M5Stack PaperColor, or M5Paper Color, is an ESP32-S3 development kit with a 4-inch E Ink Spectra 6 full-color display with a resolution of 600×400, designed to offer both low power consumption and high visibility under strong lights.
While the color ePaper display is the start of the show, the devkit also features a microSD card slot for storage, a microphone with echo cancellation, a 1W speaker, a temperature & humidity sensor, a few buttons, two RGB LEDs, an IR transmitter, and a Grove connector for expansion. With regards to power, a 1250 mAh battery is included, rechargeable through the device’s USB Type-C port.
M5Paper Color ESP32-S3 Dev Kit specifications:
- SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8
- CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration
- Memory – 8MB PSRAM
- Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity
- Storage
- 16MB SPI flash
- MicroSD card socket
- Display – 4-inch E Ink Spectra 6 Full-Color E-Paper Display (ED2208-DOA)
- Resolution – 600×400
- Refresh rate – About 15-19 seconds (TBC, assumption from my side based on our experience with other E Ink color displays)
- Audio
- ES8311 audio codec
- ES7210 audio ADC
- 1W @ 8Ω 2520 speaker with AW8737A audio amplifier
- MEMS microphone with integrated AEC circuit
- USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming
- Sensor – SHT40 Temperature & Humidity Sensor
- Expansion – 4-pin Grove connector
- Misc
- 3x user buttons, 1x Power button
- Infrared emitter
- 2x RGB LEDs
- RX8130CE Real-Time Clock (RTC)
- Power Supply
- 5V via USB Type-C port
- Built-in 1250mAh Battery
- Consumption
- Standby: 92.53uA
- Full Load: 211.97mA
- Dimensions – 103.9 x 70.8 x 8.5 mm
- Weight – 73.3 grams
M5Stack provides instructions to program the PaperColor devkit using the Arduino IDE using the M5Unified, M5GFX, and M5PM1 libraries, along with code samples, and additional technical information on the documentation website. Strangely, there’s no mention of the ESP-IDF framework or the UIFlow2 visual programming IDE compatible with most M5Stack devices. Target applications include smart digital photo frames, data display panels, and electronic signage.
While it’s the first color ePaper devkit from M5Stack, it already has some competition with products such as the Seeed Studio reTerminal E1002, which features a larger 7.3-inch color E Ink display driven by an ESP32-S3, all housed in a plastic enclosure. There are even more color ePaper devkits without enclosure, but that’s the most direct competitor I could think of.
M5Stack sells the PaperColor ESP32-S3 E Ink color devkit for $75 on AliExpress or the M5Stack store. The price looks reasonable, as by comparison, the 4-inch Spectra 6 E Ink display alone sells for $40 on AliExpress (or $50 with driver board), while the reTerminal E1002 with a larger 7.3-inch display goes for around $118 on AliExpress before shipping and taxes.
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.
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