Waveshare ESP32-C5 Mini Board Brings Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 and BLE 5

Waveshare ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT is a compact development board based on the Espressif ESP32-C5-MINI-1 module. With a 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor clocked up to 240 MHz, the board adds dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, and IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee 3.0 and Thread) connectivity for smart home and industrial automation applications.

The ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT comes with 4MB of onboard Flash, 384KB of HP SRAM, and 320KB of ROM. It features a USB Type-C port for power, programming, and debugging, plus an onboard MP1605GTF-Z DC-DC buck-boost chip that outputs 3.3V with up to 2A of load current. Additionally, the integrated ETA6098 power management circuit allows for seamless 3.7V lithium battery operation, complete with charging status indication and voltage monitoring.

Two variants of the ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT – Castellated module design without headers (Right); with pre-soldered pin headers (Left)

Waveshare ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT specifications:

• Wireless Module: ESP32-C5-MINI-1 series module
  • SoC: Espressif Systems ESP32-C5 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor @ up to 240 MHz
  • Memory: 384 KB HP SRAM, 16 KB LP SRAM, 320 KB ROM
  • Storage: 4MB embedded Flash
• Wireless Connectivity:
  • Dual-band (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
  • Bluetooth 5 (LE)
  • IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee 3.0 and Thread)
• Antenna Options:
  • Onboard PCB antenna (ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT / ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT-M)
  • IPEX-4 connector with external dual-band FPC antenna (ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT-U / ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT-UM)
• USB: 1x USB Type-C port for power input, firmware flashing, and serial debugging
• Expansion
  • 2x 11-pin 2.54mm pitch headers and castellated pads
  • Up to 15x GPIOs, ADC1 (5 channels), SPI (FSPI), I2C, LP-I2C, UART, LP-UART, SDIO, PWM, JTAG
  • Power rails: 5V (VBUS), 3.3V, VBAT, GND
• Misc
  • Reset (RESET) and Boot (BOOT) buttons
  • RGB status LED
  • Battery charge indicator LED (CHG)
• Power Management:
  • Input: 5V via USB Type-C or Lithium battery via dedicated BAT / GND pins
  • ETA6098 PMIC circuit with Lithium battery charging and voltage monitoring
  • MP1605GTF-Z DC-DC buck-boost converter delivering 3.3V output up to 2A
• Dimensions: 28.50 × 21.00 mm

Detailed pinout diagram of the ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT, detailing the multiplexed GPIOs, power rails, and peripheral functions.

Hardware layout of the ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT, with the USB Type-C port, BOOT/RESET buttons, and battery interface

On the software side, the ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT supports multiple low-power operating states, allowing developers to balance communication distance, data rate, and power consumption. It fully supports Espressif’s official ESP-IDF for professional-grade commercial products, as well as the Arduino IDE for rapid prototyping. More information, along with  SDKs, development resources, and tutorials, is available on the Waveshare Wiki.

We have previously reported on other ESP32-C5-based development boards since it entered mass production, which includes the LILYGO T-Display C5, the ESP-SensairShuttle, and Espressif’s own ESP32-C5 devboard and the ESP32-C5-WIFI6-KIT, which is also from Waveshare. But compared to all of that, the new ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT strips things back to the basics, with a compact, castellated form factor perfect for integrating into custom carrier boards while retaining built-in battery support and multiple antenna options.

The ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT is available in four variants to suit different integration needs:

• ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT: Onboard antenna, without pin header.
• ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT-M: Onboard antenna, with pre-soldered headers.
• ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT-U: External FPC antenna, without pin header.
• ESP32-C5-MINI-KIT-UM: External FPC antenna, with pre-soldered headers.

Pricing starts at $7.99 for the base version and goes up to $8.99 for the versions with pre-soldered headers and the external FPC antenna. More details are available on the Waveshare official store page.

Images used courtesy of  Waveshare