Summary<\/p>\n
ESP32 walkie-talkies use ESP-NOW over Wi-Fi for direct device-to-device audio – no radio license needed.<\/p>\n
Uses XIAO ESP32S3 Sense with onboard PDM mic, I2S amp, PTT, and thread-safe audio buffering.<\/p>\n
External antennas allow ~200 m outdoor range; same firmware auto-detects MAC and sets peer IDs.<\/p>\n
I don’t think I remember the last time I used a walkie-talkie, and with the introduction of smartphones, I’m not sure when I’ll ever need one. However, that doesn’t make them useless by any means. If you want to make your own pair of walkie-talkies using an ESP32, this project may just be what you’re looking for, and best of all, it manages to avoid the need for radio licensing using a smart trick.<\/p>\n
These ESP32 walkie-talkies use Wi-Fi to talk to one another<\/p>\n
And you can make your own<\/p>\n
As spotted by Hackster.io<\/a>, these walkie-talkies were the idea of the aptly named Tech Talkies over on YouTube<\/a>. They use the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Sense board and a MAX98357A I2S amplifier, paired with a small speaker, for the ESP32 to drive. Usually, walkie-talkies use radio frequencies and thus require a license to make, but because these ones use Wi-Fi to talk, you don’t need one.<\/p>\n You can see how the walkie-talkies work in the video above. As it turns out, those antennae are pretty essential for general use; while the built-in ones tend to lose connection once you separate the units by a few rooms, the external antennae allow the units to maintain a connection at 200 meters while outside.<\/p>\n Here are some choice features that come with this project:<\/p>\n Push-to-talk (PTT) \u2014 hold a button to transmit, release to listen<\/p>\n ESP-NOW audio streaming \u2014 direct device-to-device, no access point required<\/p>\n Onboard PDM microphone \u2014 uses the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense’s built-in mic, no external mic wiring<\/p>\n Thread-safe audio ring buffer \u2014 incoming audio is buffered and played back from the main loop, avoiding I2S corruption from the WiFi callback thread<\/p>\n Automatic peer identity \u2014 flash the same firmware on both boards; each board detects its own MAC address at boot and configures itself as Device 1 or Device 2<\/p>\n