Adafruit MagTag 2.9"

ESP32-S2 board with a 2.9" E-Ink display - perfect for low-power dashboards, signage, and to-do lists.

USB-C Native USB
Adafruit MagTag 2.9" board
80 × 53.5 mm
ESP32-S2
MCU
240MHz
clock
4MB
flash
320KB
SRAM
29· 20 ADC
GPIO
Wi-Fi
radio
On this page

Pinout

29 pins
View:
Adafruit MagTag 2.9" pinout diagram
PinGPIOLabelsStatusCapabilitiesNotes
10PIN_BUTTON5strapping-
21PIN_NEOPIXELA2PWMsafeadc
32A3PWMsafeadc
43LIGHT_SENSORA4PWMsafeadc
54BATT_MONITORA5PWMsafeadc
65EPD_BUSYA6PWMsafeadc
76EPD_RESETA7PWMsafeadc
87EPD_DCA8PWMsafeadc
98EPD_CSSSA9PWMsafeadc · spi
109ACCEL_IRQA10PWMstrappingadc
1110A11T10PWMstrappingadc · touch
1211PIN_BUTTON4A12PWMstrappingadc
1312PIN_BUTTON3A13PWMstrappingadc
1413LED_BUILTINA14PWMstrappingadc
1514PIN_BUTTON2A15PWMstrappingadc
1615PIN_BUTTON1A16PWMstrappingadc
1716SPEAKER_SHUTDOWNA17PWMstrappingadc
1817A0DAC1PWMsafeadc · dac
1918A1DAC2PWMsafeadc · dac
2019A18PWMuartadc
2120A19PWMuartadc
2221NEOPIXEL_POWERPWMsafe-
2333SDAPWMstrappingi2c
2434SCLPWMstrappingi2c
2535MOSIPWMstrappingspi
2636SCKPWMstrappingspi
2737MISOPWMstrappingspi
2843TXPWMuartuart
2944RXPWMuartuart

Start with these

13 pins with no boot or system involvement
PIN_NEOPIXELA2A3PWMLIGHT_SENSORA4BATT_MONITORA5EPD_BUSYA6EPD_RESETA7EPD_DCA8EPD_CSSSA0DAC1A1DAC2NEOPIXEL_POWERPWMTXPWMRXPWM

Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.

Fine - with a little care

sampled at boot or shared with debug/serial
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
PIN_BUTTON5GPIO0Must be pulled high for normal boot; pulling low at reset enters bootloader (download mode). Also serves as SPI flash data-in (SPID) line when using external flash memory.Strapping
PIN_BUTTON1XTAL_32K_PIf an external 32 kHz crystal is used for RTC, this pin is dedicated to the crystal and cannot be used as GPIO.Other
SPEAKER_SHUTDOWNXTAL_32K_NIf using an external 32 kHz crystal, this pin is connected to the crystal and should not be used as general I/O.Other

Only if you know the tricks

wired to flash or USB - expect a fight
PinLabelWhat to knowRole
ACCEL_IRQFSPIHDTypically used as flash/PSRAM IO line in certain configurations; avoid using as GPIO if flash or PSRAM is present.Flash
A11FSPICS0Often used as flash chip select in some designs; not available for GPIO when controlling flash.Flash
PIN_BUTTON4FSPIDUsed for flash data transfer in certain configurations; should be avoided for general use if flash is connected.Flash
PIN_BUTTON3FSPICLKUsed as flash clock line in some boards; not free for GPIO if driving flash.Flash
LED_BUILTINFSPIQUsed for flash data output in certain configurations; avoid using as GPIO if connected to flash.Flash
PIN_BUTTON2FSPIWPUsed as flash write-protect/data line on some modules; not recommended for other usage.Flash
A18USB_D-Used for USB communication; using this pin as general GPIO can interfere with USB functionality.USB
A19USB_D+Dedicated to USB interface; repurposing as GPIO may disrupt USB connectivity.USB
SDASPIHDConnected to SPI flash (hold/data line); not available for general-purpose use.Flash
SCLSPIWPConnected to SPI flash (write-protect/data line); not recommended for other use.Flash
MOSIFSPIDUsed by internal flash/PSRAM on some ESP32-S2 variants; avoid using as GPIO to prevent conflicts.Flash
SCKFSPICLKMay be connected to internal flash or used for high-speed SPI; not intended for general GPIO use.Flash
MISOFSPIQUsed for internal flash/PSRAM data in some models; should not be repurposed for GPIO.Flash
These are recommendations, not hard rules - with the right pull-ups, timing and boot-state awareness most pins can be made to work. When in doubt, start green.
Pinout notes The Adafruit MagTag 2.9" pinout brings out 29 GPIO pins - every one of them usable in your project. For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO33 and SCL on…

The Adafruit MagTag 2.9" pinout brings out 29 GPIO pins - every one of them usable in your project.

For peripherals, I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO33 and SCL on GPIO34; the SPI bus (MOSI, MISO, SCK, SS) is broken out in full; TX/RX on GPIO43 and GPIO44 cover serial logging and flashing.

On the analog side there are 20 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 1 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.

If you want zero surprises, PIN_NEOPIXEL, A3, LIGHT_SENSOR, BATT_MONITOR and 9 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 3 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S2 (PIN_BUTTON5, PIN_BUTTON1 and SPEAKER_SHUTDOWN).

Getting started

flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes
Tool:
1
Connect over USB
Native USB - no driver, no serial chip. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.
2
Flash with your tool
Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, ESPHome or esptool - copy the settings on the right.
3
Verify it runs
The blink example uses GPIO1 - swap for your board's LED pin if different.
Tools → Board settings Copy
Board:            Magtag29 Esp32s2
USB CDC On Boot:  Enabled
Flash Size:       4MB · DIO
Upload Speed:     921600

// blink
pinMode(1, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(1, LOW);   // on (often inverted)
platformio.ini Copy
[env:adafruit_magtag29_esp32s2]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s2-saola-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
device.yaml Copy
esp32:
  board: esp32-s2-saola-1
  variant: adafruit_magtag29_esp32s2
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# blink - GPIO1
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: 1
    id: led_out
light:
  - platform: binary
    name: "LED"
    output: led_out
shell Copy
esptool.py --chip esp32s2 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
  write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin
Build details: sketch space 1310720 B · data 327680 B · DIO

Specifications

ESP32-S2 · 80 × 53.5 mm
Compute
MCU
ESP32-S2
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
320 KB · 4MB · 2MB (QSPI) PSRAM
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz
Bluetooth
-
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
29 · 20
UART · I²C · SPI
2 · 1 · 4
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
USB-C
Serial
Native (CDC)
Boot address
0x1000
Display
Screen
ePaper · 2.9" · 296x128
Driver
SSD1680
Touch
No
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · QIO
Sketch · Data
1.25 MB · 320 KB
53.5 mm80 mm
80 × 53.5 mm
The Adafruit MagTag 2.9" uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is DIO with QIO boot mode. The maximum sketch size is 1.25 MB with 320 KB available for data.

About this board

At its core is the ESP32-S2 - a single-core Xtensa with native USB-OTG and no Bluetooth.

Expect to pay about $34.95 - above the ~$20 typical for ESP32-S2 boards.

Onboard you'll find 2MB (QSPI) PSRAM, an ePaper 2.9" 296x128 display, a STEMMA QT connector, a speaker, an amplifier, an addressable RGB LED (GPIO1), an ambient-light sensor, battery charging via JST-PH 2.0 and D15/D14/D12/D11/Boot/Reset buttons.

It flashes over native USB - no serial-converter driver needed, which isn't a given among ESP32-S2 boards.

  • LIS3DH triple-axis accelerometer
  • M3 standoff mounts for magnetic feet (metal-surface mounting)
  • Two STEMMA 3-pin JST connectors (D10, A1)

Where to buy

prices are typical street prices
Adafruit MagTag 2.9"
Adafruit MagTag 2.9"
$34.95per unit, typical

Resources

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