A compact new development board from Waveshare places a full-featured smart display at the center of embedded projects. The ESP32-C5 2.8-inch IPS capacitive touch display development board combines a 240 × 320-pixel screen with touch input, enabling direct interaction for control panels and portable interfaces.
Processing and programming environment
At the heart of the device is the ESP32-C5-WROOM-1 system-on-chip, built on a RISC-V architecture and capable of running at up to 240 MHz. Developers can program the board using Espressif’s IoT Development Framework (ESP-IDF) or the Arduino IDE. Performance aligns with lightweight embedded workloads rather than computationally heavy tasks, making the board a practical fit for smart home dashboards and basic media playback.
Connectivity and power options
Wireless communication is a standout strength. The board supports dual-band Wi-Fi across both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, alongside Bluetooth 5, ZigBee 3.0, and Thread. This multi-protocol stack allows integration into diverse home automation and sensor network environments with minimal additional hardware. Power and data typically flow through a USB-C connection, while an on-board charging circuit enables operation from a 3.7 V battery. Waveshare offers a bundle that includes the battery, moving the price from a $26 base to just $27.
Onboard sensors and expandability
Designed to interface directly with external sensors and actuators, the board includes a microSD card slot for removable storage. Several built-in components reduce the need for add-on modules in common use cases. An SHTC3 sensor captures temperature and humidity readings, a QMI8658 module delivers 6-axis gyroscope and accelerometer data, and an integrated microphone enables audio capture. These features extend the board’s reach into environmental monitoring and motion-aware applications without sacrificing compactness.
Source: www.waveshare.com