Published Oct 25, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT

Ayush Pande is a PC hardware and gaming writer. When he's not working on a new article, you can find him with his head stuck inside a PC or tinkering with a server operating system. Besides computing, his interests include spending hours in long RPGs, yelling at his friends in co-op games, and practicing guitar.

When you’re tinkering with ESP32 microcontrollers, choosing the right setup can make the difference between a smooth-sailing project and a barely-functional experiment. And I’m not just talking about the circuitry components, sensor modules, or other accessories, either. The very ESP32 board that you’re using for your DIY project can influence the scope of your project, and although many microcontrollers from this family have plenty of hardware similarities, their specs can differ quite a bit.

Take the boards laden with PSRAM, for example.…