It Is Here! Introducing The TRMNL 7.5″ (OG) DIY Kit
It all started with a Tweet in March when we teased our XIAO 7.5″ ePaper Panel. A community member asked about the device’s compatibility with TRMNL firmware. This led to a connection with Ryan, TRMNL’s founder, and after 3 months of collaboration, we’re thrilled to launch the official TRMNL 7.5″ (OG) DIY Kit together with the amazing TRMNL team.
The TRMNL 7.5″ (OG) DIY Kit, a joint venture between Seeed Studio and TRMNL, is a versatile e-ink display kit that puts the power of building your own TRMNL 7.5″ OG Display in your hands. The kit includes a 7.5-inch 800×480 monochrome e-ink display, a XIAO ePaper Display Board powered by XIAO ESP32-S3 Plus, and a 2000 mAh rechargeable battery. Fully integrated with the TRMNL BYOD ecosystem, it gives you access to over 300 plugins and 8 layouts for no-code dashboard building. Plus, it’s ESPHome-compatible for seamless Home Assistant integration, letting you display real-time data like weather or energy usage, or tap into thousands of Arduino projects. You can check out the step-by-step wiki here to get TRMNL Access running on this kit.
To celebrate this collaboration, we’re offering a 20% launch discount – just $35.92 for the first 200 early birds. But wait, there’s more! The TRMNL team is offering 30% off their TRMNL BYOD access (normally $50). Just use code “trmnl-seeed-diy” at checkout. Limited to the first 200 accesses, one per customer. Don’t miss out!
Behind the Scenes: The Development Journey
Now, let me share two behind-the-scenes stories about co-developing this kit with team TRMNL. We’ve also covered the stories in the joint-launch livestream that we did with team TRMNL last Friday.
Story 1: A Product Generated from 3 Upgrades and Countless Discord Chats
Our initial brainstorming with the TRMNL team led to version 0.1 – a simple combination of three existing products: the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3 (Pre-Soldered), ePaper Driver Board for XIAO, and 7.5″ Monochrome ePaper Display. While this was the fastest route to market, community feedback and extensive testing pushed us toward something better.
We developed a brand-new XIAO ePaper Display Board with a soldered XIAO ESP32-S3 Plus and redesigned buttons (Version 1). This new design offered more IO pins for battery status monitoring and a slimmer profile, enabling more flexible enclosure designs. The TRMNL team immediately saw the potential.
After multiple rounds of hardware and software testing, we refined the button design and other minor elements in Version 2, finally arriving at Version 3 – our production model (YES! We also sell this XIAO ePaper Display Board at $9.9 as standard SKUs too, which will be available in mid-August.) Throughout this journey, the TRMNL team’s support via Discord was invaluable. Special thanks to Bogdan, Ryan Kulp, Fr3d, Schappi, and the entire TRMNL team for their dedication and expertise.
Story 2: Embracing the DIY Spirit with 3D Printing
Rather than including a fixed enclosure, we’ve open-sourced two reference designs on Printables, Thingiverse, and Maker World. This allows makers to download, remix, and customize the enclosure for your specific needs.
For those seeking a premium enclosure option, we’re now partnering with senior designer Alex Vong, known for the XIAO ESP32-S3 based retro gadget Byte 90. His custom-designed enclosure will be available SOON. Stay tuned!
TRMNL 7.5" (OG) DIY Kit vs. XIAO 7.5" ePaper Panel: What's the Difference?
Last but not least, I think some of you might be wondering the differences between this kit and the XIAO 7.5” ePaper Panel, which is offering a 14% off at $59 at the moment. Indeed these two share some features in common, but they also stand out for their unique shines.
Seeed Studio ePaper Displays in Comparision
| Product Name | XIAO 7.5'' ePaper Panel | TRMNL 7.5'' (OG) DIY Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Category | XIAO Gadget | Dev Kit |
| MCU + Driver | XIAO ESP32-C3 (Pre-Soldered) + ePaper Driver Board for Seeed Studio XIAO | XIAO ePaper Display Board with an XIAO ESP32-S3 Plus Soldered on, making it much thinner for the enclosure designs |
| Display | 7.5'' Monochrome ePaper Display with 800x480 resolution | |
| Battery | 2000mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Battery (3-months battery life in deep sleep mode on a single charge) | |
| Compatible Firmware | ESPHome for Home Assistant TRMNL Arduino | TRMNL ESPHome for Home Assistant Arduino |
| Enclosure | white PLA 3D printed enclosure | Not provided, but we offer open source reference designs on Printables, Thingiverse, and Maker World |
| MSRP | $69 | $44.9 |
| Perfect for | Home Assistant community to visulize lovelace dashboards | TRMNL community, and those who prefer to build a thin TRMNL ePaper display that can read battery status from scratch and remix the enclosures |
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