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E-Ink watch runs on solar power [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2026-09-01  

LightInk is an e-ink wristwatch (compare to Watchy) that can run exclusively on solar power. A tribute to the solar watches of yore, the inexpensive ESP32-based design brings WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRa and GPS to a tiny wearable device with a 200×200 1.54-inch display panel. It even plays the Tetris theme!

This project started long time ago in 2019, with the idea to build a solar watch that can use LORA packets to communicate to a receiver at home. Back then i started with a Heltec Wireless stick lite and an external eink display. Then I discovered "Watchy" https://watchy.sqfmi.com/ and immediately bought one, it didn't have what i wanted (sleek design, LORA, and solar), however i though it was a very good foundation. Back then, I contributed to Watchy many patches to optimize the display as much as I could, but at some point, that was not enough and new Hardware was needed. I tested Watchy + Solar cell and all I could get was 40 days of uptime.

Only 40 days on a charge? Just imagine if you had to charge your phone or car every month! The creator is Daniel Ansorregui, an electrical engineer interesting in the extreme optimizion of solar-powered technology. Here's the github repo.

Previously: an e-ink PDA inspired by wizards, a prototype of e-ink playing cards, a DIY e-ink picture frame for random AI art, an e-ink keyboard that changes for every purpose, and a tiny e-ink note-taking gadget.

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