Fully enclosed ESP32-S3 board features 1.8-inch AMOLED, microphone & speaker for AI audio applications

Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 is an ESP32-S3 development board with an AMOLED display and AI audio support fully housed in a plastic enclosure. The most interesting feature of this devkit is its 1.8-inch AMOLED display with a 100000:1 contrast ratio and a wide 178° viewing angle, plus support for AI speech using its built-in microphone and speaker, and a built-in battery for IoT and AI applications.

Other features include a QMI8658 6-axis IMU for motion detection, a PCF85063 RTC for time, and an ES8311 audio codec for high-quality audio. The ESP32-S3 provides Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity and the board also features a USB-C port for power and programming. The AXP2101 power management IC enables battery charging and optimization, while GPIO, I2C, and UART pads allow expansion.

Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 specifications

• Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8
  • CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration.
  • Memory – 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM
  • ROM – 384KB
  • Connectivity – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE with support for long-range, up to 2Mbps data rate, mesh network.
• Storage
  • 16MB flash memory
  • MicroSD card support
• Display
  • 1.8-inch AMOLED display
  • 368 x 448 resolution, 16.7M colors
  • 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 178° viewing angle
  • SH8601 display driver, QSPI interface
  • FT3168 capacitive touch controller, I2C interface
• Audio
  • ES8311 low-power mono audio codec
  • Onboard microphone and speaker
• USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming
• Sensors – QMI8658 6-axis IMU (3-axis accelerometer + 3-axis gyroscope)
• Expansion
  • 15-pin 1mm pitch header with 7x GPIO, 1x I2C, 1x UART, VBUS, 3.3V, and GND
  • 2 pads for USB 2.0 (also IO19 and IO20)
• Misc
  • PWR and BOOT Buttons
  • PCF85063 RTC chip powered by main Lithium battery through AXP2101 chip with backup battery pads
• Power
  • 5V via USB-C port
  • MX1.25 connector for 3.7V Lithium battery (optional)
  • AXP2101 PMIC handles power from both USB-C and battery header
• Dimensions
  • Display dimensions – 34.94 x 28.70 mm
  • Outer dimensions – 45.20 x 37.60 mm

Waveshare provides various software, tools, and resources that work with this AMOLED display development board. These include support for Arduino IDE and ESP-IDF frameworks, other than that they also provide ESP32 board package, libraries, and demo code. All these and many more details can be found on the wiki. The company also mentioned that the module supports offline speech recognition, with access to various large models available online.

We have previously written about Waveshare ESP32-S3-AMOLED-1.91, another ESP32-S3 development board with an AMOLED display, but the design is rectangular, and it lacks the audio features of the new devkit. We also wrote about a $15 Waveshare 1.69-inch IPS touch LCD module. The module has the same form factor as this board, but it’s just a display and doesn’t include an MCU onboard.

The Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-1.8 display development board is priced at $26.59 on AliExpress,  $36.99 on Amazon, and the Waveshare store has it for $29.99 with a 3.7V MX1.25 Lithium battery.

Debashis Das

Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication

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