Cheap Yellow Display ESP32-2432S028
ESP32 with a 2.8 inch touch screen, SD slot and USB for the price of a lunch. Many projects here run on it without soldering.
Recommended gear
Tools and parts that work well for the projects on this site. We pick cheap things that are easy to find in big stores.
Start here
Start with the first level: a project without soldering needs only a board and a cable.
1 First project without soldering
A board and a data cable, nothing else.
USB-C cable with data
Many cheap cables only charge, then the board is not seen. Keep one cable you trust.
2 Building from modules
When a project needs sensors or a screen: wires and a breadboard, still no soldering.
Dupont jumper wires set
Male and female ends of all kinds to connect modules without soldering.
Breadboard 830 points
Build and change a circuit in minutes without a soldering iron.
3 Workbench
When you get to soldering: an iron, solder, flux and a multimeter.
Pinecil V2 soldering iron
Heats up in seconds from a USB-C charger, holds the temperature well and costs less than a station.
Solder wire Sn63/Pb37 0.8 mm
Melts low and flows easily, the easiest solder to learn on. Wash your hands after work.
No-clean flux gel
A drop of flux makes joints shiny and fixes most soldering problems of beginners.
ANENG AN8008 multimeter
Auto-ranging, quick continuity beep and true RMS for very little money. Enough to check power, wiring and batteries in hobby projects.
Soldering irons and stations
Pinecil V2 soldering iron
Heats up in seconds from a USB-C charger, holds the temperature well and costs less than a station.
Miniware TS101 soldering iron
Small USB-C iron with a screen, good for a travel kit and for soldering at the desk.
T12 soldering station
Powerful and cheap station with fast tips, holds heat on big pads and ground planes.
858D hot air station
For SMD chips, connectors and heat shrink. One of the cheapest stations that works well.
Soldering iron stand with brass cleaner
Keeps the hot iron off the desk, the brass wool cleans the tip without cooling it down.
Silicone soldering mat
Protects the desk from heat and solder drops, small parts stay in the pockets.
Desktop fume extractor
A fan with a carbon filter pulls flux smoke away from your face.
Solder and flux
Solder wire Sn63/Pb37 0.8 mm
Melts low and flows easily, the easiest solder to learn on. Wash your hands after work.
Lead-free solder SAC305 0.8 mm
Needs a bit more heat, but there is no lead on the desk and on your hands.
No-clean flux gel
A drop of flux makes joints shiny and fixes most soldering problems of beginners.
Desoldering wick 2 mm
Soaks up extra solder and cleans pads after you remove a part.
Desoldering pump
Pulls solder out of through-hole pins when you need to take a part out.
Solder paste Sn63 for SMD
For small SMD parts with a hot air station or a hot plate.
Multimeters and oscilloscopes
ANENG AN8008 multimeter
Auto-ranging, quick continuity beep and true RMS for very little money. Enough to check power, wiring and batteries in hobby projects.
UNI-T UT61E+ multimeter
Accurate bench meter that will serve for years if you measure a lot.
FNIRSI FNB58 USB tester
Shows how much current the board draws and which voltage the charger gives.
Logic analyzer 24 MHz 8 channels
Shows what really goes over I2C, SPI and UART. Works with the free PulseView.
Hantek 2D72 handheld oscilloscope
Oscilloscope, generator and multimeter in one handheld box for PWM and audio.
FNIRSI 1014D oscilloscope
Two channels and a big screen at a low price, good first bench scope.
Tools
Flush cutters
Cut legs of parts flush with the board and trim wires neatly.
Automatic wire stripper
Strips any thin wire in one squeeze without cutting the copper.
Helping hands with magnifier
Holds the board and the wire in place, so both of your hands are free.
Precision screwdriver set
Opens M5Stack and LilyGO cases, tightens M2 and M3 screws.
Dupont crimping tool SN-28B
Makes your own Dupont and JST cables of the right length.
Digital caliper 150 mm
Measures a board and a screen before you design a case.
USB-UART adapter CH340
Flashes boards without USB (ESP32-CAM, Pro Mini) and reads their logs.
Boards
Cheap Yellow Display ESP32-2432S028
ESP32 with a 2.8 inch touch screen, SD slot and USB for the price of a lunch. Many projects here run on it without soldering.
M5Stack Cardputer
A pocket computer with a keyboard and a screen, ready to flash without soldering.
M5Stack Cardputer ADV
The new Cardputer with a bigger battery and more pins.
M5StickC Plus2
Tiny ESP32 with a screen, buttons, IMU and a battery in a finished case.
M5Stack Atom Lite
ESP32 in a 24 mm cube with an RGB LED and a button, good for smart home.
LilyGO T-Embed CC1101
ESP32-S3 with a screen, encoder and a sub-GHz radio in one case.
LilyGO T-Display S3
ESP32-S3 with a bright 1.9 inch screen and a battery connector.
LilyGO T-Display
The classic ESP32 with a 1.14 inch screen and two buttons.
LilyGO T-Deck
A BlackBerry style keyboard, a screen and LoRa as an option, for messengers and games.
LilyGO T-Beam
ESP32 with LoRa, GPS and an 18650 holder, the usual board for Meshtastic.
LilyGO TTGO VGA32
ESP32 with VGA, PS/2 and audio out for retro computers and emulators.
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3
ESP32-S3 with SX1262 LoRa and a small OLED, cheap start in Meshtastic.
ESP32-CAM with MB programmer
Camera board with the USB adapter that makes flashing easy.
ESP32 DevKitC (WROOM-32)
The basic ESP32 board for breadboards, with USB and all pins on headers.
ESP32-S3 DevKitC N16R8
ESP32-S3 with 16 MB flash and 8 MB PSRAM: room for screens, cameras and AI.
Seeed XIAO ESP32S3
Tiny ESP32-S3 with a battery charger, there is a version with a camera.
Arduino Pro Mini
Very small and frugal, runs long on a battery. Needs a USB-UART adapter.
Raspberry Pi Pico
Cheap RP2040 board with PIO for precise signals, flashed by drag and drop.
Blue Pill STM32F103C8
Cheap STM32 board for learning ARM. Flashed over a USB-UART adapter.
Sensors
BME280 sensor module
Temperature, humidity and pressure in one I2C chip, the base for a weather station.
BMP280 sensor module
Temperature and pressure without humidity, cheaper than BME280.
BME680 sensor module
Adds an air quality reading to temperature, humidity and pressure.
DS18B20 waterproof probe
Measures water, soil and pipes. Several probes share one wire.
MH-Z19B CO2 sensor
NDIR CO2 sensor over UART, a long-time favorite of DIY air monitors.
MPU6050 module (GY-521)
Accelerometer and gyroscope for balancing robots and gesture controls.
HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor
Measures distance up to 4 m with sound, the usual eye of a first robot.
INMP441 I2S microphone
Digital microphone for voice, sound meters and music visualizers.
Capacitive soil moisture sensor v2.0
Does not rust in the soil like the cheap fork sensors.
MAX30102 heart rate sensor
Pulse and blood oxygen from a finger, for wearable experiments.
Displays
OLED SSD1306 0.96" 128x64 I2C
The most common small screen: four wires, crisp text, many libraries.
OLED SH1106 1.3" 128x64 I2C
A bigger OLED with the same wiring, easier to read from a distance.
TFT ST7789 1.54" 240x240
A bright color square screen on SPI for clocks and dashboards.
TFT ILI9341 2.8" 240x320 SPI with touch
A big touch screen for any ESP32 when you need more than a CYD.
E-paper 2.9" module
Keeps the picture without power, perfect for battery dashboards.
LEDs and strips
Motors and drivers
28BYJ-48 stepper with ULN2003 driver
A cheap quiet stepper for blinds, feeders and clocks.
TB6612FNG motor driver
Drives two small DC motors with little heat, better than L298N for 3.3 V boards.
Relay module 5 V
Switches a lamp or a pump from a board. Be careful with mains voltage.
Power and batteries
Li-ion 18650 cells
Buy from known brands: cheap no-name cells often hold a third of the stated capacity.
LiPo 3.7 V 1000 mAh with JST-PH
A flat battery for handheld projects. Check the connector polarity before plugging in.
TP4056 USB-C charger module
Charges one Li-ion cell from USB, the version with protection guards the cell.
Mini560 5 V buck converter
Tiny and efficient, gives a fixed 5 V without setting a trimmer.
Wires and breadboards
Dupont jumper wires set
Male and female ends of all kinds to connect modules without soldering.
Breadboard 830 points
Build and change a circuit in minutes without a soldering iron.
JST-SH 1.0 4 pin cables (Qwiic, STEMMA QT)
Plug I2C sensors into Qwiic and Grove style connectors without soldering.
USB-C cable with data
Many cheap cables only charge, then the board is not seen. Keep one cable you trust.
Cases and 3D printing
Brass heat-set inserts M3
Pressed in with the soldering iron, they give printed cases real threads.
Kits
Resistor kit 600 pcs
All the usual values in one box: pull-ups, LED resistors, dividers.
ESP32 starter kit
A board, a breadboard, wires, LEDs and sensors in one box for the first projects.
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