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A similar but more powerful and flexible device is the Core2 from M5Stack. It's expandable through stackable snap-on blocks, USB, multiple I2C and a full set of GPIO and signal pins on a header. It has ESP32 CPU, Wifi, Bluetooth, 2" color touchscreen, microphone, power indicator, 6-Axis IMU, vibration motor, I2S codec, amplifier, speaker, RTC, power button, reset button, 10 x RGB LEDs, SD card slot and 3 programmable soft buttons for ~$45.

There are dozens of snap-on expansion modules which can also be screwed on for permanent use, including a keyboard module, joystick/D-pad, expanded battery, prototyping breadboard breakout, ethernet and various wireless modules including cellular and LORAWAN. I have several of these along with a bunch of the modules and the system is ideal for prototyping up various things super quickly. Amazon sells their own Core2 bundle with an expanded battery module which is pre-programmed with their IOT prototyping platform firmware but you can just overwrite that back to stock firmware which supports FreeRTOS, MicroPython, UIFlow and Arduino frameworks.

https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5stack-core2-esp32-iot-de...

https://www.amazon.com/M5Stack-Core2-ESP32-Development-EduKi...



These used to be a lot cheaper, IIRC I got mine for about $25. I would recommend these to anyone wanting to go beyond "just looking" for ESP development, especially beginners. Yea, you can buy the components you need separately, but having everything integrated in one small package makes it easy to try things out quickly. No breadboards, jumper wires, etc just to have a button to press. And when you're ready to dedicate hardware to the project, you can build it with one of the cheaper modules. But all of the debugging, etc is a lot easier with the big screen, and integrated peripherals. At $45, I'm not so sure, might just be recommended for people who'll really get into ESP development.


The M5Stack Core1 was about $10 cheaper but it's now been replaced with the Core2 which has several nice HW upgrades. It's easy to tell the difference because the Core1 has 3 physical buttons below the screen but the Core2 has 3 backlit soft buttons below the screen.

You can buy dev board ESP32 modules for as little as ~$10 but the M5STack comes with with a bunch of additional hardware that basic ESP32 dev boards don't. As you mention, the upside of the M5Stack Core2 system is all the extra hardware already integrated into a very well thought-thru expandable design. The fit and finish of the Core2 case and all the expansion modules I've gotten is also uniformly excellent.


Here is the QWERTY keyboard for the m5stack:

https://www.robotshop.com/en/m5stack-faces-qwerty-keyboard-p...


AIUI this can't connect directly to the m5stack. You also need the 'Faces bottom board'.

Here's a kit with everything you need, and more: https://shop.m5stack.com/products/face?variant=1729043762389...


FYI the kit you linked shows the M5Stack Core1 and shows EOL. The Core1 has been replaced by the Core2 which has improved hardware. I bought the Amazon bundle of the Core2, which is yellow, and separately ordered the modules I was interested in from M5Stack directly including the bottom board and the QWERTY keyboard.




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