M5Stack Launches PaperMono

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...

For reference, see the M5dinmeter

Sounds like the usual m5stack story, beautiful hardware, software as an afterthought. Out of stock everywhere already too.

This is competition for the new XTEINK X4 Pro. Cost about half the price and is compatible with Crosspoint too.

So many of these M5Stack products are not actually stackable and have no physical relation to their "stack" system.

This announcement is from a few days ago. And it seems everywhere is out-of-stock. Any news about potential availability? (In the US ideally.)

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.

This would be perfect for boats if only they ever decided to make a waterproof version. Of any of their displays, actually

nice, out of stock

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?

I was just thinking that I could port rePalm to it. But for now I only support arm mips Riscv and aarch64. I guess maybe time for an LX7 port

Tangent but I was surprised latest Kindles followed the form factor of Remarkable 2

For the same ~ $55 as their lite model you get some other options:

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.

For reference, see the M5dinmeter

This is competition for the new XTEINK X4 Pro. Cost about half the price and is compatible with Crosspoint too.

These are an ESP32-S3 so you can use standard tools instead of whatever their offering is. Like EEZ Studio for GUI creation on LVGL.

Most of their products are ESP32 based I think.

All of my devices from them are running micropython and my own code. Because they're all ESP32s and how everything works is documented.

The software to achieve my goals basically "just works".

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 :)

You can just use freeink.org to develop for it fwiw

That's been my experience too. That has lead to a small community and little real excitement around them.

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.

I use plain arduino-cli to develop for them. UIFlow looks like an awful experience.

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.

I just for the one that's a hair smaller than the 4, flashed it with Crosspoint, and man, I'm pretty happy with it.

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.

and has a touchscreen

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.

Sounds like the usual m5stack story, beautiful hardware, software as an afterthought. Out of stock everywhere already too.

So many of these M5Stack products are not actually stackable and have no physical relation to their "stack" system.

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.

This announcement is from a few days ago. And it seems everywhere is out-of-stock. Any news about potential availability? (In the US ideally.)

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.

[0]:https://x.com/M5Stack/status/2091116748686922069

[1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49390702

i can't remember where i read it, but a few days ago i saw they didn't expect a restock until next year

This would be perfect for boats if only they ever decided to make a waterproof version. Of any of their displays, actually

For the same ~ $55 as their lite model you get some other options:

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.

nice, out of stock

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?

When I order from m5, box is postmarked from California

I was just thinking that I could port rePalm to it. But for now I only support arm mips Riscv and aarch64. I guess maybe time for an LX7 port

Tangent but I was surprised latest Kindles followed the form factor of Remarkable 2

All of my devices from them are running micropython and my own code. Because they're all ESP32s and how everything works is documented.

The software to achieve my goals basically "just works".

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.

You can just use freeink.org to develop for it fwiw

These are an ESP32-S3 so you can use standard tools instead of whatever their offering is. Like EEZ Studio for GUI creation on LVGL.

Most of their products are ESP32 based I think.

I just for the one that's a hair smaller than the 4, flashed it with Crosspoint, and man, I'm pretty happy with it.

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 use plain arduino-cli to develop for them. UIFlow looks like an awful experience.

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.

That's been my experience too. That has lead to a small community and little real excitement around them.

Yes, I was wondering if this was the Gameboy (capable) hardware.

as long as they include a schematic for their products, i'm set

M5Stack's twitter says 2 to 3 months [0] to restock because they're out of eink driver ic.

[0]:https://x.com/M5Stack/status/2091116748686922069

[1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49390702

and has a touchscreen

i can't remember where i read it, but a few days ago i saw they didn't expect a restock until next year

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.

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 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 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.

Used boats are shockingly inexpensive in the US.

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).

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.

When I order from m5, box is postmarked from California

Yes, I was wondering if this was the Gameboy (capable) hardware.

Used boats are shockingly inexpensive in the US.

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.

The old saying that “there is nothing more expensive than a cheap aircraft” also applies to boats.

Maybe "one second" was a poorly phrased colloquialism meaning "right away".

Thanks for passing through the info for those of us not on Twitter!

Especially seeing how M5Stack is majority-owned by Espressif.

The old saying that “there is nothing more expensive than a cheap aircraft” also applies to boats.

Also:

The two best days in a boat owner’s life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it.

There's a reason it stands for Bring Over Another Thousand

Especially seeing how M5Stack is majority-owned by Espressif.

Also:

The two best days in a boat owner’s life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it.

There's a reason it stands for Bring Over Another Thousand

M5Stack today launches PaperMono, a compact ESP32-S3-based E-Ink development terminal designed for low-power information display, interaction, and connected IoT projects. PaperMono is now available through the M5Stack Store.

Product Value

Featuring a 3.97-inch 4-level grayscale E-Ink display, touch input, integrated frontlight, NFC, LoRa, microSD storage, RTC, and a built-in 1150mAh battery, PaperMono brings display, interaction, power, and connectivity into one integrated device.

Key Features

Display and Interact

The 3.97-inch 4-level grayscale E-Ink display provides a low-power viewing experience with the look and feel of paper. Touch input enables interactive interfaces, while the integrated frontlight supports comfortable use in low-light environments.

PaperMono also supports the CrossPoint Reader firmware, bringing an open and flexible reading experience to this compact E-Ink device.

Connect and Respond

Built-in NFC and LoRa support connected projects such as digital badges, identity displays, remote messages, sensor status screens, and other low-power IoT applications.

Build and Extend

Powered by the ESP32-S3R8 and supported by microSD storage, RTC, IMU, Wi-Fi, and a 1150mAh battery, PaperMono provides an integrated foundation for building and experimenting with E-Ink projects.

Version Comparison

PaperMono is also available in a Lite configuration for makers who want the core E-Ink development experience without NFC or LoRa connectivity. Both versions share the same 3.97-inch touch display, integrated frontlight, and ESP32-S3R8 platform.

PaperMono is designed for connected projects that require near-field identification or long-range, low-power communication. PaperMono-Lite is a focused option for E-Ink development without those connectivity features.

Compare the Versions →

Applications

Mini E-Ink Reader
Low-Power E-Ink Dashboard
NFC Badge
LoRa Remote Status Display
Electronic Signage
Access-Control Terminals
Smart Transportation Terminals

Detailed Specification

See Detailed Specifications →

Turn Ideas into E-Ink Projects

PaperMono and PaperMono-Lite are now available from the M5Stack Store. Choose PaperMono for NFC and LoRa connectivity, or PaperMono-Lite for the core E-Ink development experience.

Shop PaperMono →

About M5Stack

M5Stack is a leading provider of modular, open-source IoT development solutions. We offer an integrated platform combining easy-to-use hardware, intuitive software, and customization services, empowering developers and businesses to rapidly prototype and deploy innovations across IIoT, smart retail, home automation, AI-powered applications, and STEM education.

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M5Stack Launches PaperMono

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