I wouldn't anticipate too much from m5stack. They have a habit of developing products that are well designed from a physical standpoint... but when you try to develop with them one finds that the software and support needed to achieve your goals are half-baked and downright annoying. UIFlow1/2, I'm looking at you...
I have a tiny devboard collection habit, and gotta say coding agents work great with these. I've got a stick and a few dials running various hyper specific UIs for home assistant.
as long as they include a schematic for their products, i'm set
i've always viewed m5stack / seeed / tindie as 'dev board marketplaces'; once i proof the rest of the design using their board, i take the known-working schematic and simply cut out the parts i dont want to spin rev 2, then once that is working i optimize the remaining parts for rev3, and project done :)
The better phrase is probably “reference design” marketplace. When I worked as an EE pretty much all but the hardest boards (which needed to be simulated) were glorified stripped down reference designs.
I really don't understand why the XTEINK X4 Pro doesn't have a built-in USB-C port. A good part of the appeal of a device like that is less lock-in, but then you're stuck with a proprietary connector.
I guess this makes it a bit thinner and maybe a larger battery? I'd much rather have a slightly larger/thicker device and built-in USB-C.
I was disappointed by that too. I didn't think it would be hard to keep track of the pogo adapter for my x3, but I did end up losing it pretty quickly.
I really didn't want to buy the x4 pro, but I'm working on custom firmware for the x4 and I want to make sure it's compatible with the new device. Also, the lack of light was kind of annoying when I took the x4 on a camping trip. Not $100 worth annoying, but mildly annoying.
The "original" XTEINK X4 (not pro) has a USB-C port - that's explicitly why I bought it. It looks like it is out of production now. The good news is they are a proven, very popular device (it's just an e-ink display glued to an ESP32 with good third party support) so this class of device should be available on AliExpress soon if not already.
I got the Xteink X4 Pro a few days ago. I was so convinced everything these days has a USB-C port, I didn't even check. Honestly it's the only downside of the device, I love everything else about it. Sure, it's small, but it's almost entirely an advantage for me. I don't even think about "should I take it with me?" - I just do, which means I read much more. The light is great for reading in bed. And CrossPoint is super solid (flashing took a minute).
M5Stack and LilyGo products aren't necessarily end user ready. They are awkward middle grounds between shoebox sized literal circuit level prototype of smartphones and on-stage-CEO-showing-off prototypes. A bit like bake at home dough. Not competitors to real products.
would need a cheaper one
esp32, display the same size, battery and few buttons, no need for lights or even chassis, can 3d print it.
but only found screens too small or costs more than this device!
M5Stack's twitter says 2 to 3 months [0] to restock because they're out of eink driver ic.
When I submitted the story maybe 8 hours[1] after the announcement, it was already out of stock. This person says it sold out in 1 second - https://x.com/henry19840301/status/2090652363434647738 - if that's possible.
Maybe "one second" was a poorly phrased colloquialism meaning "right away".
One can sign up for new product releases and if I paid attention to my marketing emails I could have clicked through. I'm guessing there are enough people who do combined with limited initial stock. We don't know.
Thanks for passing through the info for those of us not on Twitter!
I have the older Paper-S3, which has better specs (larger screen and battery, 16-level grayscale) and also has a Crosspoint Reader port. Nice device, clearer screen than my Pocketbook Verse.
I think you can get 60 fps out of the old Paper S3. There was a gameboy emulator I saw recently that did it with some trickery I haven't reproduced on mine, but super impressive piece of hardware.
I don't own a boat, but look to buy one and one of the odd things about this industry is very obsolete technology repackaged and sold at exorbitant proces. At least for electronics and monitoring a lot can be done cheaply by those who are skilled.
Ya, I noticed that with the CoreS3-SE being incompatible with the "Extension Port Module for Core2" (M123). I don't see a version compatible with the CoreS3.
g8425 | 10 hours ago
For reference, see the M5dinmeter
itsthisjustin | 9 hours ago
Saris | 9 hours ago
Most of their products are ESP32 based I think.
ricardobeat | 8 hours ago
hackcasual | 8 hours ago
shakna | 8 hours ago
The software to achieve my goals basically "just works".
jareklupinski | 7 hours ago
i've always viewed m5stack / seeed / tindie as 'dev board marketplaces'; once i proof the rest of the design using their board, i take the known-working schematic and simply cut out the parts i dont want to spin rev 2, then once that is working i optimize the remaining parts for rev3, and project done :)
throwup238 | 6 hours ago
qiqitori | 4 hours ago
burnte | 6 hours ago
shermozle | an hour ago
NDlurker | 10 hours ago
3D30497420 | 10 hours ago
I guess this makes it a bit thinner and maybe a larger battery? I'd much rather have a slightly larger/thicker device and built-in USB-C.
NDlurker | 9 hours ago
I really didn't want to buy the x4 pro, but I'm working on custom firmware for the x4 and I want to make sure it's compatible with the new device. Also, the lack of light was kind of annoying when I took the x4 on a camping trip. Not $100 worth annoying, but mildly annoying.
hadlock | 9 hours ago
yoavm | 8 hours ago
fmajid | 8 hours ago
burner420042 | 4 hours ago
numpad0 | 8 hours ago
burnte | 6 hours ago
anonymous344 | 10 hours ago
would need a cheaper one esp32, display the same size, battery and few buttons, no need for lights or even chassis, can 3d print it. but only found screens too small or costs more than this device!
btw where does these ship from?
hackcasual | 8 hours ago
3D30497420 | 10 hours ago
big_toast | 9 hours ago
When I submitted the story maybe 8 hours[1] after the announcement, it was already out of stock. This person says it sold out in 1 second - https://x.com/henry19840301/status/2090652363434647738 - if that's possible.
[0]:https://x.com/M5Stack/status/2091116748686922069
[1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49390702
bahmboo | 8 hours ago
One can sign up for new product releases and if I paid attention to my marketing emails I could have clicked through. I'm guessing there are enough people who do combined with limited initial stock. We don't know.
Thanks for passing through the info for those of us not on Twitter!
notatoad | 9 hours ago
ge96 | 8 hours ago
fmajid | 8 hours ago
a2dam | 7 hours ago
__mharrison__ | 2 hours ago
cromka | 8 hours ago
banku_brougham | 7 hours ago
margalabargala | 6 hours ago
bigfatkitten | 3 hours ago
efskap | 3 hours ago
kstrauser | 2 hours ago
The two best days in a boat owner’s life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it.
cromka | 6 hours ago
akshay_akula | 6 hours ago
gigel82 | 6 hours ago
slightly larger screen, plus a microphone and speaker: https://www.cnx-software.com/2026/08/05/zectrix-note-4-a-4-2...
same screen size with microphone and speaker, plus a magnetic fridge mount: https://www.cnx-software.com/2026/07/31/reterminal-sticky-3-...
I'd actually love something like the reTerminal sticky, but larger, for a fridge mounted home automation dashboard / calendar.
rsync | 5 hours ago
clumsysmurf | 3 hours ago
dmitrygr | 5 hours ago