LILYGO Mini E-Paper Core combines ESP32 with 1.02-inch ePaper Display in 3D printed enclosure

LILYGO Mini E-Paper Core is another ESP32-based e-Paper display by LILYGO, but it’s a really tiny 1.02-inch e-Paper display housed in a 3D printed enclosure that reminds me of M5Stack Core with a 2-inch TFT LCD.

The tiny low-power display also offers a MicroSD card socket, a reset button, a three-way user button, as well as headers for GPIOs, ADC, DAC, SPI, and more.

LILYGO Mini E-Paper Core specifications:

Wireless SiP – ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core processor, 4MB Flash, 2.4 GHz WIFi 4 & Bluetooth connectivity
Storage – MicroSD card socket
Display – 1.02-inch e-paper display with 128×80 resolution
USB – 1x USB Type-C for power and programming
Expansion
- 7-pin 2.54mm pitch header with 5x GPIO, 2x ADC, 2x DAC, 3.3V, and GND
- 8- pin 2.54mm pitch header with 4x GPIO, SPI, 1x ADC, 5V, VBUS, VBat, and GND
Misc – Three-way toggle button connected to G36, G0, and G39, reset button
Power Supply
- 5V via USB-Type-C port
- External battery support via Vbat pin, and charging circuit
Power consumption – About 10uA in sleep mode
3D printed shell

You’ll need the company’s T-U2T downloader in order to flash the firmware, apparently already used with the company’s other e-Paper displays, as it’s not using a standard USB wiring.

I could not find firmware or code samples specific to Mini E-Paper Core, so the company may not have released anything yet, but the Arduino code for T5 ePaper displays should be reusable, possibly with some modifications.

LILYGO Mini E-Paper Core is sold for around $18, or $22.28 with T-U2T downloader on Aliexpress. As I complete this article, I’ve also noticed the company released another interesting product with an e-paper display, namely LILYGO T-Echo equipped with a 1.54-inch display, nRF52832 Bluetooth SoC, plus LoRaWAN connectivity, and GNSS using SoftRF open-source multifunctional DIY IoT-based general aviation proximity awareness system.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.