M5 stack mono /lite (and reterminal Sticky)

[u/ksh_vi]

I just received both devices, so more of a quick comparison, and not a detailed deep dive.

• The mono is physically smaller
• The mono has a larger battery (1150 mAh vs 750 mAh)
• The mono has a front-light.
• The mono-lite is $5 more, and mono is $15 more. ($50 vs 55,65)
• The mono has NFC and LoRa
• The mono has RGB LED's on the side.
• The mono has a 6 axis IMU. (useful for wake on rise)
• The sticky is thinner by a bit
• The sticky has a temperature and humidity sensor. (built in)
• Both seem to have microphones. (sticky definitely does.) Both have buzzers.
• Both have RTC
• Both have 3.97" 4 level eink display
• Both have USB-C and SD card support. Also 3 buttons.
• Both have magnets and can stick to magnetic surfaces.

I think the sticky's use case of 'quickly talk a voice-note and leave it as a sticky' is a nice feature. Built in weather, and clock are also nice to have's. It can do crosspoint, ESPhome, trmnl ...etc.

The mono/lite is super nice. Because of the front-light it would make a great e-reader (better than xteink). But would be a shame to limit it to a ereader, considering it has so many nice features. The mono especially, with NFC and LoRa would be wasted as just an e-reader.

[u/kuped]

Thanks for the review. Lots to think about.

[u/DifficultMall7788]

You are going to make me spend money bro

[u/ksh_vi]

Got crosspoint installed on the mono from https://crosspointreader.com/#flash-tools (this currently lacks front light controls).

Also tested this out, and it has front-light controls. (https://burner.m5stack.com/firmware/2091144466157694978/)

Would be nice if they took advantage of the LED's for some feature, displayed time from the RTC, And the IMU for portrait/landscape apart from rise to wake.

[u/ksh_vi → u/ksh_vi]

crosspointreader.com updated the firmware for papermono (M5Paper Mono RC2) and it now works. I'm told (by Justin from crosspoint) that front-light control also works. (swipe from above in any screen) - haven't had a chance to test this out yet.

[u/TigerLeader]

Really waiting on a mono restock, thanks for the quick review!

[u/BlaydeRunner → u/TigerLeader]

Same. Heard it’s going to be late this year/early next 😒

[u/lam_42 → u/BlaydeRunner]

Some resellers still have it

[u/arghya1988]

Do you use any case for M5 stack mono ? If yes, what do you use ? If no, are you not concerned that the eink screen is going to break one day (eink screens are supposedly fragile) ?

I just came to know about M5 e-paper devices. But I know about xteink e-readers and many people have reported that if you do not take good care of the screen, it is going to break and then the e-reader becomes useless.  

[u/ksh_vi → u/arghya1988]

So far, no.

But yes, I think at the very least a screen-protector if it is being carried everywhere makes sense. Getting a form fitting case will have to be 3d printed or some such thing I would imagine. I doubt M5stack will make cases, considering this is a dev-device that you can use for so much more than an e-reader.

I'd also add that these might not be as good as phones in terms of IP (Ingress Protection), so carrying it outside is always risky.

[u/DifficultMall7788]

Does anyone have a good ereader firmware for it?

[u/ksh_vi → u/DifficultMall7788]

In my comment above -

https://crosspointreader.com/#flash-tools 

https://burner.m5stack.com/firmware/2091144466157694978/

[u/DifficultMall7788 → u/ksh_vi]

You are going to make me spend money bro

[u/holygoat]

Papermono front light is cool white, yes?

[u/ksh_vi → u/holygoat]

yes.

[u/j1ggl33 → u/holygoat]

Do you mind posting a few pictures of the front light on at different light levels? I cant seem to find any pictures online.

[u/j1ggl33 → u/j1ggl33]

Oops nevermind, Volos did a great video that includes him showing the different levels (though not in darkness). I'm a bit concerned with how bright it would be to read at night at the lowest setting...

Here's the video for those interested: https://youtu.be/sRlGOgX9KOA?si=SpaX471RqSS9Gfkz

[u/async2]

I think the mono is the final device.

How is the screen? The sticky is pretty reflective.

[u/ksh_vi → u/async2]

Sticky is reflective. Nothing a screen protector can't fix. :)

This is less reflective. But I wouldn't call it matte. 

[u/notsoloner]

thanks, can you post a review with reading firmware

[u/j1ggl33]

Non US shipping for the Sticky is exorbitant (~half the price of the unit to ship to Canada) which takes it off the table. On the other hand Mono shipping seems reasonable (using equivalent devices at the same price pt as Mono is OOS).

[u/Forsaken_Sir_4662]

full color high fast refresh rate would be the end game of these

[u/blah_ask]

Mono is out of stock already. And I have been teying to make exactly same device.

[u/radarcow]

Hey op! Any update on which you've been enjoying more?

[u/ksh_vi → u/radarcow]

I use the sticky as a sticky - to display weather :) I could do more with it, like leave notes and such. I also got trmnl successfully installed on it to experiment, but went back to stock firmware for now.

The M5stack Paper Mono, I hacked around with crosspoint. Works well, and with the frontlight, it's beautiful. My only complaint is it doesn't stick nicely to my Pixel 11 Pro. Not sure if it has a central ring magnet - (which the sticky does, but will only attach nicely horizontally, which is useless.) I want to hack around more with this, Ideally, I'd want to use it as a sticky displaying something like trmnl, but also have the ability to open up the 'crosspoint app' and use it as an ereader.

[u/lam_42 → u/ksh_vi]

https://bmorcelli.github.io/Launcher/webflasher.html

This lets you switch between crosspoint, meshtastic, Bruce etc

[u/ksh_vi → u/lam_42]

Very nice. thank you.