Espressif Systems has officially started mass production of its new ESP32-S31 wireless microcontroller, making it available to developers and manufacturers worldwide. The latest addition to the ESP32 family is built for demanding AIoT applications, combining faster processing, modern wireless standards, and multimedia support in a single chip. With production now underway, the ESP32-S31 is expected to appear in a wide range of products, from smart home hubs and industrial controllers to edge AI devices and connected displays.
At the heart of the ESP32-S31 is a dual-core 32-bit RISC-V processor running at speeds of up to 320 MHz. One of the cores includes a 128-bit SIMD data path that can speed up tasks such as image processing, audio analysis, and AI inference. The chip also features a low-power coprocessor, 512 KB of on-chip SRAM, support for high-speed DDR PSRAM, and as many as 60 GPIO pins, giving developers plenty of flexibility for building feature-rich embedded systems.
Wireless connectivity is one of the biggest highlights of the new chip. The ESP32-S31 combines Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 with Classic Bluetooth, and IEEE 802.15.4 support for Zigbee and Thread, allowing a single device to communicate using multiple popular protocols. It also supports Matter over both Wi-Fi and Thread, making it well suited for next-generation smart home products. Along with a Gigabit Ethernet MAC, the chip offers several multimedia features, including camera and display interfaces, capacitive touch inputs, hardware graphics acceleration, and dedicated audio capabilities.
The ESP32-S31 is fully supported by Espressif's ESP-IDF development framework and works with software stacks such as ESP-Matter, ESP-BLE-MESH, and ESP-BLE-AUDIO. With mass production now in full swing, developers can expect to see development boards and commercial products based on the new SoC becoming widely available in the coming months. For designers looking to build connected devices with AI, multimedia, and advanced wireless features, the ESP32-S31 marks another important step forward for the ESP32 platform. The ESP32-S31 is now available through Espressif's official AliExpress Store, while documentation, example projects, and development tools can be accessed through the company's ESP32-S31 developer portal.
