Cyborg Gadgets
Rough list of little computers people flash with their own firmware — pick by job, not by hype photo
← Cyborg wave hub · Shopping list (carts) · Principles · Character path · GFAVIP badge
Sources that sparked this page:
- @marckohlbrugge — which gadget should you get? · live directory: buildinpublic.com/gadgets
- @Piefena — ~$15 all-in-one ESP32 box + face → $79 product thesis
- Earlier vibe: @steveruizok — if you know what a coding agent is, buy one of these
This is not a full catalog and not sponsored. Prices move; check Amazon / Ali / Pi Hut / brand shops. For our first-order carts and BOM discipline, use /cyborg-shopping. This page answers: what are people actually putting on desks?
How to choose (before the table)
| If you want… | Look at | Our path |
|---|---|---|
| Status display + low power / paper-like UI | E-ink: TRMNL, PaperS3, Inkplate, T5, Wireless Paper | E‑paper console |
| Talking desk character / face + mic + speaker | ESP32-S3-BOX, Atom Echo, StackChan, cheap “XiaoZhi-class” kits | Character device |
| Modular stick / event / quick demos | M5 StickS3, StickC PLUS2, AtomS3, CoreS3 | M5 path |
| Keyboard + portable “agent remote” | LilyGO T-Deck / Plus / Pro, Cardputer | Field notes below → map to badge / dump later |
| Always-on desk pixel / touch UI | Waveshare AMOLED, CYD, Guition panels, Ulanzi TC001 | Desk status cousin of e‑paper path |
| Wearable / watch form | PineTime, Watchy, T-Watch, Bangle.js | Personal wearables layer |
| Community product / lanyard | E-paper or stick + shell | GFAVIP badge |
Rule from cyborg principles: one job per device. Don’t buy three “AI boxes” that all do half-broken chat.
Thesis to keep (Piefena / character wave)
A cheap ESP32-S3 + screen + mic + speaker + case can demo what startups raised millions for — as long as the brain stays in the cloud and the product has a face + one clear purpose. BOM-class boxes often land ~$8–30 electronics; polished shell + personality is the sell. Same story as /cyborg-character and StackChan-class desktop robots on M5.
Rough gadget list (curated from the public directory + X)
Prices are ballpark from Build in Public Gadgets (Aug 2026 snapshot) — treat as “order of magnitude.”
Displays & desk status
| Gadget | Maker | ~$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touch AMOLED 1.8 | Waveshare | ~28 | Often “recommended” in the directory — bright status / touch UI |
| ESP32-C6 Touch AMOLED 2.16 | Waveshare | ~31 | Newer C6 + color AMOLED class |
| ESP32-S3 1.75″ AMOLED round | Waveshare | ~43 | Round form; good case options; battery often separate (Pi Hut notes) |
| Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) | Sunton | ~8 | Budget color touch board — great for experiments |
| Ulanzi TC001 | Ulanzi | ~30 | Pixel-style desk display many builders flash custom firmware on |
| Guition wall panels (several sizes) | Guition | ~5–15 | Cheap wall/touch panels; pick by size |
| Sunton 7″ / CrowPanel class | Sunton / Elecrow | ~25–30 | Larger panels for dashboards |
E-ink / paper dashboards
| Gadget | Maker | ~$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRMNL (X / OG / BWRY) | TRMNL | ~139–229 | Polished e-ink product; community plugins; higher price, less “bare board” |
| PaperS3 / CoreInk | M5Stack | ~30–70 | Modular e-ink in M5 ecosystem |
| Inkplate 2 / 6 / 6COLOR / 10 | Soldered | ~35–120 | Classic e-ink DIY boards |
| T5 4.7″ E-Paper | LilyGO | ~35 | LilyGO e-paper line |
| Wireless Paper / Vision Master E290 | Heltec | ~25–30 | E-paper + wireless options |
| reTerminal E1001–E1004 | Seeed | ~65–288 | More productized e-ink terminals |
| Waveshare ESP32-S3 e-Paper AIoT 1.54″ | Waveshare | ~30 | Our Cart A class — mic + e-paper on one board |
M5Stack / modular
| Gadget | ~$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CoreS3 / Core2 | ~45–55 | Full “core” with screen; AIFlow / Arduino path — see M5 path |
| Cardputer / Cardputer ADV | ~30–35 | Keyboard + screen — portable CLI vibes |
| M5StickC PLUS2 / StickS3 | ~18–25 | Stick form factor; demos & badges |
| Atom Echo / AtomS3 | ~8–12 | Tiny voice / LED nodes |
| StackChan AI Desktop Robot | ~99 | Open desktop robot character — close to talking-desk thesis |
| M5Dial / Tab5 | ~32–55 | Dial UI / tablet-ish form |
Keyboard / “agent remote” (LilyGO T-Deck family)
| Gadget | ~$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| T-Deck | ~43 | Keyboard + LoRa-capable class device; hot in gadget lists |
| T-Deck Plus | ~60 | Upgraded deck |
| T-Deck Pro | ~94 | Often mentioned as “ticks many boxes” (screen, keys, radio class) |
| T-Display-S3 / AMOLED / Dongle / QT | ~10–25 | Cheap color sticks for status / badges |
| T-Watch S3 / Ultra · T-Echo · T-Lora Pager | ~40–78 | Wearable / radio / pager form factors |
Voice / HA / “AI box”
| Gadget | Maker | ~$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESP32-S3-BOX-3 | Espressif | ~45 | Official-ish voice box; mic + speaker + screen class |
| HA Voice Preview Edition | Nabu Casa | ~59 | Home Assistant voice path |
| Generic “$15 transparent AI box” | Various | ~15–30 | Piefena-class: S3 + screen + mic + speaker + case; cloud LLM (XiaoZhi etc.) |
Wearables & specialty
| Gadget | ~$ | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PineTime | ~27 | Open watch platform |
| Watchy | ~50 | E-ink watch DIY |
| Bangle.js 2 | ~90 | JS-hackable watch |
| Flipper Zero | ~165 | Security multi-tool culture — different job than desk agent status |
| Stream Deck (15 keys) | ~130 | Not ESP32; still a “physical CLI” for agents/macros |
| Brilliant Labs Halo | ~399 | Premium wearable AI class — different budget tier |
| Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 / T-Beam | ~15–35 | Mesh / LoRa experiments (Meshtastic-adjacent desks) |
Map gadgets → our cyborg jobs
| Job | Good enough hardware class | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Desk Big 3 + agent status | E-paper AIoT, TRMNL, PaperS3, CYD | epaper · Cart A |
| Voice dump to Arthur | Board with mic (Waveshare AIoT, BOX-3, Atom Echo) | epaper · character |
| Talking desk character | StackChan / $15 face box / OLED+mic+speaker BOM | character |
| Event / pocket demo | StickS3, StickC, Cardputer | m5 |
| GFAVIP lanyard identity | E-paper or stick + shell + provision API | badge |
| Offline intent node | ESP32-S3 16MB+PSRAM + INMP441 | swarm · Cart D |
What we’d buy first (opinionated)
- Still Cart A — Waveshare ESP32-S3 e-Paper AIoT (+ LiPo) if the goal is HEOS status + dump. See shopping list.
- Or one M5 stick/core if you want demos faster than bare firmware pain.
- Skip buying five T-Decks + a Flipper + TRMNL “because Twitter” until one dump loop is boring-reliable.
- Character shell later — prove cloud voice loop on a plain BOX/kit before $99 robot face.
Living list
Update when the public gadgets directory or our desk kit changes. This page is a map + filter, not a mirror of every SKU. Suggest additions in the usual places (X / HEOS notes) with: form factor, rough price, and which cyborg job it serves.
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