT) – 4.2V@ 35mA
- Charging battery current – 100mA
- Dimensions – 21 x 17.8 mm
- Temperature Range – -40°C ~ 65°C
Seeed Studio provides various technical details including Schematics and various guides on their Wiki page. The same page also contains details instructions on how to set up Arduino IDE for the XIAO ESP32S3 Plus board.
XIAO nRF52840 Plus
The XIAO nRF52840 Plus is another compact board with an nRF52840 ARM Cortex-M4 processor running at 64 MHz. It supports Bluetooth 5.0, BLE, and NFC, and is designed for ultra-low-power applications, consuming just 5 μA in deep sleep. The board also includes 23 pins on the board out of which 11 are through-hole GPIO pins 9 additional SMD castellations GPIO pins and 3 through-hole are power pins.
Additional features include I2C, UART, SPI, and I2S interfaces along with an onboard BQ25101 battery charge chip that supports Li-ion battery management. It supports various XIAO accessory add-ons like LoRa, RS-485, and sensors, making it suitable for wearable, IoT, and battery-powered applications where low power consumption is the key.
XIAO nRF52840 Plus specifications:
- Wireless MCU – Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ up to 64 MHz with 1 MB flash, 256 KB SRAM, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 802.15.4 connectivity
- Storage – 2 MB onboard Flash
- Wireless Connectivity – Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE), 802.15.4, and NFC
- I/O Interfaces
- 1x SPI
- 1x UART
- 1x I2C
- 11x PWM
- 6x ADC
- 23x GPIO
- 11x standard pins: 11
- 9x 1.27 mm pitch castellations pins
- 3x power pins
- Misc
- RGB and Charging LEDs
- Reset button
- Power
- Input voltage (Type-C) – 5V @ 28mA
- Input voltage (BAT) – 4.2V@ 35mA
- Charging battery current – 100mA via BQ25101
- Dimensions – 21 x 17.8 mm
Contrary to the above XIAO ESP32S3 Plus, the XIAO nRF52840 Plus docs do not provide information about the operating temperature range.
In terms of programming the XIAO nRF52840 Plus is a very compact board and can be programmed with Arduino, MicroPython, or CircuitPython. On top of that it supports various expansion boards and accessories like LoRa, CAN Bus, RS-485, sensors, actuators, and more. More information regarding the board can be found on the wiki that shares information for all XIAO nRF52840 boards include the Sense Plus covered below.
XIAO nRF52840 Sense Plus
The XIAO nRF52840 Sense Plus is a compact Bluetooth development board designed for advanced IoT, AIoT, and embedded machine learning projects. This board is also built around a Nordic nRF52840 chip but the main difference is that this Sense Plus includes a 6-axis IMU for motion sensing and a PDM microphone for audio input, making it ideal for wearables, motion tracking, and AI applications. Additionally, the Sense Plus comes with extra communication interfaces like I2S, 2x UART, and 2x SPI, compared to the standard interfaces on the Plus.
XIAO nRF52840 Sense Plus specifications:
- Wireless MCU – Nordic nRF52840 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ up to 64 MHz with 1 MB flash, 256 KB SRAM, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 802.15.4 connectivity
- Memory – 256 KB RAM
- Storage – 2 MB onboard Flash
- Wireless Connectivity – Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE), 802.15.4, and NFC
- I/O Interfaces
- 2x SPI
- 2x UART
- 1x I2C
- 1x I2S
- 20x PWM
- 6x ADC
- 23x GPIO
- 11x standard pins: 11
- 9x 1.27 mm pitch castellations pins
- 3x power pins
- Sensors – 6 DOF IMU and PDM microphone
- Misc
- RGB and Charge LEDs
- Reset button
- Power
- Input voltage (Type-C) – 5V @ 28mA
- Input voltage (BAT) – 4.2V@ 35mA
- Charging battery current – 100mA via BQ25101
- Dimensions – 21 x 17.8 mm
Like the XIAO nRF52840 Plus, the XIAO nRF52840 Sense Plus can also be programmed with Arduino, CircuitPython, and MicroPython. Other than that the company says that the Sense Plus draws only 5 μA deep sleep mode with integrated Li-ion battery charging.
The Seeed Studio XIAO Plus series with XIAO nRF52840 SensePlus, and XIAO nRF52840 Plus costs $16.45 and $10.32 respectively on AliExpress, while the XIAO ESP32S3 Plus sells for $8.02. You can also purchase them directly from the Seeed Studio’s store for the same prices A few more details may also be found in the press release.
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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