LILYGO's T-Deck Pro Is a LoRa- and 4G-Capable Smartphone-Like All-In-One ePaper Dev System
Wish BlackBerry had discovered LoRa transceivers and electrophoretic displays? Try the T-Deck Pro.
Embedded and hobbyist electronics specialist LILYGO has launched the T-Deck Pro, a featurephone-like all-in-one development system that combines an Espressif ESP32-S3 with an ePaper display, physical keyboard, LoRa transceiver, and optional 4G cellular connectivity.
"Open-source dev board meets keyboard and touchscreen," LILYGO writes of the new T-Deck Pro. "To meet different needs, T-Deck Pro is divided into two versions: A7682E (4G) and PCM5102A (Voice). The main difference between the PCM5102A and the A7682E 4G is the voice function: the audio of the A7682E 4G version can only be driven based on the [SIMCom] A7682, while the PCM5102 version can be driven directly through the [Espressif] ESP32-S3."
The exterior appearance of both models of T-Deck Pro, brought to our attention by Linux Gizmos, is identical: a transparent housing puts a 3.1" 320×240 touch-capable electrophoretic ePaper display front-and-center, beneath which is a BlackBerry-style physical keyboard designed for thumb typing. AS with all electrophoretic displays, the ePaper panel requires power only when changing states and can be seen in direct sunlight without difficulty — though using it in the dark is a case of bring-your-own-flashlight.
Internally, the phone-like gadget is powered by an Espressif ESP32-S3 microcontroller with two 32-bit Tensilica Xtensa LX7 cores running at up to 240MHz, 8MB of on-module pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM), and 16MB of on-module flash expandable via microSD Card. There's an integrated Bosch BHI260AP inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor with integrated machine learning core capable of running motion detection algorithms on-device, a u-blox MIA-M10Q Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, and a Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver for long-range low-power radio capabilities.
If you pick up the A7682E variant, you'll also receive a SIMCom A7682 4G cellular modem — with audio from the built-in microphone and speaker and analog audio jack routed through the modem for voice call purposes. The PCM5102A drops the modem in favor of the eponymous sound chip from Texas Instruments, under the control of the Espressif ESP32. Both models include an integrated 1.5Ah battery with battery management system, charged over USB Type-C, an ambient light sensor, vibration motor, and a Qwiic-compatible connected for external hardware.
The T-Deck Pro is listed on the LILYGO store now at $92.64 for the A7682E 4G-capable version and $81.79 for the PCM5102A version; at the time of writing, the A7682E variant was showing as out-of-stock.
