WiQwiic-32 – A compact USB-C IoT board with eight Qwiic connectors (Crowdfunding)

Hack The Board’s WiQwiic-32 is a small USB-C IoT development board based on an ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module, and equipped with a 1.14-inch LCD and eight Qwiic ports for easy prototyping with compatible modules.

It also features a microphone and a buzzer for audio interaction, four buttons, two RGB LEDs, and a power LED.  There aren’t any through-holes for GPIO pins, so expansion is only possible through the Qwiic connectors, although you can always add a Qwiic to header converter module if you ever need breadboard-compatible GPIO headers.

WiQwiic-32 specifications:

• Wireless Module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1
  • SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3
    • CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads
    • RAM – 512KB SRAM
    • Storage – TBD
    • Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5
  • Antenna – PCB antenna
• Display – 1.14-inch TFT display
• Audio
  • On-board buzzer
  • Built-in microphone for voice and sound detection
• USB – USB Type-C male port for power and programming
• Expansion
  • 8x Qwiic connectors for I2C expansion modules
  • 3.3V/5V I/O voltage selection switch
• Misc
  • Reset and Boot buttons
  • 2x user buttons
  • 2x RGB LEDs + power LED
• Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port
• Dimensions – TBD (small)

Besides the WiQwiic-32 board itself, “Hack the Board” also designed a few Qwiic add-on boards:

• A BME280 environmental sensor breakout for temperature, humidity, and pressure data
• An IR transceiver breakout for infrared receiver and blaster functions
• A 2-channel relay breakout
• A GPIO expander breakout (MCP23017) to add more GPIOs through a Qwiic connector
• A Qwiic to header converter for breadboard prototyping
• An RGB LED breakout with 5x WS2812B
• A dual-button breakout
• An LED breakout with Red and Green 5mm LEDs
• An analog sensor breakout with a potentiometer and a light sensor

You should also be able to use any other Qwiic module from Sparkfun, Adafruit, and others, with hundreds, if not thousands, of modules on the market.

It looks to be purely a hardware project, as there aren’t any educational materials or sample code that I could find. You should be able to use Arduino, MicroPython, the ESP-IDF framework, or any other language/framework compatible with the ESP32-S3. We are told the Qwiic board can be used for a range of applications without any soldering required, such as web-based control systems, smart automation systems, IR-based home automation, sound-reactive LED solutions, and so on.

There are plenty of MCU boards with Qwiic connectors, but usually they have only one or two, and the WiQwiic-32 with eight Qwiic is unique in that respect. However, since you can daisy-chain I2C devices, some projects will rely on Qwiic I2C expander modules such as the Sparkfun Qwiic Multiport module (about $4).

While I like the concept, price should also be considered here, since the WiQwiic-32 board starts at about $65 on Kickstarter, and a starter kit with the board, a BME280 sensor, a button breakout, and an LED breakout goes for $94. There are also various bundles with a mix of WiQwiic-32 boards and Qwiic modules. Shipping adds 12 Euros, and deliveries are expected to start in July 2026.

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