Elecrow CrowPanel: Round 1.46-inch smart home display launches

The manufacturer Elecrow may be familiar to attentive readers. The company tends to offer products by and for makers rather than for traditional consumers. The new CrowPanel is not really an exception. With the compact, round display, the manufacturer is likely also targeting customers who have at least some interest in tinkering and building their own projects. The display has a 1.46-inch diagonal and a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels, so it should offer decent sharpness. 

This is a touchscreen, but the device itself can also be rotated, making it possible to quickly switch between different views, among other things. The display can be used for a wide range of projects. It can be used as a secondary screen for a PC or laptop, for example. However, the system is not controlled via HDMI or DisplayPort, but via USB. Accordingly, it has to be programmed to a greater or lesser extent. This is possible via the Arduino IDE, for example, while custom interfaces can reportedly be used with LVGL. The display has its own processor, specifically an ESP32-S3 chip.

This also makes the CrowPanel a development board with its own display. The ESP32-S3 supports 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE), allowing the display to be integrated into a smart home setup. The CrowPanel could therefore also be used as a compact smart screen or switch. Such a compact system could be useful for controlling an air conditioner or other devices, for example. There is no battery, so at least one cable is required for power. 

The smart home display also has UART and I2C, which means additional sensors and actuators can generally be connected. The board does not include its own sensors, such as sensors for measuring humidity or temperature. The CrowPanel is currently available directly from the manufacturer for $30. Potential buyers should check the shipping conditions and may also want to look at sample projects.