Arduino Partners with M5Stack on the Compact But Fully-Featured Arduino Nesso N1 Dev Kit

Arduino, fresh from the launch of its Arduino UNO Q single-board computer, has announced another new development kit — this time a compact all-in-one device for Internet of Things (IoT) projects powered by the Espressif ESP32-C6 microcontroller: the Arduino Nesso N1.

"The new Arduino Nesso N1 [is] a powerful, compact, and ready-to-go development kit that brings the full flexibility of the Arduino ecosystem into the world of connected devices and remote monitoring," the Arduino team claims of its latest device. "Designed in collaboration with M5Stack — a leading provider of stackable IoT modules and developer-friendly tools — Nesso N1 is your ideal companion for building scalable prototypes or full-fledged connected solutions. Whether you're creating smart home hubs, edge computing nodes, wearable sensors, or industrial automation systems, it’s designed to help you bring ideas to life quickly, easily, and reliably."

The sight of the name "M5Stack" should give you an idea of what to expect from the Arduino Nesso N1: a compact all-on-one featuring an Espressif microcontroller, in this case the single-core 20MHz ultra-low-power RISC-V Espressif ESP32-C6, behind a display: a 1.14" touchscreen, which acts as input alongside user-programmable buttons. Inside the casing is a generous 512kB of static RAM (SRAM), 16MB of NOR flash, inertial measurement unit (IMU), infrared transmitter, user-programmable RGB LED, and a piezoelectric buzzer for audible feedback, plus a built-in battery recharged via the USB Type-C power-and-data port.

There's support for Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee 3.0, Matter, Wi-Fi, and even LoRa wireless connectivity, plus Grove and Qwiic compatible connectors for solderless expansion with external hardware modules including Arduino's own Modulino range. Given its first-party nature, there's no surprise to see that it also supports the Arduino Cloud platform for remote management, data collection, and visualization. Programming is supported, Arduino confirms, in the Arduino IDE, MicroPython, or M5Stack's own UIFlow development environments.

"Nesso N1 is perfect if you want to make your home smarter, because it makes it easy to create a central hub or transform IR-controlled devices into connected appliances," the Arduino team promises. "But it can just as quickly help if you work in industrial automation: use it to monitor and control equipment, collect sensor data, or build predictive maintenance systems swiftly. Similarly, it can unlock precision farming or environmental monitoring for you by connecting soil, weather, and irrigation sensors. Last but not least, it can take scientific research and STEM education to the next level by enabling you to collect real-time data for analysis or even build a multi-protocol IoT prototype!"

The release comes a month after Arduino announced its acquisition by Qualcomm and the release of the Qualcomm Dragonwing-powered Arduino UNO Q single-board computer. Both companies promised at the time that Arduino would not be prevented from designing and releasing products based around non-Qualcomm chips — and the Espressif microcontroller at the heart of the Nesso N1 appears to validate that promise, at least for now.

The Arduino Nesso N1 is now available on the Arduino Store at $49.