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November 24, 2025November 24, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

2.8-inch round IPS display features mini HDMI input, CNC aluminum housing

Elecrow 2.8 Inch Round IPS Display with Mini HDMI

We have written about various types of rounded IPS displays in the past, like the Elecrow CrowPanel 1.28-inch and 2.1-inch rotary displays, the Waveshare ESP32-P4-WIFI6-Touch rounded touchscreen displays, and the MaTouch ESP32-S3 2.1-inch touch display, but this is the first time we have seen a rounded display with a (mini) HDMI port built into it. The 2.8-inch Round IPS Display from Elecrow is a compact circular 480×480 display housed in a CNC-machined aluminum shell. It features an IPS panel with wide viewing angles, an ST7701S driver, a mini HDMI video input, and a USB-C port for power. Thanks to its HDMI input, the display supports common operating systems such as Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu, Kali, and Windows, making it suitable for creative displays, industrial control interfaces, dashboards, and compact UI applications. Elecrow 2.8-inch round IPS display specifications: Display – 2.8-inch circular IPS panel Resolution – 480 × 480 pixels Driver IC – […]

November 4, 2025November 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 272 Comments

Giveaway Week 2025 – Elecrow Pi Terminal Raspberry CM4 industrial HMI display

Elecrow CrowPanel CM4 Pi Terminal Demo application

Sometimes we receive samples even though we did not ask for them, said we would have time to review them, or due to miscommunication. That’s exactly what has happened with the Elecrow Pi Terminal, a Raspberry Pi CM4-powered industrial HMI with a 7-inch touchscreen display. So instead of letting it go to waste, I decided to offer it as the second prize of the CNX Software Giveaway Week 2025 contest. Elecrow Pi Terminal specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 Lite SoC – Broadcom BCM2711 CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A72 SoC @ 1.5GHz GPU – VideoCore VI with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 and Vulkan 1.0 VPU Decode – H.265/HEVC up to 4Kp60, H.264 up to 1080p60 Encode – H.264 up to 1080p30 Memory – 4GB LPDDR4-3200 Storage – N/A Wireless – Dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 Storage 64GB microSD card preloaded with the Raspberry Pi OS + Node-RED software M.2 […]

October 26, 2025October 26, 2025 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

CrowPanel Advance 7-inch ESP32-P4 HMI display supports Zigbee, LoRa, and 2.4GHz radio modules

CrowPanel Advanced 7 inch ESP32 P4 HMI AI Display

The CrowPanel Advance 7.0-inch ESP32-P4 HMI AI display is an ESP32-P4 HMI terminal that is similar to the GUITION 7-inch touchscreen display. It also adds an ESP32-C6 module for WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE, and 802.15.4 connectivity, and is suitable for Smart Home, industrial automation, and AIoT applications. It features a 7-inch 1024×600 IPS capacitive touchscreen and optional AI vision and audio through a 2MP MIPI-CSI camera for face and object recognition, and a speaker header and a dual microphone array for interactive voice applications. The smart display also supports interchangeable wireless expansion for Zigbee/Thread, LoRa, and 2.4 GHz proprietary (nRF2401) connectivity. CrowPanel Advance 7.0-inch display specifications: Microcontroller – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4 CPU Dual-core RISC-V HP (High-performance) CPU @ up to 400 MHz with AI instructions extension and single-precision FPU, 768KB of on-chip SRAM Single-RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core @ up to 40 MHz with 8KB of zero-wait TCM RAM Memory – […]

September 19, 2025September 18, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Elecrow ESP32-S3 rotary displays combine round IPS touchscreen, knob, and press input

CrowPanel 1.28 inch and 2.1 inch ESP32 S3 Rotary Display

Elecrow has added two new ESP32-S3-powered rotary displays to its CrowPanel Advance lineup, which come in 1.28-inch (240×240) and 2.1-inch (480×480) sizes, and feature a round IPS screen with rotary, touch, and press input. Both rotary displays feature IPS capacitive touchscreens, rotary input with a smooth feel, knob-press operation, ambient lighting, USB-C (5V) power, and expansion capabilities via UART, I²C, and FPC connectors. These features make them suitable for DIY projects, IoT prototypes, and embedded product development across various applications, including smart home appliances, industrial control, and UI training scenarios. Elecrow CrowPanel 1.28-inch and 2.1-inch rotary display specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor @ up to 240 MHz Memory – 512 KB SRAM, 8 MB PSRAM Wireless Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) Bluetooth 5.0 LE Storage – 16 MB flash Display Two options 1.28-inch IPS touchscreen, 240 × 240 resolution 2.1-inch IPS touchscreen, […]

July 7, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

ThinkNode M1/M2 Review – Getting started with Meshtastic

I’ve been writing about Meshtastic firmware and hardware since 2020, but I never had the opportunity to test it myself. This has now changed as Elecrow sent us the ThinkNode M1 and ThinkNode M2 Meshtastic nodes for review. Both rely on Semtech SX162x radios, but the M1 is based on a Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth MCU with a 1.54-inch E-Ink display and GPS, and the smaller M2 is based on an ESP32-S3 chip and a 1.3-inch OLED but lacks a built-in GPS module. Since I’ve never used Meshtastic before, this “review” will be more like a Getting Started Guide from a beginner’s perspective. After an unboxing and a teardown, I’ll test messaging, GPS sharing, and the range I can get in a suburban environment in Thailand. ThinkNode M1/M2 unboxing Both packages look similar, with a plastic case and a white cover. The ThinkNode M1’s main features include a high-gain antenna, […]

June 6, 2025June 7, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Raspberry Pi 5-based portable AI learning platform features 41 modules, supports Arduino Nano, RPi Pico, and Micro:bit boards (Crowdfunding)

CrowPi 3 is a Raspberry Pi 5-powered all-in-one portable AI learning and development platform with a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, plenty of plug-and-play electronic modules, a breadboard area, and support for Arduino Nano, Raspberry Pi Pico, and BBC Micro:bit MCU boards for expansion. It’s basically another take on the CrowPi 2 laptop based on the Raspberry Pi 4 with similar modules placed under the keyboard, but in a different form factor. The CrowPi 3 portable learning platform replaces the 11.6-inch Full HD display with a 4.3-inch display and does away with the keyboard, but is equipped with a more powerful Raspberry Pi 5 SBC capable of handling real-time AI tools such as ChatGPT and LLaMA (with smaller, distilled models). CrowPi 3 specifications: Main Board – Raspberry Pi 5 SBC Compatible MCU boards Arduino Nano boards BBC Micro:bit boards Raspberry Pi Pico boards Display – 4.3-inch IPS touchscreen display with 800×480 resolution […]

May 11, 2025July 6, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ThinkNode M2 ESP32-S3-based Meshtastic handset features 1.3-inch OLED display, 1,000 mAh battery

Elecrow ThinkNode M2 is yet another Meshtastic handset for off-grid messaging and GPS coordinate sharing based on an ESP32-S3 module providing Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone, and a Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver for low-power long-range wireless connectivity. It’s an evolution of the ThinkNode-M1, itself similar to the LILYGO T-Echo, based on a Nordic Semi nRF52840 Bluetooth module and SX1262 LoRa transceiver with an external antenna housed in a 3D printed enclosure. The new ThinkNode M2 is very similar but features a more powerful ESP32-S3 module instead, relies on a 1.3-inch OLED display instead of a 1.54-inch e-paper display, and is housed in an ABS plastic case. ThinkNode M2 specifications: Core module – ESP32-S3 module (looks to be ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 on the photo below) SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – dual-core 32-bit microcontroller @ 240MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 384KB ROM 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth […]

December 16, 2024December 16, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Pico W5 is a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W alternative with RP2350 MCU, dual-band WiFi 4, 8MB flash

The Pico W5 is a Raspberry Pi RP2350 development board providing an alternative to the official Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W with dual-band (2.4GHz/5GHz) WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity through a B&T BW16 wireless module. Besides dual-band WiFi, there are a few other small changes compared to the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, including a USB Type-C connector, a larger 8MB flash, and a Reset button. As far as I know, it’s the first RP2350 board with 5GHz WiFi, as other RP2350 boards with WiFi, such as the Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 and Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W, only support 2.4GHz WiFi. Pico W5 specifications: SoC – Raspberry Pi RP2350 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz with Arm Trustzone, Secure boot and Dual-core RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz Only two cores can be used at any given time Memory – 520 KB on-chip SRAM Security 8KB of anti-fuse OTP […]