The headers on the esp32-poe are close enough to the components that there is not enough room to solder in a connector with any kind of locking mechanism (eg. a JST-XH) and it is extremely easy to create a solder bridge when installing the dupont headers.
I don't know if there is a compelling reason that the board has to be this width, but if not, having more room around the headers would be a great help. Looks like you would need ~3mm clearance added to both sides, so about 6mm to the width of the board.
Thanks for the feedback. Will forward to team. It is usually painful to change dimensions but we've done it when there is a room for major improvement.