ESP32 Thing Plus Hookup Guide

Pages
Contributors: Ell C, jimblom, Alex the Giant
Favorited Favorite 10

Assembly Tips

Headers

The ESP32 Thing Plus ships without anything soldered into the header pins -- ensuring that you can mold the board to best fit your project. To use the chip's pins you'll need to solder something to the I/O and power rail vias broken out to either side of the board.

New to soldering? Check out our Through-Hole Soldering Tutorial for a quick introduction!

What you solder to the ESP32 Thing Plus's I/O pins is completely up to you. The header rows are breadboard-compatible, so you may want to solder male headers in.

ESP32 Thing with male headers soldered
ESP32 Thing Plus with soldered male headers.

Then plug it into the breadboard, hanging the USB and LiPo connectors off the end, and start wiring!

Alternatively, female headers (you may need two separate strips to solder all the pins), right-angle headers, or stranded wire are all good options, depending on your project's needs.

Connecting an Antenna

U.FL connectors are very good but they are a designed to be implemented inside a small embedded application like a laptop. Exposing a U.FL connector to the wild risks it getting damaged.

patch antenna connected
duck antenna connected
U.FL antenna options connected to ESP32 Thing Plus (U.FL).