Seeed XIAO IPS Display Boards: Six Tiny Screens From $15.90

Seeed Studio has widened its tiny XIAO line with a series of IPS display boards that put a color screen, a motion sensor and a microphone onto a thumb-sized module. The six boards come in three screen sizes, each paired with either a XIAO ESP32-S3 Plus or a XIAO nRF52840 Plus. CNX Software covered the launch on October 17, and prices on Seeed's store run from $15.90 to $19.90.

• Three screen sizes: 0.96-inch (80 x 160), 1.14-inch (135 x 240) and 1.47-inch (172 x 320) with capacitive touch
• Two chip choices: ESP32-S3 Plus with Wi-Fi, 8MB PSRAM and 16MB flash, or nRF52840 Plus with Bluetooth LE, 802.15.4 and NFC
• On every board: a 6-axis LSM6DS3 IMU, a PDM microphone, LiPo support, a slide power switch and USB-C
• Pricing: $15.90 to $19.90 from Seeed Studio, with AliExpress listings from $11.99

Which XIAO IPS Display Should You Choose?

The three sizes suit different builds:

• 0.96-inch: the smallest at 18.8 x 43.6 mm, with two buttons. ideal for name badges, status indicators or a pocket gadget
• 1.14-inch: adds a Grove I2C connector, I2S and I2C expansion pads and three buttons, which makes it the most expandable for sensor projects
• 1.47-inch: the only touchscreen model, with a JD9853A display controller and a microSD slot, plus a community 3D-printable case on Printables

The chip choice depends on your power budget. Seeed's figures for active power (not deep sleep) show the gap clearly. On the 0.96-inch board, the ESP32-S3 draws about 160mA, while the nRF52840 draws about 29mA. Pick the ESP32-S3 when you need Wi-Fi, more memory and smoother graphics, and the nRF52840 for long battery life in Bluetooth wearables.

What Can You Build With Them?

The IMU and microphone are what lift this series above a plain display breakout. The motion sensor supports wake-on-motion and orientation, and the microphone opens up audio projects:

• A fitness or step-counting wristband that wakes when you raise your arm
• A smart-home remote that shows room status and reacts to taps or gestures
• A voice-note recorder saving audio to microSD on the 1.47-inch model
• A plant monitor or desk companion with animated icons
• A BLE name badge or event pass using the nRF52840's NFC

Battery-voltage monitoring is built in, and the nRF52840 versions also detect charging status, which saves the usual wiring for a portable build.

How Easy Is It to Program?

Seeed supports the boards in the Arduino IDE with getting-started guides and examples for the display, microphone, IMU, buttons, battery monitoring and microSD storage. The ESP32-S3 versions use Seeed's Seeed_GFX2 graphics library, with demos covering touch, image display and audio recording. Schematics, KiCad files, 3D models and factory firmware are on the Seeed Wiki. That is welcome openness for anyone who wants to design the module into a product.

The series builds on the XIAO Plus boards with 16 GPIOs and battery charging. It sits at the opposite end of the scale from larger panels like the $39 VIEWE ESP32-S31 touch display. For wearables and pocket projects where every millimeter counts, it is an easy recommendation. More microcontroller news lives in our mini computers hub.

Sources: CNX Software — Seeed Studio XIAO IPS display series — October 17, 2026; Seeed Studio — 1.47-inch Touch Display powered by XIAO nRF52840 Plus — October 2026.