TRMNL had earlier shot into the limelight with its small E Ink dashboard, which can be used to display a host of information, including the weather forecast, upcoming appointments, news updates, sports scores, pre-selected photos, and more. However, the TRMNL dashboard costs $139, which may not be within the reach of many.
It is here that the new TRMNL DIY kit comes into the picture. As Liliputing reported, TRMNL has now announced it has teamed up with Seeed Studio to introduce the new TRMNL 7.5-inch (OG) DIY Kit that is designed for enthusiasts to explore and express their creativity. Perhaps the best part is that the TRMNL 7.5-inch (OG) DIY kit is currently on pre-order at Seeed Studio. The price was $35.92 for the first 200 kits. Prices subsequently have gone up to $45, though unfortunately, all kits have already been sold out at the time of this writing.
That makes it an extremely competitive price for the entire kit, which comprises of 2000 mAh rechargeable battery, XIAO ESP32-S3 PLUS driver board, and 10cm FPC extension cable, along with, of course, a 7.5-inch 800 x 480 monochrome E Ink display. The battery can last up to 3 months on a single charge if you opt to have the screen refreshed once in every six hours. That should be fine when displaying info like the weather update. The refresh cycle no doubt will become shorter when you opt to display current news and such. info
There is no case included in the bundle, though, which is understandable considering that the entire thing is being offered as a kit and not a device that you can start using right away. Seeed Studio, however, is offering two different case options that you can 3D print easily. The entire thing looks classy, it must be said, with none of the thick bezels usually associated with such DIY E Ink-based dashboard designs.
Ports that the mainboard offers include a USB-C port and a battery connector. There are also NFC antenna pins, a power button, a reset button, three user keys, along with a few other connectors. Besides, the board supports Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity for wireless data transfer. Apart from these, there are several hundred plugins available too.