Dual-band WiFi 6 on a RISC-V microcontroller is still a rare combination, and the ESP32-C5 remains the only Espressif chip that can connect to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. LILYGO's new T-Display C5 puts that capability on a board measuring just 62 x 26 mm (2.4 x 1.0 in) alongside a 1.9-inch IPS color LCD, a lithium battery connector, and enough GPIO to work as a standalone sensor node or display endpoint.
The board runs the ESP32-C5HR8 SoC, a single-core RISC-V processor clocked at 240 MHz with a secondary low-power RISC-V core at 40 MHz for deep-sleep tasks. It pairs 16 MB of flash with 8 MB of PSRAM and carries the full ESP32-C5 radio stack: 802.11ax WiFi 6, Bluetooth LE 5.0, and an 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee, Thread, and Matter. Two Qwiic connectors and 14 GPIO across a pair of 12-pin headers handle expansion, while an AXP6202 battery management unit supports portable builds. The 172x320 ST7735-driven display will eventually offer an optional CST816S capacitive touch variant, though only the non-touch model is available now.
ESPHome added ESP32-C5 support earlier this year using the ESP-IDF framework, which is the only supported path for the C5 chip since the Arduino framework is not available for it. Version 2026.4.0 bumped the default clock from 160 MHz to 240 MHz, introduced a band_mode option for selecting 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or automatic band switching, and moved all platforms to LVGL v9.5.0. ESPHome 2026.7.0, the current release as of this writing, expands LVGL further with animations, dynamic rotation, boot pausing, and a configurable refresh interval that was previously fixed at 16 ms, all directly useful for a display-equipped board like this one. The same release introduces opt-in NVS encryption using the C5's HMAC peripheral, an appealing hardening option for sensor nodes deployed outside a controlled environment. ESP-IDF v5.5.2 delivered official mass-production support for the C5 silicon, so the toolchain is mature enough for real projects. LILYGO provides firmware and Arduino/PlatformIO samples on GitHub covering the display, LVGL, battery monitoring, and WiFi AP configuration.
The T-Display C5 starts at roughly $12 (€11) from LILYGO's store, though it is currently listed as out of stock there. It ships with pin headers, a battery cable, and an external dual-band antenna. Waveshare offers two competing ESP32-C5 display boards, a smaller 1.47-inch non-touch model and a larger 2.8-inch capacitive touch version, placing LILYGO's 1.9-inch option in the middle of the range on both size and price.
