The LILYGO T-Circle-S3 is a circular touch display development board built around the ESP32-S3 MCU and designed for smart gadgets, IoT devices, and wearable applications. The board integrates Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.0, a MEMS microphone, a 3W Class-D audio amplifier with speaker support, an RGB LED, six rear GPIO pins, a Qwiic interface, and USB-C for charging.
The board is very similar to the Waveshare RP2350-LCD-1.28, with its round display design, but it does not support wireless connectivity and audio. It also resembles SB Components’ Dual Roundy (ESP32-S3), but compared to that, the T-Circle-S3 is smaller and features a touch display, a microphone, a speaker amplifier, and an RGB LED.
LILYGO T-Circle-S3 specifications:
- Wireless SoC – ESP32-S3R8
- CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instruction
- Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM
- Storage – 384KB ROM
- Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE
- Storage – 16 MB flash
- Display
- 0.75-inch circular TFT LCD
- Resolution – 160 × 160 pixels, 262K colors
- Display driver – GC9D01N
- Capacitive touch controller – CST816D
- Audio
- Speaker amplifier – Maxim Integrated MAX98357A Class-D, I²S, 3W output
- Microphone – Goertek MSM261 I²S MEMS microphone
- USB – 1x USB Type-C for power, charging, and programming
- Expansion
- 6x GPIOs on the back via 2x 4-pin female headers
- Qwiic I²C connector
- Misc
- Reset button
- APA102 RGB LED
- Power – 5V via USB Type-C, 500mA MAX
- Dimensions – 32 mm (base), 28 mm (top) x 17 mm height
The development board can be programmed with Arduino, PlatformIO, and the ESP-IDF framework. More information, including hardware details, example code for Arduino, PlatformIO, and the ESP-IDF framework, as well as Quick Start guides, can be found on GitHub.
The development board comes in two different variants: the T-Circle and T-Circle-S3. T-Circle is a 0.75-inch 160×160 display-only mode, and you need to connect an external controller to work with it. The T-Circle-S3, on the other hand, is a compact full-featured development board with RGB LED and USB Type-C for standalone wearable and IoT applications.
The T-Circle and T-Circle-S3 are available on AliExpress for $13 and $29, respectively, and they can also be purchased on Amazon for $12 or $28.00.
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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