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December 26, 2025December 28, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

M5Stack NanoH2 – An ultra-compact ESP32-H2 IoT development kit with Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity

M5Stack NanoH2 is an ultra-compact, standalone IoT development kit powered by an Espressif Systems’ ESP32-H2 wireless SoC with support for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter, and designed for smart home and low-power wireless applications. It also features a built-in LED, an RGB LED, an infrared transmitter, a Grove port for expansion, a user button, and a USB-C port for power and programming. On the surface, it looks very similar to the Unit Gateway H2 introduced last March, with an ESP32-H2 SoC and a Grove connector. But while the earlier model is designed as an add-on board to other M5Stack products, the NanoH2 is a standalone development kit that you can use directly without another board from M5Stack. M5Stack NanoH2 specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2FH4S CPU – 32-bit RISC-V SoC clocked at up to 96 MHz Memory – 320 KB SRAM, 4 KB LP memory Storage – 128 KB ROM, 4MB […]

August 6, 2025August 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

n-Fuse ZBC-M2-1630 – An affordable Zigbee, Thread, and Bluetooth M.2 1630 module

n-Fuse ZBC-M2-1630 is an M.2 1630 module based on Silicon Labs’ MGM260P module with an EFR32MG26 Bluetooth, Thread, and Zigbee multi-protocol Cortex-M33 SoC. While adding Zigbee, Thread, and/or Bluetooth through a USB dongle is common, it’s harder to find M.2 or mPCIe cards. Mixtile used to sell a 2-in-1 Zigbee & Z-Wave mPCIe module based on Silicon Labs MG23 and MG24 chips, but as noted in our Mixtile Edge 2 kit review, it’s now sold to businesses in 50 or 100-piece bundles, or integrated into the company’s gateway. The ZBC-M2-1630 (aka ZBC26-M2-1630) Key A/E M.2 module offers an alternative available to both individuals and companies. n-Fuse ZBC-M2-1630 specifications: Wireless Module – Silicon Labs MGM260P SoC – EFR32MG26 SoC MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78 MHz with DSP instructions and floating-point unit AI/ML accelerator – Matrix Vector Processor that is 8x faster and 6x lower power than Cortex-M33 processing, and […]

June 24, 2025June 24, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ESPHome 2025.6.0 adds ESP32-P4 and OpenThread support

The ESPHome 2025.6.0 open-source firmware was released on June 18, 2025, with ESP32-P4 support and an initial OpenThread implementation for ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 SoCs, thanks to an upgrade to the ESP-IDF framework to version 5.3.2. The developers note that support for ESP32-C6, ESP32-H2, and ESP32-P4 is still being refined, and some components may not yet be fully compatible with these chips, but additional component updates are planned for ESPHome 2025.7.0 next month. That still means that ESPHome devices can connect to Thread networks and communicate with Home Assistant through the Native API as long as you have an OpenThread border router and Thread is enabled in Home Assistant. Users should note some limitations to Thread support: ESPHome does not yet support the Thread “Sleepy End Device” mode Not recommended for applications requiring high-frequency sensor data transmission Best suited for simple control and monitoring use cases Other changes to ESPHome 2025.6.0 […]

June 5, 2025June 5, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

STMicro STM32WBA5MMG is a tiny wireless module with Bluetooth LE 6.0, Zigbee 3.0, and OpenThread

STMicro’s STM32WBA5MMG is a tiny (12.5 x 8 mm), ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz wireless module based on the STM32WBA55UG wireless microcontroller with support for Bluetooth 6.0 LE, Zigbee 3.0, and OpenThread. The company further adds that designing a board for the module does not require any RF expertise, it provides a fully integrated Bill of Materials (BOM) with 32 MHz and 32 kHz crystals and integrated antenna matching or optional external antenna configurations, and its compatibility with 2-layer PCBs helps reduce costs. STM32WBA5MMG specifications: Wireless MCU – STMicro STM32WBA55UG Core – 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 CPU with TrustZone®, MPU, DSP, and FPU Memory – 128 KB SRAM, including 64 KB with parity check Storage 1 MB flash memory with ECC, including 256 KB with 100 kcycles 512-byte (32 rows) OTP ART Accelerator – 8 KB instruction cache allowing 0-wait-state execution from flash memory (frequency up to 100 MHz, 150 DMIPS) Wireless Bluetooth […]

March 17, 2025December 26, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

M5Stack Unit Gateway H2 – A tiny ESP32-H2 Thread/Zigbee gateway selling for $6.50

M5Stack’s Unit Gateway H2 is a small Thread/Zigbee gateway powered by the ESP32-H2-MINI-1 module with an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee 3.0, Thread 1.3, and Matter connectivity. The Unit Gateway H2, also known as Gateway H2 Unit…, can operate as a gateway (e.g. a Thread Board Router) or a terminal device that communicates with an M5Stack device via serial/UART through the Grove interface. It also features a USB-C port for power, firmware flash, and debugging. M5Stack says it’s suitable for smart homes, environmental monitoring, sensor networks, and low-power wireless communication nodes. M5Stack Gateway H2 Unit specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-H2-MINI-1-N2 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-H2 CPU – 32-bit RISC-V SoC clocked at up to 96 MHz RAM and storage – 320 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 KB LP memory Wireless – 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee 3.0, Thread 1.3, and Matter support. (Note: the ESP32-H2 also supports Bluetooth 5.2 LE/Mesh, but […]

February 26, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Silicon Labs MG26 development kits and SoCs are now available for Matter and multiprotocol Smart Home applications

Silicon Labs MG26 is a new family of Arm Cortex-M33 wireless SoCs designed for Matter or multiprotocol Smart Home applications that provide an update to the MG24 with more memory and storage, additional GPIO, a 4×40 LCD controller, and an integrated AI/ML accelerator. We first covered the new wireless microcontroller family in April 2024, but the company has now published a new press release announcing the general availability of the MG26 microcontrollers, and I also noticed some development kits were now available, so we’ll check those out in this post. Silicon Labs MG26 specifications A reminder of the SoC specifications with highlights in bold showing the improvements or differences against the MG24 family: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78.0 MHz with DSP instruction and floating-point unit Memory – Up to 512 kB RAM data memory Storage – Up to 3200 kB flash program memory AI/ML accelerator – Matrix Vector […]