ESP32 Forum

Why does the C3 and S3 have minimum operating voltage 3V? I'm talking about the version without the SiP flash. What limits it so high? For example ESP32-D0WD-V3 works from 2.3V so I wonder what's the difference between them.

The digital core might work below 3v but I think the radio needs 3v even on esp32.

WiFive wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:56 pm

The digital core might work below 3v but I think the radio needs 3v even on esp32.

Re ESP32, documentation says 2.3V. It doesn't mention anything about the radio requiring 3V. We use an external 1.8V flash.
Attached are both ESP32 and ESP32-C3 recommended operating conditions.

Can someone from Espressif please answer this?

I'd imagine this is not properly tested yet. We tend to focus on 3.3V operation first, as that covers the vast majority of the use cases. Although WiFive may also be correct, in that we tweaked some hardware up to the point of requiring 3V. Either way, it's strongly suggested you keep to the datasheet unless you want to invite 'unexpected behaviour'.

Hi Zag,

I have checked with the relevant team, and got the answer that ESP32-C3/S3 have some newly added internal circuits that require 3 V. It is recommended to follow the recommended operating conditions in the datasheet.