Waveshare ESP32-C6 1.83inch Touch Display Development Board, 240 × 284, Onboard Audio Codec Chip, Built-in Microphones and Speaker, Supports Wi-Fi 6 and BLE 5

This is an interesting development board with a lot of potential for DIY projects. The screen size and resolution are sufficient for building small interactive applications, and the touch functionality works well. Having built in audio with microphone and speaker adds extra flexibility for different types of projects. The support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth is also a nice feature for modern connectivity. One thing to note is that it does not come with a battery, so one will need to purchase one separately. It would be more convenient if it included one. In general, it is a fun and capable board for DIYers

I've gotten to review a lot of Waveshare products for Vine and they just don't miss--ALL of their ESP32 stuff is great and this is no exception. I had to reach out to their tech support for a pinout on this board and they delivered within a day. So, first things first, there are eight GPIOs listed in the description and technical manual, but they're not yet labeled anywhere. They're the eight small metal pads in the top right corner (with the waveshare logo upright) and they are laid out like this: SCL GND SDA 3v3 USB_N GPIO 17 USB_P GPIO16 Verify with a multimeter that GND is where you think it is. I steer clear of USB_N and USB_P, and GPIOs 16 and 17 are standard TX/RX. Soldering was tricky but I'm gonna be vulnerable and show you my janky joints in the photos to give you an idea of what you're getting into. I attached a BME280, and removed the little speaker unit to put the air sensor there instead, taking advantage of the little balcony the speaker had inside the case, and using the speaker grille as an air vent. My other big note is that this module WILL run without a battery, if plugged into USB. I've powered it plugged into my PC, a wall outlet, and a battery bank. There are a few points on the board that can serve as a 3v3 tap, and at least one that reads 5v. The best 3v3 taps are just inboard of the USB port, and the 5v is the second of four exposed points in a row immediately to the right of the Waveshare logo. These, of course, are not designed for use as power taps, and you should always verify proper continuity and grounding. Use at your own risk. I was able to use Arduino_GFX_Library to get basic text and graphics up and running on the screen, and use it to report temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure from the soldered BME280. The ESP32-C6 has no problems charting three simultaneous data streams. I'm still figuring out how to DIY touch input, but I've confirmed that it at least works on more than just the demo software that comes pre-installed (more on that in a sec). You can absolutely get better graphics and fonts than what I'm going with in my photos, if you're so inclined--the graphic in the main listing photo is fairly realistic and representative of the picture quality. I just like the retro look. It ships in a kind of demo mode where there are two homescreens that you can swipe between, each with two icons that serve as little apps: Music, Settings, Gyroscope, and Recorder. These don't really do anything except show off software, and the touch interface to navigate them is very rudimentary. If nothing else, it serves to "demo" the device's touchscreen limitations. Navigation gestures don't really work very well, so it teaches you to keep your expectations low for whatever you're using them for. Remember--this is an entry-level, DIY hobby chip squeezing every bit of juice out of a low-cost touchscreen so you can put together a mini touchscreen panel for your 3D printer or teach your kid how to make an MP3 player. It's not going to respond like an Apple Watch, but it'll get you the basics. My project with this starts and ends with weather monitoring. I may try and cram another sensor in there (instead of, or in addition to, a sold-separate battery--which leaves ample room for sensors if not installed) to report even MORE data, but there's a lot that this component can do that I likely won't be testing. Voice recording and playback didn't quite work for me on the demo mode, and I haven't messed with the accelerometer or gyroscope beyond verifying that they report *something* in the demo. You could use them for shake-inputs, if you wanted to. Overall, this is such an excellent value for the money that I'm so, so tempted to just buy up all the combined screen-devboard combos that Waveshare makes. They're tons of fun to tinker with and really do inspire a lot of creativity and problem solving, and in my case, made some great equipment too. Buy with confidence!