Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-3.5B
3.5" 320x480 AXS15231B over QSPI with touch in the same chip, an ES8311 codec with a microphone and speaker output, IMU, RTC, battery charging and a TF card.
Building for it
A project is made for one toolchain, picked when you start it. For this board you can use 2 of them:
| Toolchain | |
|---|---|
| Arduino (C++) | Every board, every widget and every peripheral here. The most control, and the most to set up. Start a project |
| MicroPython | The MicroPython export drives SPI panels only. |
| ESPHome | No compiler to install, and the panel can join Home Assistant as real entities. Start a project |
At a glance
| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| Maker | Waveshare |
| MCU | ESP32-S3 Xtensa LX7 dual-core @ 240 MHz, 512 KB SRAM (+ 2-16 MB PSRAM on most modules) |
| Display | Astra AXS15231B, 320 x 480 px, QSPI (quad SPI), 16-bit colour |
| Touch | Astra AXS15231B (touch half) (capacitive, I2C) |
| Backlight | GPIO 6, dimmable (PWM) |
| Memory | 16 MB flash, 8 MB octal PSRAM (N16R8) |
| Graphics library | GFX Library for Arduino |
Display pins
AXS15231B on QSPI (quad SPI): QSPI clock 40 MHz, host SPI2_HOST, RGB colour order, inversion off.
| Signal | Pin |
|---|---|
| SCK | GPIO 5 |
| D0 - D3 | GPIO 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| CS | GPIO 12 |
| RESET | TCA9554 pin 1 |
| Backlight | GPIO 6 |
Touch pins
AXS15231B (touch half): I2C address 0x3B, 400 kHz, shares the display bus.
| Signal | Pin |
|---|---|
| SDA | GPIO 8 |
| SCL | GPIO 7 |
| RESET | not connected |
Also on the board
- I2C (GPIO 8 / 7, header pins 27 / 25) - SDA GPIO 8, SCL GPIO 7
- TCA9554 I/O expander at 0x20, driving the lines marked above
The preset adds these to the Hardware tab with the board, so a sensor can go straight onto the connector.
Check your revision. Panel reset (EXIO1), the speaker amplifier (EXIO7) and the TF card's DAT3 (EXIO3) are on the TCA9554 at 0x20; touch, the ES8311, the AXP2101, the QMI8658 and the PCF85063 share the I2C bus on GPIO 8/7. The panel ignores the row address over QSPI, so the export draws whole frames from a canvas in PSRAM. MCLK is GPIO44, which is also the header's RXD - leave it alone while audio is on. USB-C goes straight to the S3, so the serial log needs USB CDC On Boot (the export sets it). The microphone and the camera connector are wired but not driven.
Designing for it in LCD Wizard
- Choose Waveshare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-3.5B on the Hardware tab (or use the button above) and every pin on this page is filled in. The export writes the sketch,
lcd_pins.h, the GFX Library for Arduino configuration,lv_conf.handplatformio.ini- a project that builds for this board as it comes. - The AXS15231B (touch half) is capacitive and needs no calibration. The firmware resets it and checks it answers on every boot.
- The backlight is dimmable: give a slider or a button a Set backlight action.
- With PSRAM the LVGL memory pool can live there, leaving internal RAM for everything else.
- Screens are designed for 320 x 480 px in either orientation, with LVGL 9 or LVGL 8.
The parts
AXS15231B. Combined display + capacitive touch controller. Touch shares the same part. Drawn a whole frame at a time, so it needs PSRAM.
AXS15231B (touch half). The same silicon as the AXS15231B display controller; touch is read over I2C.
ESP32-S3. The only common Arduino target with a hardware RGB565 LCD peripheral. PSRAM is effectively required for RGB panels.
GFX Library for Arduino. Moshi Liu's library. Best QSPI/AMOLED and RGB coverage. Configured in code.
Designs for this board
Nobody has published a design for this board yet. Publish yours from the designer and it appears here and in the gallery.
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Next
- Quick start - from an empty screen to firmware on the board
- Boards and displays - presets, controllers, pins and touch in the designer
- Flashing and configuration - PlatformIO, the Arduino IDE and first-boot checks
- Troubleshooting - a white screen, mirrored image or touch that misses