Back in 2016, the ESP32 arrived and makers never looked back. Nine years later, it's still the go-to MCU for IoT projects worldwide — and Espressif just raised the bar with the ESP32-E22, the first tri-band Wi-Fi 6E module in the ESP32 family.
What's the ESP32-E22?
The ESP32-E22 is a wireless co-processor built for high-performance wireless designs. Key specs:
- Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E (2.4GHz + 5GHz + 6GHz) — the 6GHz band is way less congested, meaning less interference and cleaner connections
- Bluetooth 5.3 — supports both Classic BT and BLE, with dual-mode for flexible switching
- ESP-NOW protocol — enables peer-to-peer communication without a Wi-Fi router, perfect for offline mesh networks
Why It Matters for Makers
Wi-Fi 6E brings higher throughput and better stability, making it ideal for bandwidth-hungry projects like:
- Multi-Room Audio Streaming — stream high-quality audio to multiple speakers simultaneously over 6GHz
- Real-time Sensor Dashboard — display data from multiple sensors with zero lag
- Wireless Environmental Monitoring — track temperature, humidity, and air quality, sending data in real-time without buffering
ESP-NOW also makes it straightforward to build mesh networks for smart homes or control robots directly over Wi-Fi — no router needed.
Price and Readiness
ESP32-E22 modules cost roughly –8, which is a solid deal for what you're getting — whether you're building a simple home automation setup or a more demanding IIoT project.
The module is still fresh, so community examples and libraries are catching up compared to older ESP32 variants. But if you like being early to the party, now's a great time to jump in.
What would you like to see next? Deep dive into a specific feature? Drop a comment below!
