The M5Stack Tab5

Hot on the heels of my ESP32 display detour–which went from Cydintosh to Flying Toasters on an ESP32-S3 and then, inevitably, R-Type–I ended up with an M5Stack Tab5 on my desk as a very indirect consequence of chasing e-paper displays. I have followed M5Stack for years and have a couple of their ESP cameras running, plus one of the original stackable Core modules (complete with battery) somewhere in a drawer, but I had not written code for any of them in quite a while (the cameras are running ten-year-old code at this point, I think, and have been rock solid). Getting my hands on a Tab5 was completely random, but I spent the next couple of weeks trying it as a Home Assistant terminal, a firmware playground and, unexpectedly, a tiny HDMI monitor. Disclaimer: M5Stack sent me a review unit of the Tab5, for which I thank them. And, as usual, this article follows my review policy. Form FactorThe screen is quite bright and hard to photograph--and the demo app is rather nice I have a…