The LOLIN C3 Pico is a small ESP32-C3 board with battery charging support

The LOLIN C3 Pico is a small (25.4 × 25.4 mm) ESP32-C3 RISC-V board with 2.4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, multiple I/Os, and LiPo battery support, including a charging circuit.

I tend to like the Wemos/LOLIN boards, due to their small form factor, support for equally small shields and low cost. The LOLIN C3 Pico is no exception and even adds several features such as RGB LED, I2C connector and support for battery power and charging.

Specifications of LOLIN C3 Pico:

• SoC – ESP32-C3FH4 single-core 32-bit RISC-V (RV32IMC) microcontroller Espressif Systems up to 160 MHz with 400 KB SRAM, 4MB Flash
• Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE (in SoC)
• Extension headers
  • 2x 8-pin connectors with up to 12x GPIO, ADC, I2C, SPI, UART (3.3VI/O voltage)
  • LOLIN I2C port
• USB – 1x Type-C USB for 5V power supply and programming
• Miscellaneous – Reset button and custom button, RGB LED
• Power supply
  • 5V via USB-C port or VIN pin
  • 2-pin JST connector for LiPo battery and 500mA charging support
• Dimensions – 25.4 x 25.4 mm
• Weight – 2.6 grams

The board ships with MicroPython firmware, but also supports Arduino, CircuitPython and ESP-IDF programming. Documentation and basic instructions to get started can be found at the wiki.

Interestingly, the LOLIN C3 Pico is a smaller version of the LOLIN C3 Mini introduced in Q1 2022 with all the same features, but adds battery support, an I2C connector (Qwicc compatible?) and RGB LEDs. This was partially achieved by replacing the PCB antenna with a more compact ceramic antenna.

The main drawback compared to the C3 Mini is the price of the LOLIN C3 Pico for $5.00 plus shipping, and the previous board normally sells for $4.10. However, they have to get rid of the existing stock with the LOLIN C3 Mini board that is available only $2.50 plus shipping (or $2.78 total for Thailand). $5 is also the price for the even smaller XIAO ESP32C3 board with similar features as the LOLIN C3 Pico, but two less I/O and an external antenna.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time job before leaving his job as a software engineering manager and starting writing daily news and reviews full-time later in 2011.