Since M5Stack was acquired, I have paid little attention to the brand, but recently I discovered that they released a new product, which is completely different in form from previous ones, and it is also part of their core control board series. It is based on the ESP32-P4.
M5Stack Tab5
This device is officially positioned as a highly expandable portable smart IoT terminal development device aimed at development boards.
It uses the ESP32-P4 SoC, along with the ESP32-C6-Mini-1U module, with the ESP32-C6 supporting Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth.
It comes with 16MB Flash and 32MB PSRAM.
The Tab5 features a built-in 3D antenna and also supports an external MMCX antenna interface, allowing for easy switching between the two.
A major highlight of this device is its 1280×720 5-inch IPS TFT screen, which is accompanied by a GT911 multi-touch controller connected via I²C for touch functionality.
On the screen bezel, there is a SC2356 2MP camera (1600×1200) connected via MIPI‑CSI
and two ES7210 AEC microphone arrays. It also includes a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 1W speaker, with an onboard ES8388 audio codec.
It has a built-in BMI270 six-axis sensor (accelerometer + gyroscope, supporting interrupt wake-up)
It integrates an RX8130CE real-time clock (supports timed interrupt wake-up), MP4560 buck-boost management chip, IP2326 charge and discharge management, and INA226 real-time monitoring circuit.
The bottom also features a removable lithium battery that can be optionally selected.
The official configuration includes a 7.4V2000mAh lithium battery.
Battery quick-release can be achieved via a button, which deserves special praise.
The side features a 1/4″-20 nut hole, which is also commendable, as this interface is almost essential in the film and television industry.
The back also has six M3 nut holes, making it easy to install on various devices.
The interfaces include 2x15Pin M5Bus female connectors.
There is a MicroSD card slot and a Grove interface.
It has a USB-A (Host) and USB-C (USB 2.0 OTG) port.
There is an RS485 port with a SIT3088 chip (with a 120Ω switchable terminal resistor), supporting a power range of 6~24V.
Reserved STAMP pads (supporting modules like Cat.M, NB‑IoT, LoRaWAN, etc.)
Dimensions
Tab5: 128.0 x 80.0 x 12.0mm
Tab5 Kit: 128.0 x 80.0 x 26.7mm (which includes the battery size)
I watched a video demonstration and found the operation to be very smooth; it feels like a small tablet, but the software on it needs to be developed by the user.
Currently, the ESP32-P4 can be used with Arduino, ESP-IDF, and PlatformIO, making it very convenient. Recently, I saw that CircuitPython has also supported the official Espressif ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board.
This means that the ESP32-P4 ecosystem is basically in place.
As for the M5Stack Tab5, I see that the official price is 399, without the battery. The price with the battery is still unclear, but I estimate it won’t be cheap; AI suggests 699, with a battery costing 300, which I find a bit outrageous and currently untrustworthy.
Overall, I think this is very M5Stack-like, but I believe this price is not too high compared to previous M5Stack products, considering the good hardware provided, including a 5-inch touchscreen, various chips, a camera, and such an attractive case, along with excellent hardware design, all of which show their sincerity. If you need it, I think it is worth buying.
The only regret is that this size looks different from the previous Core series; even though it can connect to the previous bases and modules, it feels a bit pieced together, which might be awkward. This makes the various expansions I bought earlier feel a bit out of place. I hope M5Stack will release an ESP32-P4 version of the M5Stack Core4 in the future; I wonder if that is possible.
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