$69 Sipeed SLogic16U3 low-cost logic analyzer supports 3.2 Gbps bandwidth, 150+ protocols

The SLogic16U3 is a compact, low-cost USB 3.0 logic analyzer with up to 3.2 Gbps bandwidth and 16 input channels, designed for debugging, reverse-engineering, and verifying digital circuits and embedded systems.

The device supports sampling rates up to 800MS/s with four channels, 400MS/s with eight channels, and 200MS/s with sixteen channels via a 5 Gbps USB 3.0 interface. On top of that, it supports 0–10V inputs and features adjustable trigger thresholds (0–6V). Housed in a 40×40×10 mm compact aluminum case, it supports over 150 protocols like SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, and JTAG, and provides edge-based triggering with real-time streaming over USB. The device can be extended as an oscilloscope via an optional ADC module and integrates seamlessly with Sigrok and PulseView software for waveform visualization.

SLogic16U3 specifications:

• MCU – TBD
• Input channels – 16 digital channels
• Sampling rates
  • 800MS/s @ 4 channels
  • 400MS/s @ 8 channels
  • 200MS/s @ 16 channels
• Maximum bandwidth – 3.2 Gbps
• Signal input voltage – 0–10 V
• Adjustable threshold voltage – 0–6 V in 0.1 V steps
• Trigger types – Rising, falling, high, low, and level-sensitive events
• Supported protocols – Over 150, including SPI, I²C, UART, JTAG, CAN, and Modbus
• Misc – Extendable ADC module for oscilloscope functionality
• Power – USB-powered
• Dimensions – 40 × 40 × 10 mm
• Case material – Aluminum alloy

The SLogic16U3 works with Windows, Linux, and macOS thanks to the Sigrok/PulseView compatibility. It supports real-time capture, waveform display, and protocol decoding. Due to USB driver limitations, Windows can reach about 390 MB/s (~3.1 Gbps), while Linux systems can achieve the full 800 MS/s sampling rate with four channels active. The included PulseView software also allows channel configuration, zooming, measurement, and decoding, making it a flexible tool for both embedded debugging and signal analysis. More information about the product can be found on the wiki, or you can also visit Sipeed’s official GitHub account for source code and tools, including the libsigrok (slogic-dev branch) and SLogic16U3 tools repositories.

The documentation provided by Sipeed is well and good, but it contains some confusing and somewhat hyped terms that need clarification. The company mentions that the SLogic16U3 connects via a 5 Gbps USB 3.0 interface and that Windows can reach about 390 MB/s (~3.1 Gbps). However, the effective real-time data rate on any USB 3.0 interface is about 3.2 Gbps due to protocol overheads such as encoding, packet headers, flow control, and CRC. So, there should not be a significant difference in data throughput between Windows and Linux.

You can also see that the speed decreases as the channel count increases. This is normal behavior for all multi-channel logic analyzers. They have a fixed total sampling throughput (essentially the total data rate that can be streamed over USB). When more channels are enabled, the available bandwidth is shared among them, resulting in a lower per-channel sampling rate. In the end, the total data rate stays the same,

• 4 channels -> 800 MS/s -> ~3.2 Gsamples/s total.
• 8 channels -> 400 MS/s -> ~3.2 Gsamples/s total.
• 16 channels -> 200 MS/s -> ~3.2 Gsamples/s total.

Previously, we have written about similar products like the ESP32JTAG and Analog Discovery 3, compared to those that the  Sipeed SLogic16U3 offers, lower cost and higher sampling speed. It provides up to 3.2 Gbps bandwidth and 16-channel digital capture for $69. In comparison, the ESP32JTAG costs $139 with a 250 MHz limit, and the Analog Discovery 3 costs $379 with 125 MS/s sampling.

The Sipeed SLogic16U3 low-cost logic analyzer is available on AliExpress for $58.65 (basic package). The advanced package costs around $69.70, which includes the SLogic16U3 main unit, along with 2× 6-pin ribbon cables, 2× 4-pin coaxial cable modules, 16 test clips, a 0.5m USB Type-C data cable, a stainless steel SIM pin, an instruction card, and a zipper storage bag. Of note, Sipeed is also working on a higher performance SLogic32U3 USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) logic analyzer with up to 1500 MS/s sampling rate and 32 channels scheduled to sell for $149.

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