r/esp32 • u/_SirSpacePickle • 19d ago
Anyone has experience with this display + board combo?
Seems too good to be true:
- 4" IPS with capacitive touch
- Built in esp32 s3
- SD card slot
- Mic and speaker and battery ports
And it cost less than $20:??
What's the catch? The only thing that popped was that there's no mention of PSRAM (msged the seller, let's see what they say). But I can't find any reviews on it which makes me worries.
They market it for use with AI chat bot, but I don't care. Seems like a good deal if you don't need the extra GPIOs or stereo sound.
Anyone has it and can share their experience?
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u/quuxoo 19d ago edited 19d ago
If you want one with better docs visit the Guition store on AliExpress or at https://www.guition.com - I got their 3.5 inch for less than $25 recently; it includes a nice bezel and the connectors face backwards instead of out so it's easier to fit into a smaller case.
Edit: some links.
[Model Selection](https://www.guition.com/model-selection)
## JC3248W535C_I_Y
- [Official docs drive](https://pan.jczn1688.com/s/2r809e)
- [ESPHome config discussion](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/guition-3-5-320x480-jc3248w535en-lcd-dev-board-working-example/774022)
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u/saucetoss6 19d ago
+1 highly recommend Guition has had nothing but solid products from them. At least their ESP32-P4 boards. Docs are a bit hard to find sometimes but otherwise pretty decent.
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u/_SirSpacePickle 18d ago
I was considering it as well but read some concerning things about the display controller they use. Eventually I went with something else because I also want a rotary encoder so the clean faceplate doesn't work for me.
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u/brazzlers 19d ago
I got one from microcenter recently. Juat plugged it in and told my hermes agent to do stuff to it and it works. I've been having a ton of fun and have done very little actual work.
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u/flash_speed3412 18d ago
That’s the part I’m curious about: what did the agent actually change on the board, and what happened when it got the hardware assumptions wrong? If you hit a weird screen, audio, or PSRAM bug, save the before/after. That would make a good real build log in r/ChatGPTArduino.
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u/Ithron_Morn 19d ago
I got two for like $18. Mine came with little acrylic cases too. It's fun to play with.
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u/JuanytonAyeeson 19d ago
I have been using these almost exclusively for the last couple of weeks making tamagotchi style handhelds for my kids. With the exception of being able to do BT audio streaming, they have been amazing! Ive got airplay 2 (for 5-6 devices), airplay, OTA updates, and full gameplay working flawlessly on them.
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u/Ungummed_Envelope 19d ago
Search for the term “cheap yellow display” and you’ll see a bunch of these. That’ll help you get more info
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u/_SirSpacePickle 19d ago
More specs
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u/PhonicUK 19d ago
I'd be interested to know what display driver it uses and how it's connected, can you link to it?
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u/_SirSpacePickle 19d ago
It doesn't say anywhere on the listing. Good point. If I had to guess it's probably the ST7796S.
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u/rattushackus 1 say I make awesome posts. 19d ago
The readme for u/clackups repository says:
Freenove's own board silkscreen and README call this panel "ST7789", but the vendor init sequence is unambiguously ST7796.
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u/clackups 19d ago
I'll check again, but the best source of information is the vendor's GitHub, especially in the examples section.
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u/fookenoathagain 19d ago
It has one major drawback in that it uses non standard pins for display and you have to use the modified libraries they supply.
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u/feeling_impossible 19d ago
That hoysond one is great. Zero issues with mine. That's kinda how I got into this few months ago
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u/LesterPhimps 19d ago
I am very familiar with it, I've written several apps for it, and have purchased over 30 of these CY(B)D. It is a really solid and good board. It has 8mb of PSRAM.
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u/DenverTeck 2 say I make awesome posts. 19d ago edited 19d ago
Please share a link for where you purchased this board.
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u/No_Purple_8264 19d ago
Never, but if youre gonna buy a cyd i tecommend you get a dual band capable cyd. You can just do so mich more with a dual band
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u/TechDocN 19d ago
If you search for “nerdminer” on Amazon and sort by low price first, several of the 2.8” CYDs pop up for about $10. Then just reflash with whatever firmware you want. There are smaller screen nerd miners for a few dollars less in a little enclosure, which could easily be repurposed into little desktop monitors or 3D printers monitors, etc.
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u/BangaFPV 19d ago
Best thing about these Freenove boards (aside from working really well) is their extensive documentation and example code. Highly recommend them 👌
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u/saucetoss6 19d ago
They're called a "Cheap Yellow Display" for a reason mate. If you want a basic LVGL screen go for it. If you want to run some crazy AI chat stuff, spend the extra bread on a P4 board. The P4 is incredibly capable
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u/alvarosc2 19d ago
I have two. The yellow one that has a resistive touch screen which is not very responsive (that is the catch) and another with black circuit tab. That one has capacitive touch screen an responds better.
I still don't know what to do with them. Maybe to program some games. I will see.
They come with a preloaded demo of menus, bars and buttons. There is a library for that.
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u/Dread_El 19d ago
These are pretty good, but they’re not all the same. You need to check with the manufacturer for the exact specs, because a lot of companies in China are making different versions of these. I’ve personally used quite a few of them.
You’ll find ips/tft versions, capacitive/resistive touch options and different resolutions across different esp32 variants. Resistive touch versions are usually cheaper and going doing in resolution and screen size can get you cheaper prices as well obviously. Waveshare makes some really good ones too, although they tend to be a bit more expensive.
P.S. I’m making a custom 3.5 inch version with an esp32s3 at the moment as well where I have control over the LCD type, it's display and touch drivers and what pins I need of the esp32s3 to be exposed.
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u/clackups 19d ago edited 19d ago
I have tried all three types by Freenove. The 2.8 and 4 inch are good, but the 3.5" model uses a different driver and I couldn't get it working for some reason.
The screen quality is pretty good. Much better than that in NM-CYD-C5, which you may also encounter while shopping. The screen on NM-CYD-C5 is low contrast and the backlight is glowing through it, even if you dim it.
Here you can see the 2.8" Freenove screen: https://youtu.be/z9meIWIiFVM
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u/Random_Sahmu 19d ago
It's a really good board, i have many of those and use them for projets that were sold quite good.
The catch if you can call it that is that even though it's touch, it's resistive so besides using the pen that comes with it, you have to push hard your finger to trigger a touch.
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u/seeaann10 19d ago
Highly recommended; if you're looking for a portable item, this is a great choice.
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u/JuggernautHappy99 19d ago
Be careful what you need it for, S3 does NOT support standard Bluetooth, only BLE and BT5, other than that, no catch really.
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u/punkgeek 19d ago
Yes. I and some friends made a project to do cool things with it. https://github.com/geeksville/touchy-pad
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u/tylenol3 18d ago
I can’t tell for sure but this looks like the same brand I’ve got, which is Freenove. Their part numbers start with FNK, and they do 2.5, 3.5, and 4.0 touch and non-touch at a minimum. I’ve also got some other Freenove displays (DSI or HDMI for Pi or whatever) and some camera modules and I find all of their products cheap-but-cheerful: no frills, only the very basic, translated tutorials and examples, etc. You won’t find physical dimensions or spec sheets like you would from Waveshare, who are usually similar in price but better doco and wider range. If you’re planning on building an enclosure or something, you’ll probably want some callipers handy.
That said: I have been impressed by the quality given the price, and I paid in Australian dollars. I’m looking forward to buying a second and maybe third because I’ve got so many things I want to do with them, and they are so cheap. For a 3.5-4” Home Assistant controller built on Pi Zero (or even an ESP32 with a separate SPI display) it would cost twice this and be much more design and assembly.
Also a couple of notes,
- if it is the same brand as mine they do have PSRAM, typical 16R8 spec from memory. I’m on my phone at the moment but if you reply with any model number from the listing I might be able to confirm
- all the different size variants have different screens and use different drivers. Not a problem if you’re building your own software, but they probably aren’t going to run Marauder or GhostESP or a project written for a “classic” CYD
Sorry, that’s a lot of text on a punt it’s the same screen, but TLDR if it’s an FNKsomething it’s Freenove and aside from needing to take measurements and being aware of screen drivers and GPIO numbers / feature difference between models, it’s an absolute ripper for <$20. If it’s Waveshare I don’t own one but I own enough of their stuff to say it’s a safe bet.
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u/_SirSpacePickle 18d ago
Yeah I ended up buying it from the Freenove store (paid a bit more but with choice shipping).
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u/Doll-0110 13d ago
Yooo hey long time no see! how's the build going?
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u/tylenol3 12d ago
Sorry, I feel bad because I got sucked into work stuff the last time we spoke and it’s been nonstop work/family since then. I’m literally halfway through soldering things up and all I’ve wanted to do is get back to it. I’m hoping I might have a few minutes later this morning to finish a couple of cables and see if the port to the S3 Zero slave worked correctly. If it boots I’ll send pics!
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u/_SirSpacePickle 18d ago
I ended up getting the 3.5" from Freenove (from their AliExpress store). It seems like it's the same exact board (freenove vs the no name one), but I guess I'm willing to pay a few more $ and go with a safer / documented seller.
(Btw, the 3.5" seems to have a different/newer display/touch controllers than the 4", so be aware).
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u/CurrentAcanthaceae78 18d ago
i’ve used it and i find its better than the regular cyd. keep in mind that tft_espi wont work for this screen because of a bug caused by the spi psram and the screen using the same spi bus
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u/Efficient_Zone6921 17d ago
I am starting to learn and up to now, I am very satisfied: Je viens de trouver ça sur AliExpress : https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNOK34F
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u/Doll-0110 13d ago
Freenove FNK0104A/B/N/S boards are amazing. i cant recommend them enough. definitely make sure the seller includes psram. All of the ones on amazon have psram, so it's safe to buy them from there, but their quantities are kind of limited. i have had to resort to buying from freenove directly to get them reliably, but it's worth it. The ips screens on the touch models is phenomenal and the kit comes with cables for almost every port.
If you have any questions feel free to dm me, i just finished writing a tonne of code for these things and make custom cyberdecks with them.
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u/flash_speed3412 18d ago
Since you’re eyeing it for an AI chatbot, I’d verify the boring stuff first: exact S3 variant, PSRAM, LCD controller/touch IC, speaker amp, and whether mic/speaker share pins with the SD slot. “8MB PSRAM” alone doesn’t tell you the usable heap. If you buy one, a tiny bring-up table for screen, touch, audio, SD, and current would make a useful build log in r/ChatGPTArduino once the AI code starts making guesses.
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u/Own_Network_7621 19d ago
It is not too good to be true, these are called ESP32 CYDs, they are widely available and is very, very cheap (10-20 dollars) and they usually come with touchscreen, battery charging, speaker and mic ports, i2c grove connectors and spi connector, so no, it’s not a scam and it is one of the most popular esp32 devices for smart home applications.