M5Stack Launches the Tablet-Like Tab5 HMI Module — Powered by Espressif's ESP32-P4
Compact 5" touchscreen hides impressive expansion potential — with a keyboard already in the works.
Embedded and hobbyist electronics specialist M5Stack has announced a new human-machine interface (HMI) terminal, the Tab5 — powered by Espressif's ESP32-P4 and featuring a 1280×720 capacitive touchscreen display and integrated two-megapixel cameras.
"Tab5 is engineered to address diverse application scenarios across industries," M5Stack claims of its latest creation. "In industrial settings, it functions as an effective HMI for control panels and data visualization. Its multi-protocol wireless support makes it ideal for smart home hubs and gateways. In education and maker spaces, it supports UIFlow 2.0, Arduino IDE, ESP-IDF and PlatformIO, enabling flexibility for both beginners and advanced developers. With a built-in camera and dual microphones, it also enables AI [Artificial Intelligence] vision and voice interaction for use cases like smart kiosks and voice-controlled terminals."
The Tab5 is built around Espressif's ESP32-P4 microcontroller, giving it two 32-bit RISC-V cores running at an impressive 400MHz. There's 32MB of pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM) to extend the microcontroller's 768kB of on-chip SRAM, plus 16MB of flash storage — and an Espressif ESP32-C6-MINI-1U module serves as a communications coprocessor for single-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.
The front of the device is dominated by a GT911 capacitive touchscreen display, a 5" unit with a 1280×720 resolution. There's a 1600×1200 resolution front-facing camera, connected over a MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI), and dual microphones. For mobile opration, there's a Bosch Sensortec BMI270 six-axis inertial measurement unit, and a microSD Card slot for additional storage.
The Tab5 isn't just designed to hang on a wall, though: a model is available with internal 2Ah battery for portable use, as well as supporting optional external NP-F550 lithium batteries, and there are expansion capabilities including Grove, M5Bus, GPIO.EXT, and RS485 connectors, USB Type-A Host and USB Type-C On-The-Go (OTG), a 3.5mm analog audio jack, and solder pads compatible with STAMP add-ons. The company has also confirmed it is developing a keyboard that sits below the display — though at the time of writing this was not yet available.
The Tab5 is now available to order through the M5Stack store.