M5Stack has a successor to the M5Paper it launched in 2020. The PaperDIY kits keep a 4.7-inch grayscale e-paper panel but move from the original ESP32 to an ESP32-S3, and they drop the touchscreen and the sensors the M5Paper had. M5Stack added both versions to its online store on 16 October 2026, and CNX Software reported the release on 18 October.

Two kits, one board

The Assembly Kit, at $25, is the bare hardware: the main board, the e-paper display, a 140 mAh battery and an acrylic plate that presses the screen in place. You build the enclosure yourself. The Complete Kit, at $29.90, comes assembled at the factory in a 3D-printed PLA case, and M5Stack publishes the case model so it can be reprinted or modified. On 18 October M5Stack's store showed both as out of stock; CNX Software says the Assembly Kit is also sold on AliExpress.

The Complete Kit comes with a warning in its documentation. The M2 mounting holes take screws with a thread shorter than 3 mm, because a longer screw presses on the e-paper panel and damages it for good.

Specifications

  • ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 module: dual-core 240 MHz, 16 MB flash, 8 MB octal PSRAM, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE
  • 4.7-inch ED047TC1 e-paper, 960x540 pixels, 16 shades of gray, driven over an 8-bit parallel interface
  • microSD slot, USB-C for power and programming, 5 V pads
  • 140 mAh 3.7 V battery on an SH1.0 connector, managed by M5Stack's own M5PM1 chip, which also monitors USB voltage and switches the display's boost circuit
  • two 12-pin 0.5 mm FPC connectors with I2S and SPI signals
  • a power button (on, off, reset and download mode) and two user buttons
  • current draw of 40.95 mA at 4.2 V, with peaks up to 161 mA
  • Assembly Kit 115.3 x 62.5 x 5.5 mm and 26.4 g, Complete Kit 120 x 68.2 x 6.3 mm and 43.1 g, rated for 0-40 °C

Software

M5Stack supports the board in the Arduino IDE with its M5Unified and M5GFX libraries, version 3.3.10 or later of its board package and a separate M5PaperDIY board option. A dedicated M5PM1 library handles power. The display offers four refresh modes, from a slow high-quality mode for images to the fastest one, and the documentation recommends a full high-quality refresh after several fast partial ones to clear ghosting. The factory firmware is published as ESP-IDF source with examples for the battery monitor, Wi-Fi scanning, the microSD card and the buttons. Neither M5Stack nor CNX Software mentions UiFlow or ESPHome support.

For a home automation dashboard on the wall or a desk, the appeal is the price of a large e-paper panel with an ESP32-S3 and PSRAM behind it. The 140 mAh battery is small, though, so for an always-on display plan on USB power. LILYGO's T5 4.7-inch E-Paper S3 Pro uses the same panel and chip, with different expansion options.