Seeed Studio has released two ready-to-run e-paper display kits built with the OpenDisplay project. One has a 4.26-inch monochrome panel and the other a 7.3-inch Spectra 6 color panel. Both use Nordic's nRF52840 and arrive with OpenDisplay firmware already flashed. Seeed's wiki says the mono kit uses Bluetooth Low Energy only, with no Wi-Fi. CNX Software reported the launch on November 3, 2026, with prices of $39.90 for the mono kit and $75.90 for the color kit on Seeed Bazaar.
The panels themselves are nothing new. What sets these kits apart is the software model. The display does not render anything. A separate device composes the image and sends it over BLE, and the panel only shows it. Many e-paper projects end up as a Wi-Fi ESP32 board with a custom dashboard server behind it. This approach avoids that.
What OpenDisplay actually is
The project site describes OpenDisplay as an open standard and open firmware for e-paper. Its tagline is "Your data. Your screen. Designed for e-paper." The design splits the work into a sender and a receiver. The sender, such as a Home Assistant host or a browser, renders and dithers the image. The receiver, the e-paper board, displays it. The project says the protocol, reference firmware and browser tools are all open source. It describes the system as local and low-power, with no cloud. Seeed's wiki links GitHub repositories for the OpenDisplay firmware, a Home Assistant integration and a Python library, py-opendisplay.
This split matters for battery life. A microcontroller that only wakes to receive a framebuffer over BLE and drive a panel spends very little energy compared with one that joins Wi-Fi, fetches data and lays out text. Seeed and CNX both quote long battery life, covered below.
The hardware, kit by kit
OpenDisplay 4.26 Mono Kit
According to Seeed's getting-started wiki, Seeed Studio and OpenDisplay developed the mono kit together, and it ships fully assembled. It contains:
- A 4.26-inch, 800x480 black-and-white e-paper panel
- A Seeed XIAO ePaper Display Board EN05, which carries a XIAO nRF52840 Plus
- A 2000 mAh battery
- A 3D-printed case
- OpenDisplay firmware, preinstalled
The panel runs in black-and-white mode by default, with an optional 4-level grayscale mode. The wiki says partial refresh works only in black-and-white mode. Grayscale images need a full refresh. Seeed's battery claim is about two years between charges at roughly one update every 15 minutes.
OpenDisplay 7.3 Color Kit
CNX Software says the larger kit uses a 7.3-inch Spectra 6 panel, also 800x480, that shows six colors: black, white, yellow, red, blue and green. It is driven by a XIAO EN04 board. There is no partial refresh in color mode, so every update redraws the whole screen. CNX gives up to one year of battery life at two-hour update intervals for the color kit, against up to two years at 15-minute intervals for the mono kit.
Shared specifications
CNX lists the following for both kits:
- SoC: Nordic nRF52840, Arm Cortex-M4F at up to 64 MHz, 256 KB SRAM, 1 MB flash
- Radio silicon: Bluetooth 5.0 LE, NFC and 802.15.4 support on the chip
- Resolution: 800x480
- Power: 2,000 mAh Li-ion battery, USB-C
- Controls: three user buttons
- Enclosure: white 3D-printed case
Seeed's wiki says the mono kit communicates over Bluetooth Low Energy only and has no Wi-Fi. The nRF52840 also supports 802.15.4 and NFC at the silicon level. The sources do not say the OpenDisplay firmware uses either one, so do not plan on Thread or Zigbee.
Getting pictures onto it
There are two ways to send images, and both have limits worth checking before you buy.
Home Assistant. The host needs a Bluetooth adapter of its own or an ESPHome Bluetooth proxy within range of the display. The wiki says Shelly BLE proxies are not supported. If your Home Assistant setup relies on Shelly devices for Bluetooth coverage, you will need another path.
Browser toolbox. OpenDisplay's browser tools use Web Bluetooth, which limits browser choice. The wiki lists Chrome or Edge on desktop and Android, and Bluefy on iPhone and iPad. Firefox is not supported.
Encryption ships turned off. In the wiki's walkthrough, the key fields read "not set" out of the box, and you turn encryption on from the Toolbox. On a shared desk or in a classroom, enable it before you deploy the display. The wiki also notes the display accepts only one active Bluetooth connection at a time.
What It Means for Makers
These kits suit anyone who wants a battery-powered status panel, calendar, weather card or room sign that runs for months without being plugged in, and who already runs Home Assistant or is happy to send images from a browser. They replace the common DIY approach of an ESP32, a bare e-paper module, a printed case, a battery and custom firmware. They also keep Wi-Fi credentials and cloud services off the device. Because the protocol and firmware are open and include a Python library, they are also a reasonable base for anyone who wants to write their own sender instead of using Home Assistant.
The trade-offs are clear from the specs. BLE range ties the display to a nearby adapter or proxy. The color panel's full-screen refreshes make it a slow, occasional-update device rather than a live dashboard. Browser choice matters: Chrome and Edge are supported, but Firefox is not.
Price and availability: CNX Software reports the 4.26 Mono Kit at $39.90 and the 7.3 Color Kit at $75.90 on Seeed Bazaar at launch (November 3, 2026). Seeed's mono kit product page also lists $39.90. CNX adds that the mono kit is available on AliExpress for about $60. Both kits are on sale now with firmware preinstalled; Seeed describes the mono kit as shipping fully assembled. CNX says it expects to review both models in the coming weeks.
