T5 E-Paper: New developer board comes with LoRa, E Ink screen and MagSafe

LilyGo has a new developer board on offer, which comes with a 4.7-inch E Ink capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 960 x 540. As is typical for an E Ink screen, the display should make for easy reading in direct sunlight. Colors are not supported, although 16 shades of grey can be displayed. The use of an E Ink screen is intended to result in lower power consumption compared to a conventional screen.

The device is equipped with an ESP32-S3, which means that it cannot be used to display a desktop operating system such as Windows. Instead, the T5 E-Paper S3 Pro is designed for programming environments such as VS Code and Arduino IDE. 16 MB flash storage is on board, while the PSRAM measures 8 MB. A memory card can be also be utilized.

Wireless connectivity is not only possible via WiFi in the 2.4 GHz band and Bluetooth 5, but also via LoRa, which allows data to be transmitted over longer distances. Such an option is primarily relevant for IoT devices, which only need to transmit limited amounts of data. Lastly, the T5 E-Paper S3 Pro, which measures 129 x 69 x 11 mm (LxWxH), comes with MagSafe-compatible wireless charging. 

LilyGo is currently asking a price of $73.06, but the device is currently sold out. Those looking for a cheaper alternative are advised to take a look at the Vision Master E213 at Amazon.