The T5 E-Paper S3 Pro Lite: A Streamlined Platform for Portable Projects
Upgrade your DIY toolbox with LILYGO’s T5 E-Paper S3 Pro Lite: an ESP32-S3-powered, phone-sized hackable gadget that fits in your pocket.
Have you ever had the perfect idea for a project, but couldn’t find the right platform with which to build it? If any of those ideas have ever involved a pocket-sized gadget resembling a phone with an E Ink display, then you are in luck. LILYGO just released the hackable T5 E-Paper S3 Pro Lite that is perfect for these use cases. It may not be too hard to whip together a circuit with an ESP32 and an E Ink module, but DIY solutions aren’t going to look anything like this little beauty.
The Lite board is a slightly stripped-down version of the T5 E-Paper S3 Pro that does not have the GPS or LoRa modules. This brings the cost down to around $71, which makes it more affordable for hobbyist projects. It still comes equipped with the same ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 microcontroller, 8 MB of PSRAM, 16 MB of flash memory, and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and BLE 5 connectivity.
The large, 4.7-inch E Ink display has a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels and can display 16 shades of gray. It is touch sensitive, which simplifies the development of complex user interfaces, and backlighting makes it readable in the dark. An SD card slot is available to expand the device’s storage capacity, and a magnetic wireless charger makes it easy to top off the battery after a long day’s use.
The case is thin and in the form factor of a typical phone, so it is the perfect platform for developing pocketable devices. Since it is powered by an ESP32, it is infinitely hackable, and firmware can be developed using either Arduino IDE or Visual Studio Code. The T5 E-Paper S3 Pro Lite is now available in the LILYGO store.