LilyGO’s new T-Circle family offers two compact, circular-display development boards, specifically designed for wearable, IoT, and embedded audio projects, which are the T-Circle and the T-Circle-S3.
T-Circle is the simpler of the two. It provides a 0.75″, 160 × 160 TFT circular display and requires an external controller to operate. It’s essentially a display module without standalone computing capability. In contrast, T-Circle-S3 is a fully integrated development board built around the ESP32-S3 system-on-chip.
It packs dual-core LX7 processing clocked at 240 MHz, 16 MB Flash, 8 MB PSRAM, and wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE). Its feature set includes the 0.75-inch touch-capable TFT display (GC9D01N driver + CST816D touch controller), a MEMS microphone, a 3 W Class-D speaker amplifier (MAX98357A), a rear-mounted APA102 RGB LED, six GPIO pins, a Qwiic I2C connector, methodical USB-C for power/programming, and compact dimensions (32 × 28 × 17 mm).
Functionally, T-Circle is suitable if you’re only seeking a display module to pair with an external microcontroller, while T-Circle-S3 offers a self-contained, feature-rich platform ready for doing everything from audio feedback to Wi-Fi-connected smart devices.
Here’s a clear comparison table between these two shown below:
| Feature | T-Circle (Display Only) | T-Circle-S3 (Dev Board) |
|---|---|---|
| Main Chip | None (display module only) | SP32-S3R8 dual-core LX7 @ 240 MHz |
| Display | 0.75" TFT, 160×160 px | 0.75" TFT, 160×160 px with capacitive touch |
| Touch Controller | No | CST816D capacitive touch controller |
| Flash Memory | N/A | 16 MB |
| PSRAM | N/A | 8 MB |
| SRAM/ROM | N/A | 512 KB SRAM / 384 KB ROM |
| Wireless | N/A | WiFi 4, Bluetooth 5.0 LE |
| Audio | N/A | I2S MEMS mic (MSM261), 3 W Class-D speaker amp (MAX98357A) |
| Audio | N/A | APA102 RGB LED |
| I/O | N/A | 6 GPIO pins + Qwiic I2C connector |
| USB | N/A | USB-C for power, charging, programming |
| Dimensions | 32 × 28 mm (display only) | 32 × 28 × 17 mm (with ESP32-S3 + peripherals) |
Not too long ago, one of our best writers wrote about the SenseCAP Watcher based on the ESP32-S3 chip. You may check it for your reference, and also check other ESP32-based products.
Software Support
The LILYGO T-Circle-S3 supports Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, and ESP-IDF, with sample code available on GitHub for the circular touchscreen, microphone, speaker, and RGB LED. The round display works with the LVGL graphics library for creating smooth user interfaces, while WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE enable IoT and wearable applications. The smaller T-Circle version is just a display module and requires an external controller, but uses the same GC9D01N driver libraries.
Price & Availability
Pricing-wise, at the time of reporting, the LILYGO T-Circle and T-Circle-S3 are available from multiple online retailers at similar price points. On AliExpress, sellers list the T-Circle (display-only module) for around $17.16, while they sell the fully featured T-Circle-S3 for about $38.28, both currently in stock. Amazon also carries the two variants at roughly $12 and $28, making it another convenient option. Both retailers also offer them on other platforms like Banggood and Rokland, but they are currently sold out. Shipping times vary by region: LilyGO’s official store offers DHL and FedEx (7–10 business days) and Standard Express (10–25 business days), with overseas warehouses located in the USA, Germany, and Canada to speed up delivery.
Sayantan Nandy