LILYGO T-Watch S3 - image 1
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LILYGO·smartwatch

LILYGO T-Watch S3

Open-source ESP32-S3 smartwatch with LoRa, 1.3" 240×240 IPS touchscreen, haptic feedback, accelerometer, speaker, microphone, IR transmitter, and 1500mAh battery. Supports Meshtastic, ESPHome, Arduino, and MicroPython.

Starting from

$42.98

Specifications

Components

Espressif ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core Xtensa LX7 @ 240MHz with 16MB flash, 8MB PSRAM, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, BLE 5.0, USB OTG, vector AI instructions, and hardware crypto (AES-XTS, RSA, SHA).

Semtech SX1262 LoRa transceiver supporting 150–960MHz (433/868/915MHz variants) with +22 dBm output power, -148 dBm sensitivity, and ultra-low 4.2mA receive current.

X-Powers AXP2101 highly integrated PMIC managing LiPo battery charging (up to 1024mA programmable), multiple DC-DC converters, and LDO rails powering the ESP32-S3, display, LoRa, haptic driver, and RTC backup.

Bosch BMA423 3-axis accelerometer with hardware step counting, activity recognition (walk/run/still), wrist-tilt detection, tap detection for display wake, and I2C interface at ultra-low power.

Texas Instruments DRV2605 I2C haptic driver supporting both ERM and LRA vibration motors with 100+ licensed Immersion TouchSense effects and smart-loop auto-resonance tracking.

PDM MEMS MicrophoneMicrophoneDatasheet

Knowles SPM1423HM4H-B PDM MEMS microphone with high SNR, low current consumption, and digital PDM output for voice capture, audio recording, and voice assistant applications.

Analog Devices MAX98357A I2S Class-D mono amplifier delivering 3.2W into 4Ω with no external MCLK required, enabling audio output directly from the ESP32-S3's I2S peripheral.

Sitronix ST7789V3 TFT LCD controller driving the 1.3-inch 240×240 IPS panel via SPI at 262K colors, 450 cd/m² brightness, and 800:1 contrast ratio.

FocalTech FT6336U single-channel capacitive touch controller with I2C interface, swipe and tap gesture recognition, and interrupt-driven wake — connected on a dedicated I2C bus (Wire1).

NXP PCF8563 nano-power I2C real-time clock with integrated 32.768 kHz crystal, alarm function, and battery backup via AXP2101 VBACKUP rail for accurate timekeeping across power cycles.

Infrared LED TransmitterIr TransmitterDatasheet

Everlight IR12-21C 940nm surface-mount infrared LED transmitter driven by GPIO2 for sending IR remote control signals to TVs, air conditioners, and other IR-controlled home appliances.

Bus Interfaces

I2C— Wire0
SCL: GPIO11SDA: GPIO10
I2C— Wire1 (Touch)
SCL: GPIO40SDA: GPIO39
SPI— LoRa
CS: GPIO5SCK: GPIO3MISO: GPIO4MOSI: GPIO1
SPI— Display
CS: GPIO12DC: GPIO38SCK: GPIO18MOSI: GPIO13
I2S— Speaker
BCLK: GPIO48DOUT: GPIO46WCLK: GPIO15
PDM— Microphone
SCK: GPIO44DATA: GPIO47

GPIO Map

GPIO1
LoRa MOSI
digital-inputdigital-output
SPI
GPIO2
IR Transmitter
digital-outputpwm
RMT
GPIO3
LoRa SCK
digital-inputdigital-output
SPI
GPIO4
LoRa MISO
digital-inputdigital-output
SPI
GPIO5
LoRa CS
digital-inputdigital-output
SPI
GPIO7
LoRa BUSY
digital-input
SPI
GPIO8
LoRa RESET
digital-output
SPI
GPIO9
LoRa IRQ
digital-input
SPI
GPIO10
I2C SDA
digital-inputdigital-output
I2C
GPIO11
I2C SCL
digital-output
I2C
GPIO12
Display CS
digital-output
SPI
GPIO13
Display MOSI
digital-output
SPI
GPIO14
BMA423 INT
digital-input
I2C
GPIO15
I2S WCLK (Speaker)
digital-output
I2S
GPIO16
Touch INT
digital-input
I2C
GPIO17
RTC INT
digital-input
I2C
GPIO18
Display SCK
digital-output
SPI
GPIO21
AXP2101 INT
digital-input
I2C
GPIO38
Display DC
digital-output
SPI
GPIO39
Touch SDA (Wire1)
digital-inputdigital-output
I2C
GPIO40
Touch SCL (Wire1)
digital-output
I2C
GPIO44
PDM SCK (Microphone)
digital-output
PDM
GPIO45
Display Backlight
digital-outputpwm
PWM
GPIO46
I2S DOUT (Speaker)
digital-output
I2S
GPIO47
PDM DATA (Microphone)
digital-input
PDM
GPIO48
I2S BCLK (Speaker)
digital-output
I2S

Overview

The LILYGO T-Watch S3 is an open-source programmable smartwatch built around the ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor running at 240MHz. It combines a 1.3-inch 240×240 IPS touchscreen, LoRa radio (SX1262), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 5.0 LE into a wearable form factor — giving makers and developers full control over their smartwatch firmware with 16MB flash and 8MB PSRAM to work with.

The hardware is unusually rich for a watch-format device: a BMA423 3-axis accelerometer with hardware step counting and wrist-tilt detection, a DRV2605 haptic driver for 100+ programmable vibration effects, an AXP2101 power management IC for fine-grained battery control, a PDM MEMS microphone, a MAX98357A 3.2W Class-D audio amplifier, a PCF8563 real-time clock, and an infrared LED transmitter for controlling home appliances — all powered by a 1500mAh LiPo battery with Micro-USB charging.

The T-Watch S3 is officially supported by Meshtastic for off-grid LoRa mesh communication, and has active community support for ESPHome (including voice assistant integration), MicroPython, and Arduino IDE. Both the firmware source and circuit schematics are publicly available on GitHub, making it a strong platform for custom smartwatch OS development, fitness tracking applications, home automation wearables, and long-range IoT field devices.

The device is available in multiple LoRa frequency variants — 433MHz, 868MHz, and 915MHz (SX1262) — plus a 2.4GHz LoRa variant (SX1280), and alternative radio options including CC1101, LR1121, and SI4432.

Use Cases

6

Resources

Where to Buy

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