16 of the 20 features in our table differ between the ESP32-C5 and the ESP32-S2.
Dual-band Wi-Fi 6, BLE, Thread and Zigbee
The only one of these eight with 5 GHz: Wi-Fi 6 on both bands, plus Bluetooth LE, Thread and Zigbee, and PSRAM support.
Watch out: The newest chip here: fewer boards and examples so far, and ESPHome needs the ESP-IDF framework.
Single-core, USB OTG, 14 touch pins, no Bluetooth
One core with native USB OTG, 14 touch pins and a DAC, but no Bluetooth. The S3 has largely replaced it.
Watch out: No Bluetooth and a single core, and the highest deep-sleep current in this list (25 µA).
| Feature | ESP32-C5 | ESP32-S2 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1 × RISC-V, 240 MHz | 1 × Xtensa LX7, 240 MHz |
| Low-power core | LP RISC-V core | ULP RISC-V + FSM |
| SRAM | 384 KB | 320 KB |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), 2.4 + 5 GHz | Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n), 2.4 GHz |
| Bluetooth | LE 5 (Core 6.0 certified) | No |
| Thread / Zigbee | Yes (802.15.4) | No |
| USB | Serial/JTAG (flash, serial, debug) | OTG full speed |
| GPIO | 29 | 43 |
| ADC channels | 6 | 20 (ADC1: 10) |
| DAC | No | 2 × 8-bit |
| Touch pins | No | 14 |
| Camera | No | Parallel (DVP) |
| Display interface | SPI only | Parallel (i80, via I2S) |
| TWAI (CAN) | 2 (CAN FD) | 1 |
| Deep sleep | See datasheet | 25 µA |
| ESPHome | Yes (ESP-IDF) | Yes (ESP-IDF or Arduino) |
Same on both: PSRAM, Ethernet MAC, AI / DSP, and Arduino-ESP32.
Open the ESP32 comparison →Tick what your project needs and see which of the eight chips fits best.
The ESP32-C5 has Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), the 5 GHz band, Bluetooth LE, and Thread or Zigbee. The ESP32-S2 has USB OTG, a camera interface (parallel), a display interface (parallel i80), and capacitive touch (14 pins).
Espressif rates the ESP32-S2 at 25 µA in deep sleep; for the ESP32-C5, check the latest datasheet. On a board the regulator and the LEDs usually draw more than either chip.
Arduino-ESP32 and ESP-IDF support both chips, so most code builds for either; pin numbers, strapping pins and some peripherals change. Anything that uses Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) or the 5 GHz band won’t carry over: the ESP32-S2 doesn’t have that hardware.
ESP32 vs ESP32-C5 ESP32 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-C5 ESP32-C3 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-C6 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-H2 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-P4 ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-S3 ESP32-C6 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-H2 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-P4 vs ESP32-S2 ESP32-S2 vs ESP32-S3
Figures from Espressif datasheets, ESPHome and Arduino-ESP32 documentation, checked in November 2026.