ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board Pinout + Complete Guide

Quick Summary (TL;DR):
The ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board v1.5.2 is not a normal ESP32 DevKit. It is a high-performance multimedia development platform built around the dual-core 400 MHz ESP32-P4 RISC-V processor, with 16 MB flash, 32 MB PSRAM, MIPI CSI camera, MIPI DSI display support, H.264 encoding, USB 2.0 OTG, 10/100 Ethernet, audio, MicroSD and extensive GPIO expansion. The ESP32-P4 itself has no integrated Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so the board includes a separate ESP32-C6-MINI-1 to provide 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE. For general expansion, GPIO5–8, GPIO20–23 and GPIO32–33 are among the easiest J1 pins to start with. GPIO36–38 need more care because they participate in boot/UART functions, GPIO0/1 and GPIO45 are not connected by default, and GPIO24/25 were removed from the expansion header in board revision v1.5.2.

Materials You’ll Need

The basic board is usable by itself, but the following parts unlock most of what makes the ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board interesting.

Item	Why you need it
ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board v1.5.2	Main development platform
USB-C data cable	Flashing, debugging and power
5 V USB power supply	Recommended when driving LCD, USB devices or other peripherals
7-inch 1024 × 600 MIPI DSI display kit	Optional HMI/display development
2 MP MIPI CSI camera kit	Optional camera and vision projects
MicroSD card	Local storage, media and data logging
4 Ω 3 W speaker	Use the onboard audio amplifier
Dupont jumper wires	Connecting external GPIO peripherals
Breadboard	Prototyping sensors and circuits
3.3 V I²C/SPI sensor	Easy GPIO/peripheral testing
Ethernet cable	Testing the onboard 10/100 Ethernet port

For someone buying the board specifically for HMI or camera development, the display + camera bundle is much more useful than purchasing the bare board alone.

The board is physically and electrically much more capable than a typical ESP32 DevKit, so a good power supply becomes important once a large display, camera, USB host peripheral or speaker is added.

What Is the ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board?

The ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board is Espressif’s main development platform for the ESP32-P4 multimedia microcontroller.

It is designed for applications such as:

touchscreen control panels
Home Assistant-style wall displays
video doorbells
network cameras
smart appliance displays
industrial HMIs
vehicle dashboards
local image processing
USB host/device applications
audio interfaces
edge AI
computer vision

This is a very different target from something like an ESP32-C3 or ESP32-C6 sensor node.

The P4 is designed to do much more processing locally.

ESP32-P4 Quick Specifications

Feature	ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board
Main processor	ESP32-P4
Architecture	32-bit RISC-V
Main CPU	Dual-core up to 400 MHz
Low-power CPU	RISC-V up to 40 MHz
Internal HP memory	768 KB L2 memory
LP SRAM	32 KB
Board PSRAM	32 MB
Board flash	16 MB
Wi-Fi	Via onboard ESP32-C6-MINI-1
Wi-Fi generation	Wi-Fi 6, 2.4 GHz
Bluetooth	BLE via ESP32-C6
Native Wi-Fi in P4	No
Native Bluetooth in P4	No
MIPI CSI camera	Yes
MIPI DSI display	Yes
H.264 encoder	Yes
JPEG codec	Yes
Image Signal Processor	Yes
Pixel Processing Accelerator	Yes
USB	USB 2.0 OTG + Full-Speed + Serial/JTAG
Ethernet	10/100 Mbps RJ45
MicroSD	Yes, 4-bit mode
Audio codec	ES8311
Speaker amplifier	NS4150B, up to 3 W
ADC	Two 12-bit SAR ADCs
GPIO	Up to 55 at SoC level
Expansion	40-pin J1 header

The headline specification is the dual 400 MHz RISC-V cores, but the real advantage of the P4 is everything surrounding those processors.

The chip contains dedicated hardware for graphics, cameras, image processing and multimedia workloads that would normally consume a large percentage of an ESP32-S3’s CPU time.

The Most Important ESP32-P4 Fact: It Has No Radio

This is probably the most common misunderstanding around the ESP32-P4.

The ESP32-P4 chip itself does not contain Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

That is very unusual in the ESP32 family.

The Function-EV-Board solves this by mounting a second microcontroller:

ESP32-C6-MINI-1

The architecture therefore looks approximately like this:

                    ESP32-P4
              Dual-core 400 MHz
                      │
                      │ SDIO / hosted link
                      │
              ESP32-C6-MINI-1
                      │
             ┌────────┴────────┐
             │                 │
         Wi-Fi 6              BLE
          2.4 GHz

The ESP32-P4 handles the application, display, camera, audio, USB and local processing.

The ESP32-C6 acts as the wireless communications processor.

This is an important architectural difference from:

ESP32-S3
ESP32-C5
ESP32-C6

where the main SoC itself contains the radio.

Why Espressif Split the Processor and Wireless Radio

At first, adding a second ESP32 just to provide Wi-Fi may seem unnecessarily complicated.

But it has several advantages.

The P4 can devote much more silicon area and power budget to:

CPU performance
memory interfaces
image processing
MIPI
USB
graphics
DMA
multimedia acceleration

without trying to integrate a 2.4 GHz RF subsystem into the same chip.

It also allows wireless technology to evolve separately from the main multimedia processor.

This design philosophy becomes even clearer in newer P4 development platforms that pair the P4 architecture with newer wireless companion chips.

ESP32-P4 vs ESP32-S3

It is useful to think of the P4 as sitting above the S3 for local multimedia processing, rather than simply replacing it.

ESP32-S3

Excellent for:

small displays
cameras
LVGL
audio
USB
moderately demanding local processing
compact embedded products

ESP32-P4

Better suited to:

large displays
MIPI displays
higher-resolution cameras
H.264
image processing
complex HMI
large PSRAM workloads
USB host systems
sophisticated multimedia applications

The trade-off is that the P4 board is larger, more complex and generally unnecessary for simple IoT nodes.

If the project is:

SHT40
+
Home Assistant
+
Wi-Fi

the P4 is excessive.

If the project is:

1024 × 600 touchscreen
+
camera
+
local UI
+
audio
+
Ethernet
+
Wi-Fi

the P4 suddenly makes much more sense.

ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board v1.5.2

This article focuses specifically on:

ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board hardware revision v1.5.2

That matters because older boards have a different pinout.

The major changes from v1.4 include:

USB-to-UART debugging port replaced by native ESP32-P4 USB Serial/JTAG
additional USB Full-Speed OTG Type-C connection
GPIO24 removed from J1
GPIO25 removed from J1

This means some older pinout images are now wrong for the current board.

If an older diagram shows:

J1 pin 27 → GPIO24
J1 pin 28 → GPIO25

that diagram is for the older board.

On v1.5.2:

J1 pin 27 → NC
J1 pin 28 → NC

This is exactly the sort of revision detail worth checking before designing a carrier board or wiring harness.

ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board J1 Pinout

The main expansion connector is the 40-pin J1 header.

J1 pins 1–20

J1 pin	Label	Function
1	3V3	3.3 V
2	5V	5 V
3	GPIO7	General GPIO
4	5V	5 V
5	GPIO8	General GPIO
6	GND	Ground
7	GPIO23	GPIO / ADC capable
8	GPIO37	UART0 TX / boot-sensitive
9	GND	Ground
10	GPIO38	UART0 RX / boot-sensitive
11	GPIO21	GPIO / ADC capable
12	GPIO22	GPIO / ADC capable
13	GPIO20	GPIO / ADC capable
14	GND	Ground
15	GPIO6	General GPIO
16	GPIO5	General GPIO
17	3V3	3.3 V
18	GPIO4	GPIO / JTAG-capable
19	GPIO3	GPIO / JTAG-capable
20	GND	Ground

J1 pins 21–40

J1 pin	Label	Function
21	GPIO2	GPIO / JTAG-capable
22	NC(GPIO1)	GPIO1 not connected by default
23	NC(GPIO0)	GPIO0 not connected by default
24	GPIO36	GPIO / strapping pin
25	GND	Ground
26	GPIO32	General GPIO
27	NC	No connection on v1.5.2
28	NC	No connection on v1.5.2
29	GPIO33	General GPIO
30	GND	Ground
31	GPIO26	General GPIO
32	GPIO54	GPIO / ADC capable
33	GPIO48	GPIO / multimedia/peripheral functions
34	GND	Ground
35	GPIO53	GPIO / ADC capable
36	GPIO46	GPIO / multimedia/peripheral functions
37	GPIO47	GPIO / multimedia/peripheral functions
38	GPIO27	General GPIO
39	GND	Ground
40	NC(GPIO45)	GPIO45 not connected by default

There are several important details hidden in this table.

Best GPIOs for General Projects

If the goal is simply to attach:

sensors
LEDs
buttons
relays
SPI modules
I²C peripherals

there is no reason to immediately use the more complicated pins.

Good first choices include:

GPIO5
GPIO6
GPIO7
GPIO8
GPIO20
GPIO21
GPIO22
GPIO23
GPIO32
GPIO33

These are the pins I would start with when building a general-purpose prototype.

A useful default allocation could be:

I²C SDA → GPIO21
I²C SCL → GPIO22

SPI SCK  → GPIO5
SPI MOSI → GPIO6
SPI MISO → GPIO7
SPI CS   → GPIO8

Extra GPIO → GPIO32
Extra GPIO → GPIO33

The ESP32-P4 GPIO matrix allows peripheral functions to be routed flexibly, so these are sensible practical assignments rather than permanently fixed pins.

Pins to Use With More Care

Several exposed pins deserve extra attention.

GPIO36

GPIO36 is one of the ESP32-P4 boot-strapping pins.

It can be used as normal GPIO after startup, but external circuitry should not force an inappropriate state while the chip resets.

For a beginner project:

use another GPIO unless GPIO36 is specifically needed.

GPIO37 and GPIO38

These pins are particularly important because they are:

GPIO37 → UART0 TX
GPIO38 → UART0 RX

and they also participate in ESP32-P4 boot configuration.

That makes them poor first choices for relays or other circuitry that can strongly force a logic state during reset.

They are useful as the default UART0 pair, but for another serial peripheral it is often cleaner to route another UART to ordinary GPIOs.

GPIO2, GPIO3, GPIO4 and GPIO5

These pins can participate in the external JTAG interface.

That does not mean they cannot be used.

For normal applications:

GPIO2
GPIO3
GPIO4
GPIO5

can still function as GPIO.

The issue only becomes relevant when pad-based JTAG debugging is required.

Because the board also provides USB Serial/JTAG, most hobby projects will never need to worry about the physical JTAG pin assignment.

GPIO0 and GPIO1 Are Not Actually Connected

J1 pins 22 and 23 may be particularly confusing.

The documentation shows:

NC(GPIO1)
NC(GPIO0)

These GPIOs exist on the ESP32-P4 but are not connected to the header in the normal board configuration.

They are associated with the 32.768 kHz crystal arrangement.

Making them available requires changing board resistors.

This is not something a normal user should do merely to gain two extra GPIOs.

The board already exposes enough easier pins.

Treat GPIO0 and GPIO1 as:

not available by default.

GPIO45 Is Also Disabled by Default

J1 pin 40 is marked:

NC(GPIO45)

GPIO45 can be made available by changing the board configuration associated with the SD power-control function.

Again, this requires hardware modification.

For normal projects:

treat J1 pin 40 as NC.

GPIO24 and GPIO25: Important v1.5.2 Difference

On the older v1.4 board:

J1 pin 27 → GPIO24
J1 pin 28 → GPIO25

On v1.5.2:

J1 pin 27 → NC
J1 pin 28 → NC

They were removed from the expansion header as part of the newer USB architecture.

If a project was designed around an old P4 Function-EV-Board pinout, this is one of the first compatibility points to check.

ADC Pins

ESP32-P4 contains two 12-bit SAR ADCs capable of sampling analog signals across up to 14 chip pins.

The ADC-capable GPIO ranges include:

GPIO16–GPIO23
GPIO49–GPIO54

Not all of those pins reach J1.

Useful ADC-capable pins that are exposed on the Function-EV-Board header include:

GPIO20
GPIO21
GPIO22
GPIO23
GPIO53
GPIO54

That gives the board several convenient analog inputs.

For example:

Potentiometer → GPIO20

Analog pressure sensor → GPIO21

Battery divider → GPIO22

provided the input voltage remains inside the permitted ADC range.

The ADC can operate with different attenuation settings, including a range suitable for signals approaching the 3.3 V domain.

I²C

The board is very flexible for I²C because the ESP32-P4 GPIO matrix allows signals to be routed to suitable GPIOs.

A sensible generic choice is:

SDA → GPIO21
SCL → GPIO22

This gives clean wiring for devices such as:

SHT40
SHT45
BME280
BME688
INA219
INA226
ADS1115
OLED displays
RTC modules

The board already uses I²C internally for some peripherals, including the audio codec, so advanced projects should check the board schematic and software configuration before blindly reusing internal buses.

SPI

ESP32-P4 contains multiple SPI interfaces.

A clean external SPI assignment could be:

SCK  → GPIO5
MOSI → GPIO6
MISO → GPIO7
CS   → GPIO8

This would work well for devices such as:

SPI displays
external ADCs
sensors
radio modules
peripheral controllers

For storage, however, the board already includes a dedicated MicroSD slot, so there is usually little reason to wire an external SD card module.

UART

ESP32-P4 provides several UART controllers.

The board exposes the normal UART0 pair as:

GPIO37 → U0TXD
GPIO38 → U0RXD

These can be useful for debugging or serial peripherals.

Because GPIO37/38 have startup functions, another UART mapped to ordinary GPIOs may be preferable for external equipment such as:

GPS
RS-485
Modbus
mmWave radar
serial displays
industrial sensors

The ESP32-P4’s flexible routing makes this straightforward.

MIPI DSI Display

One of the biggest reasons to buy this board is the dedicated MIPI DSI display connector.

The optional official display is:

7 inch
1024 × 600
capacitive touch

This is much larger and higher resolution than the SPI TFT displays normally connected to ESP32 boards.

A normal SPI display sends pixel data through a relatively narrow serial connection.

MIPI DSI is designed for high-bandwidth display traffic.

That makes it much more appropriate for:

LVGL dashboards
industrial HMIs
smart-home wall panels
appliance displays
graphical control systems

Connecting the Official 7-Inch Display

The official setup uses the MIPI DSI ribbon cable plus two ordinary GPIO connections.

The default control arrangement is:

MIPI DSI → display image data

GPIO27 → LCD reset
GPIO26 → backlight PWM

The display adapter can be powered independently through USB or from the board’s 5 V rail if enough power is available.

This creates an important practical consideration:

If the official LCD configuration is being used:

GPIO26
GPIO27

should not also be allocated to unrelated peripherals.

Camera Interface

The board contains a dedicated MIPI CSI connector.

The optional camera kit uses a:

2 MP MIPI CSI camera

MIPI CSI is fundamentally different from the older parallel-camera arrangement commonly seen on ESP32-CAM and ESP32-S3 boards.

The P4 also includes dedicated image-processing hardware such as:

Image Signal Processor
JPEG codec
Pixel Processing Accelerator
H.264 encoder

That means the processor can do significantly more than simply receive pixels.

It can build complete imaging pipelines.

H.264 Hardware Encoder

This is a major P4 capability.

On previous ESP32 devices, serious video encoding is difficult because the CPU must perform too much of the work.

The P4 includes a dedicated H.264 encoder.

That makes applications such as:

Camera
↓
Image processing
↓
H.264 encode
↓
Ethernet / Wi-Fi

much more realistic.

Potential applications include:

video doorbells
network cameras
inspection systems
baby monitors
industrial vision
local video recording

This is one of the clearest examples of why P4 should not be compared only by CPU clock speed.

32 MB PSRAM Matters More Than It Sounds

The board’s 32 MB PSRAM is enormously useful for multimedia applications.

Consider a full 1024 × 600 RGB565 framebuffer:

1024 × 600 × 2 bytes
≈ 1.23 MB

Double buffering already needs:

≈ 2.46 MB

Add:

graphics assets
camera frames
video buffers
LVGL memory
networking
application state

and the memory requirement climbs quickly.

This is why large PSRAM matters much more on P4 than on a simple temperature-sensor board.

16 MB Flash

The Function-EV-Board includes:

16 MB SPI flash

This is enough for:

large firmware
OTA partitions
graphical assets
fonts
application resources
web resources
configuration storage

For large media files, use the MicroSD card instead of filling internal flash.

MicroSD Card

The onboard MicroSD slot operates in 4-bit mode.

That offers significantly better throughput than a typical one-bit SPI SD implementation.

Potential uses include:

video recording
image storage
audio files
data logging
configuration files
UI assets
firmware resources

For an HMI or camera system, having fast removable storage directly on the board is extremely useful.

Ethernet

The board includes a proper:

10/100 Mbps RJ45 Ethernet port

The ESP32-P4 contains an Ethernet MAC, while the development board adds the external PHY hardware required to connect it to real Ethernet.

Ethernet is particularly useful for:

industrial HMIs
wall controllers
network cameras
building automation
fixed installations
high-reliability networking

For a device permanently installed in a wall or cabinet, Ethernet can be preferable to Wi-Fi.

It also allows the P4 application to reserve the C6 wireless connection for situations where wireless access is actually required.

USB Is Much More Capable Than on a Normal ESP32 Board

The v1.5.2 Function-EV-Board exposes several different USB paths.

USB Serial/JTAG Type-C

Best for:

flashing
Serial output
debugging
JTAG

This should normally be the first port used during development.

USB Full-Speed Type-C

Provides USB 2.0 Full-Speed functionality.

USB 2.0 High-Speed Type-C

Connected to the P4’s high-speed OTG interface.

When used through this connector, the P4 acts as a USB device.

USB 2.0 Type-A

The board can instead act as a USB host.

The Type-A host port can provide up to approximately:

500 mA

to a connected USB device.

The high-speed USB Type-C device port and Type-A host port share the same OTG interface and therefore cannot be used simultaneously.

What Can USB Host Be Used For?

Potential projects include:

USB keyboard input
USB mouse
USB flash drive
barcode scanner
USB serial adapter
game controller
USB instrumentation
custom HID hardware

This makes P4 much more interesting for embedded terminals and HMI systems.

Audio Hardware

The Function-EV-Board contains a surprisingly complete audio system.

ES8311 audio codec

Provides:

ADC
DAC
microphone path
headphone/audio processing
I²S interface
I²C control

Onboard microphone

Can be used for:

voice input
sound detection
recording
acoustic analysis

NS4150B amplifier

Provides approximately:

3 W mono output

and can drive a:

4 Ω / 3 W speaker

This means a complete voice-capable touchscreen controller can be built without adding a separate external audio board.

ESP32-C6 Wireless Companion

The onboard ESP32-C6-MINI-1 provides:

2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth Low Energy

to the main ESP32-P4 through a hosted architecture.

A useful way to think about the board is:

ESP32-P4
= application computer

ESP32-C6
= wireless modem / coprocessor

That is conceptually similar to using a separate Wi-Fi chipset with a more powerful application processor.

Does the Board Support Zigbee or Thread?

The ESP32-C6 silicon itself contains IEEE 802.15.4 hardware.

However, on the P4 Function-EV-Board it is primarily documented and used as the Wi-Fi/BLE communications module for the P4.

Do not assume that buying the board automatically gives a plug-and-play P4 Zigbee or Thread application architecture.

If Zigbee or Thread is a core requirement, check the specific software framework and radio-coprocessor configuration intended for that project rather than assuming the C6 behaves like a standalone C6 DevKit.

Programming the ESP32-P4

The recommended port on v1.5.2 is the:

USB Serial/JTAG Type-C port

Under normal conditions:

Connect USB
↓
Select ESP32-P4 target
↓
Build
↓
Flash
↓
Monitor

If manual download mode is required:

Hold BOOT.
Press and release RESET.
Release BOOT.
Flash the firmware.

The BOOT button controls the required startup state for firmware download.

ESP-IDF

ESP-IDF remains the most important development environment for serious P4 work.

A normal target setup begins with:

idf.py set-target esp32p4

Then:

idf.py menuconfig

and:

idf.py build
idf.py flash
idf.py monitor

or simply:

idf.py flash monitor

For projects using:

MIPI
camera
H.264
complex USB
ESP-Hosted
Ethernet
advanced multimedia

ESP-IDF is generally the most complete environment.

Arduino Support in 2026

ESP32-P4 is now listed as a stable Arduino-ESP32 target.

That is a significant improvement over the early life of the P4.

Arduino support includes many normal ESP32 peripherals such as:

GPIO
ADC
UART
SPI
I²C
USB
Ethernet
Wi-Fi through ESP-Hosted

But there is an important distinction.

Arduino support for the processor does not mean every advanced P4 multimedia feature is wrapped in a simple Arduino library.

For straightforward GPIO and connectivity:

Arduino is increasingly practical.

For advanced:

MIPI CSI
MIPI DSI
ISP
H.264
complex multimedia

ESP-IDF remains the more natural development environment.

LVGL

The Function-EV-Board is an excellent platform for LVGL.

Espressif provides examples for both:

LVGL 8
LVGL 9

using the 7-inch display.

This is one of the strongest real-world use cases for the board.

A P4-based HMI can combine:

1024 × 600 touchscreen
+
LVGL
+
Ethernet
+
Wi-Fi
+
camera
+
audio
+
MicroSD

on one development platform.

That is far beyond what the classic ESP32 was originally designed to do.

ESP-Brookesia

Espressif also demonstrates the board with ESP-Brookesia, a higher-level graphical framework designed for rich embedded interfaces.

The official P4 examples include a phone-like interface demonstrating multiple applications using:

MIPI DSI
MIPI CSI
audio
MicroSD
C6 networking

This is useful because it shows the intended direction of the P4 ecosystem.

It is not just a faster sensor microcontroller.

It is aimed at rich embedded user interfaces.

Is ESP32-P4 Good for Home Assistant?

For an ordinary Home Assistant sensor:

No.

Use:

ESP32-C3
ESP32-C6
ESP32-S3

instead.

For a Home Assistant wall panel, however:

Yes — potentially excellent.

A P4 wall panel could combine:

7-inch touchscreen
local dashboard/interface
Ethernet
Wi-Fi
speaker
microphone
proximity/presence sensors
local camera
physical buttons

The board is far more suited to being the interface to a smart home than being a simple hidden sensor.

Is ESP32-P4 Good for ESPHome?

For a conventional ESPHome sensor, P4 is unnecessary.

The strengths of the P4 are mostly outside the areas where ESPHome traditionally shines.

For example:

ESP32-C3 + SHT40

is a far better solution for a small temperature sensor.

The P4 makes sense when building something much richer, such as a custom display/controller where ESP-IDF, LVGL or a dedicated application framework is being used.

Is ESP32-P4 Good for AI?

Yes, within microcontroller limits.

The P4 CPU includes custom AI/DSP-oriented extensions and the chip contains several dedicated image-processing accelerators.

Useful edge workloads can include:

image preprocessing
object classification
sensor inference
vision pipelines
audio processing
wake-word style tasks
lightweight local models

But P4 should not be confused with a desktop GPU or a large neural-processing accelerator.

Its advantage is performing useful AI/vision work locally, cheaply and at embedded power levels.

Best Uses for the ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board

The board is particularly strong for:

Smart-home control panels

Large touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, audio and local UI.

Video doorbells

Camera + H.264 + audio + network connectivity.

Network cameras

MIPI camera + image processing + Ethernet/Wi-Fi.

Industrial HMI

Display + Ethernet + GPIO + USB + local processing.

Vehicle dashboards

Fast graphics, display connectivity, sensors and local interfaces.

Computer-vision experiments

MIPI camera, ISP, PPA, JPEG and large PSRAM.

USB appliances

Host and device support allows integration with standard USB hardware.

When You Should Not Buy It

Do not choose the P4 Function-EV-Board merely because:

400 MHz
>
240 MHz

For many ESP32 applications, CPU speed is almost irrelevant.

You probably do not need P4 for:

DS18B20 sensors
BME280 nodes
simple relays
BLE proxies
basic MQTT
simple ESPHome devices
battery-powered sensors
tiny embedded projects

The board becomes valuable when several of its high-end features are used together.

P4 Function-EV-Board vs ESP32-S3 DevKit

Choose ESP32-S3 when:

smaller board matters
Wi-Fi must be integrated directly
project uses a modest SPI/RGB display
project needs a basic camera
cost matters
Arduino simplicity matters

Choose ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board when:

large MIPI display is required
MIPI camera is required
H.264 matters
large PSRAM is needed
USB host is important
Ethernet matters
advanced HMI/vision processing is central to the design

They overlap, but the P4 is clearly aimed at the more demanding end of the market.

Quick GPIO Recommendations

Best starting GPIOs

GPIO5
GPIO6
GPIO7
GPIO8
GPIO20
GPIO21
GPIO22
GPIO23
GPIO32
GPIO33

ADC-friendly exposed GPIOs

GPIO20
GPIO21
GPIO22
GPIO23
GPIO53
GPIO54

Default UART0

GPIO37 → TX
GPIO38 → RX

Use with care because of startup roles.

Official LCD configuration

GPIO27 → LCD RESET
GPIO26 → LCD backlight PWM

Boot-sensitive GPIOs exposed on J1

GPIO36
GPIO37
GPIO38

Not connected by default

GPIO0
GPIO1
GPIO45

Not available on v1.5.2 J1

GPIO24
GPIO25

Common Problem: Old Pinout Shows GPIO24 and GPIO25

This usually means the diagram is for:

Function-EV-Board v1.4

On the current:

v1.5.2

J1 pins 27 and 28 are NC.

Check the hardware revision printed on the board before relying on an older pinout.

Common Problem: Wi-Fi Code Doesn’t Behave Like an ESP32-S3

Remember:

Wi-Fi is not inside the P4.

It is provided through the ESP32-C6 companion processor.

Software therefore uses a hosted architecture rather than directly controlling a radio built into the P4.

This distinction can matter when following examples written for other ESP32 families.

Common Problem: Display Powers Up but Shows Nothing

Check:

correct MIPI DSI ribbon cable
correct ribbon orientation
GPIO27 reset connection
GPIO26 backlight PWM
sufficient display power
correct LCD board definition
correct display initialization

The official LCD cable and camera cable are not necessarily wired in the same direction.

Use the appropriate ribbon cable for each accessory.

Common Problem: Camera Doesn’t Work

Check:

correct MIPI CSI ribbon
correct orientation
camera adapter board
correct camera driver
matching ESP-IDF example
sufficient power

Do not assume an ESP32-S3 esp_camera example will work unchanged.

P4 camera hardware is fundamentally different.

Common Problem: USB Device Isn’t Recognized

First identify which USB connector is being used.

The board has multiple USB paths with different purposes.

For flashing and debugging:

USB Serial/JTAG

For high-speed P4 device operation:

USB 2.0 Type-C OTG

For P4 acting as host:

USB Type-A

The Type-A host and high-speed Type-C OTG interfaces cannot be used simultaneously.

Common Problem: Board Resets When LCD or USB Device Is Added

Suspect power first.

The board itself may run perfectly from a laptop USB port, but adding:

7-inch LCD
USB peripheral
speaker
camera
external modules

raises total power demand.

Use a good USB supply rather than assuming every computer USB port or cable can deliver clean power.

Related ESP32 Guides

Readers interested in the P4 should also see these guides on esp32.co.uk:

ESP32 Versions Explained: Complete Chip & Board Comparison
ESP32-S3 DevKitC-1 Pinout + Safe GPIOs
ESP32-C5 vs ESP32-S3: 5 GHz Wi-Fi or Dual-Core Performance?
ESP32-P4 vs ESP32-S3: Which Should You Use for Displays & Cameras?
ESP32-S31 vs ESP32-P4: Which Is Better for HMI, AI & Displays?
ESP32-S31 Development Boards Compared
Best ESP32 for Home Assistant

The first two can be linked immediately to existing esp32.co.uk content. The P4/S31 comparison articles should be internally linked once those new pages are published.

Final Recommendation

The ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board is one of the most capable development platforms Espressif has produced, but it makes sense only when its multimedia hardware is actually needed.

For a normal ESP32 project:

sensor
+
Wi-Fi
+
MQTT

buy something simpler.

For:

large touchscreen
+
camera
+
audio
+
Ethernet
+
USB
+
local processing

the P4 becomes extremely compelling.

The most important facts to remember are:

The ESP32-P4 itself has no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

The Function-EV-Board adds an ESP32-C6-MINI-1 for wireless connectivity.

The current v1.5.2 board has a different J1 pinout from v1.4.

GPIO24 and GPIO25 are no longer present on J1.

GPIO0, GPIO1 and GPIO45 are not connected by default.

GPIO36–38 require more care because of boot/UART functions.

GPIO5–8, GPIO20–23 and GPIO32–33 are good starting points for general expansion.

And most importantly:

The P4 is not just a faster ESP32-S3.

It represents a different class of ESP32 — one designed around HMI, multimedia, vision and high-performance embedded processing.

Datasheets & External Resources

All manufacturer and software documentation is collected here so readers remain on esp32.co.uk throughout the main article.

Espressif ESP32-P4 Function-EV-Board v1.5.2 User Guide — current board pinout, hardware components, USB configuration, MIPI accessories and revision differences.
Espressif ESP32-P4 Series Datasheet — processor, GPIO, strapping pins, ADC, MIPI, Ethernet and hardware accelerator specifications.
Arduino-ESP32 Documentation — current P4 Arduino target and peripheral support documentation.
ESP-IDF ESP32-P4 Programming Guide — official framework documentation and development workflow.
ESP-Brookesia Espressif Boards — current Espressif multimedia-board support information.