Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 5.0 (ESP32-P4)
5" 800x480 HMI touchscreen built on the ESP32-P4 with 32MB PSRAM - Wi-Fi 6 comes from an onboard ESP32-C6, and a socket takes optional Zigbee, LoRa or nRF24 radio modules.
Pinout
47 pins
| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | IO2LCD_DE | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data enable |
| 2 | 3 | IO3LCD_PCLK | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel pixel clock (16MHz) |
| 3 | 4 | IO4LCD_B7 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 4 | 5 | IO5LCD_B6 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 5 | 6 | IO6LCD_B5 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 6 | 7 | IO7LCD_B4 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 7 | 8 | IO8LCD_B3 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 8 | 9 | IO9LCD_G7 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 9 | 10 | IO10LCD_G6 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 10 | 11 | IO11LCD_G5 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 11 | 12 | IO12LCD_G4 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 12 | 13 | IO13LCD_G3 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 13 | 14 | IO14LCD_G2 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 14 | 15 | IO15LCD_R7 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 15 | 16 | IO16LCD_R6 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 16 | 17 | IO17LCD_R5 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 17 | 18 | IO18LCD_R4 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 18 | 19 | IO19LCD_R3 | safe | - | Internal - RGB panel data |
| 19 | 21 | IO21I2S_LRCK | safe | - | Internal I2S word clock to the NS4168 speaker amplifiers |
| 20 | 22 | IO22I2S_SCLK | safe | - | Internal I2S bit clock to the NS4168 speaker amplifiers |
| 21 | 23 | IO23I2S_SDOUT | safe | - | Internal I2S data out to the NS4168 speaker amplifiers |
| 22 | 24 | IO24MIC_CLK | uart | - | Internal - PDM microphone clock |
| 23 | 25 | IO25MIC_DATA | uart | - | Internal - PDM microphone data |
| 24 | 26 | IO26SPI_CLK | safe | spi | On the GPIO header - shared SPI clock for the display init interface and the wireless module socket |
| 25 | 27 | IO27UART3_TX | uart | uart | UART3-IN port - the port also accepts 5V/2A power input |
| 26 | 28 | IO28UART3_RX | uart | uart | UART3-IN port - the port also accepts 5V/2A power input |
| 27 | 29 | IO29GPIO_HDR | safe | - | Free GPIO on the 2x8 header - also routed to the wireless module socket |
| 28 | 30 | IO30GPIO_HDR | safe | - | Free GPIO on the 2x8 header - also the wireless module socket's BUSY line when a module is fitted |
| 29 | 31 | IO31GPIO_HDR | uart | uart | Free GPIO on the 2x8 header - also wired to the wireless module socket as UART2 TX |
| 30 | 32 | IO32C6_RST | safe | - | Reset line for the onboard ESP32-C6 radio (ESP-Hosted) - also routed to the GPIO header and module socket (UART2 RX), but leave it to the radio driver |
| 31 | 36 | IO36TP_RST | strapping | - | Internal - GT911 touch controller reset |
| 32 | 37 | IO37TXD0 | strapping | uart | UART0 - flashing and logs via the CH340K USB-C port |
| 33 | 38 | IO38RXD0 | strapping | uart | UART0 - flashing and logs via the CH340K USB-C port |
| 34 | 39 | IO39SD_D0 | safe | - | microSD slot - data 0 (card select is hard-wired to GND) |
| 35 | 42 | IO42TP_INT | safe | - | Internal - GT911 touch controller interrupt |
| 36 | 43 | IO43SD_SCK | safe | - | microSD slot - clock |
| 37 | 44 | IO44SD_CMD | safe | - | microSD slot - command |
| 38 | 45 | IO45SDA | safe | i2c | Shared I2C bus - Crowtail I2C port, GT911 touch and the STC8 backlight controller (0x2F); add devices, don't repurpose |
| 39 | 46 | IO46SCL | safe | i2c | Shared I2C bus - same bus as IO45 |
| 40 | 47 | IO47UART1_TXSPI_MOSI | uart | uart · spi | Crowtail UART1 port and GPIO header, shared with the wireless module socket SPI - a DIP switch selects which is active |
| 41 | 48 | IO48UART1_RX | uart | uart · spi | Crowtail UART1 port and GPIO header, shared with the wireless module socket SPI - a DIP switch selects which is active |
| 42 | 49 | IO49C6_SDIO_D3 | safe | - | Reserved - SDIO data to the onboard ESP32-C6 radio (ESP-Hosted link), not usable as GPIO |
| 43 | 50 | IO50C6_SDIO_D2 | safe | - | Reserved - SDIO data to the onboard ESP32-C6 radio, not usable as GPIO |
| 44 | 51 | IO51C6_SDIO_D1 | safe | - | Reserved - SDIO data to the onboard ESP32-C6 radio, not usable as GPIO |
| 45 | 52 | IO52C6_SDIO_D0 | safe | - | Reserved - SDIO data to the onboard ESP32-C6 radio, not usable as GPIO |
| 46 | 53 | IO53C6_SDIO_CLK | safe | - | Reserved - SDIO clock to the onboard ESP32-C6 radio, not usable as GPIO |
| 47 | 54 | IO54C6_SDIO_CMD | safe | - | Reserved - SDIO command to the onboard ESP32-C6 radio, not usable as GPIO |
Start with these
42 pins with no boot or system involvementFreely 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| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| IO36 | GPIO36 | Sampled at reset for boot mode and log output; driving it at boot can change the boot mode or silence/enable ROM logs. Free after reset. | Strapping |
| IO37 | GPIO37 | Sampled at reset as a boot-mode strap; avoid holding it at a fixed level during boot unless intentionally configuring boot mode. Free after reset. | Strapping |
| IO38 | GPIO38 | Sampled at reset as a boot-mode strap; avoid holding it at a fixed level during boot unless intentionally configuring boot mode. Free after reset. | Strapping |
Only if you know the tricks
wired to flash or USB - expect a fight| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| IO24 | USB_D- (GPIO24) | Enabled as USB by default (used for flashing and console); using it as GPIO requires disabling/reconfiguring the USB Serial/JTAG function. | USB |
| IO25 | USB_D+ (GPIO25) | Enabled as USB by default (used for flashing and console); using it as GPIO requires disabling/reconfiguring the USB Serial/JTAG function. | USB |
Pinout notes All 47 pins on the Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 5.0 (ESP32-P4) are usable GPIO. Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO45 and SCL on…
All 47 pins on the Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 5.0 (ESP32-P4) are usable GPIO.
Peripheral wiring is straightforward: I²C is mapped to SDA on GPIO45 and SCL on GPIO46.
3 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-P4 (IO36, IO37 and IO38) - check the guidance above before wiring anything to them. IO2, IO3, IO4, IO5 and 38 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks.
Most of the P4's pins are spoken for by the display: the 800x480 panel runs on a 16-bit RGB565 parallel bus (IO4-IO19 data, DE on IO2, PCLK on IO3, HSYNC/VSYNC on IO40/IO41). User I/O comes out through the ports instead: a Crowtail I2C port on IO45/IO46, a Crowtail UART1 port on IO47/IO48, a UART3-IN port on IO27/IO28 that doubles as a 5V/2A power input, and a 2x8 GPIO header carrying 3V3/5V rails plus IO26, IO29, IO30, IO31, IO32, IO47 and IO48 - of which only IO29, IO30 and IO31 are truly free general-purpose pins.
The I2C bus on IO45/IO46 is shared with the GT911 touch controller and the STC8 housekeeping MCU (address 0x2F) that controls the backlight - add devices to it, don't repurpose the pins. IO26/IO47/IO48 are likewise shared with the wireless module socket's SPI bus, selected by a DIP switch on the back: module mode and UART1 mode are mutually exclusive. The socket also routes the I2C bus and IO29-IO32, so header pins stop being free once a radio module is plugged in.
The onboard ESP32-C6 radio occupies IO49-IO54 as a dedicated SDIO link plus IO32 for reset - those pins are not available for your own use. The microSD slot sits on IO39/IO43/IO44 (card select is hard-wired), audio I2S is on IO21-IO23 and the PDM mic on IO24/IO25. UART0 flashing and logs go through the CH340K USB-C port.
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutesBoard: ESP32P4 Dev Module USB CDC On Boot: Enabled Flash Size: 16MB (128Mb) PSRAM: QSPI PSRAM Partition Scheme: 16M Flash (3MB APP / 9.9MB FATFS) Upload Speed: 921600
// blink the onboard LED
void setup() {
pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(2, HIGH); delay(500);
digitalWrite(2, LOW); delay(500);
}[env:elecrow-crowpanel-advance-5-esp32-p4]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
board_build.arduino.memory_type = qio_qspi
build_flags = -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAMesp32dev — or type it after board =.esp32:
board: esp32dev
variant:
framework:
type: esp-idf
psram:
mode: quad
speed: 80MHz
# blink - GPIO2
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 2
id: led_out
light:
- platform: binary
name: "LED"
output: led_outesp32dev (same ids as PlatformIO).esptool.py --chip esp32p4 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
--baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).Good to know
board-specific quirks worth 60 seconds
The P4 talks to an ESP32-C6-MINI-1 over a dedicated SDIO link ( IO49 - IO54 , reset on IO32 ) running ESP-Hosted firmware. In ESPHome this is the esp32_hosted component; in ESP-IDF and Arduino the hosted driver makes Wi-Fi look native. The C6 ships pre-programmed at the factory - per Elecrow's own wiki, it can't be reprogrammed directly through the P4. Some users report Wi-Fi dropping after a few minutes on the…
The P4 talks to an ESP32-C6-MINI-1 over a dedicated SDIO link (IO49-IO54, reset on IO32) running ESP-Hosted firmware. In ESPHome this is the esp32_hosted component; in ESP-IDF and Arduino the hosted driver makes Wi-Fi look native. The C6 ships pre-programmed at the factory - per Elecrow's own wiki, it can't be reprogrammed directly through the P4. Some users report Wi-Fi dropping after a few minutes on the stock ESP-Hosted firmware (v2.3.0), needing a power cycle to recover; the UART pads for a direct fix aren't populated on the board, though a community-built OTA workaround exists.
If Wi-Fi is flaky or the board resets when the link comes up, drop sdio_frequency from the default 40MHz to 10-20MHz - Elecrow's own ESPHome example runs the link at 10MHz for stability.
Like the rest of the Advance series, there's a socket on the back for optional radio modules - ESP32-H2 (Zigbee/Thread), LoRa , nRF2401 or Wi-Fi HaLow . The socket's SPI bus ( IO26 / IO47 / IO48 ) shares pins with the Crowtail UART1 port, and a DIP switch selects which one is wired up. If UART1 (or a Crowtail sensor on it) has gone dead, check the function DIP switch first - in module mode those pins…
Like the rest of the Advance series, there's a socket on the back for optional radio modules - ESP32-H2 (Zigbee/Thread), LoRa, nRF2401 or Wi-Fi HaLow. The socket's SPI bus (IO26/IO47/IO48) shares pins with the Crowtail UART1 port, and a DIP switch selects which one is wired up.
If UART1 (or a Crowtail sensor on it) has gone dead, check the function DIP switch first - in module mode those pins belong to the socket.
Backlight brightness is handled by a small STC8 housekeeping MCU , not a P4 GPIO: you write register 0x20 with a value of 0-100 to I2C address 0x2F on the shared bus ( IO45 / IO46 ). The same chip drives the touch controller's reset. Elecrow's examples do this in an on_boot lambda - without that write the panel stays dark even though your firmware is running fine. A black screen after a successful flash…
Backlight brightness is handled by a small STC8 housekeeping MCU, not a P4 GPIO: you write register 0x20 with a value of 0-100 to I2C address 0x2F on the shared bus (IO45/IO46). The same chip drives the touch controller's reset. Elecrow's examples do this in an on_boot lambda - without that write the panel stays dark even though your firmware is running fine.
A black screen after a successful flash usually means the backlight command never ran - check the serial log over UART0 before debugging the display driver itself.
Gallery
4 photos
Specifications
ESP32-P4 · 131 × 80 mmAbout this board
Around the module: 32MB PSRAM, an IPS LCD 5.0" 800x480 display with touch, a microSD slot, a microphone (PDM MEMS), a speaker (2x 3W 4 Ohm), an amplifier (2x NS4168), battery charging (TP4059) via PH2.0-2P, status LEDs (Power, Charge) and Boot/Reset buttons.
The Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 5.0 ESP32-P4 is the CrowPanel Advance formula with the controller swapped out. We've spent real time with this series - see our review of the ESP32-S3 CrowPanel Advance 7.0, and our three-generation CrowPanel comparison for how it stacks up against this board - and the format held up well: decent IPS panel, tidy Crowtail ports, and the clever swappable radio module socket. The consistent ceiling was the ESP32-S3 itself, which starts wheezing once an LVGL interface gets busy. This board answers that with an ESP32-P4: dual RISC-V cores at 400 MHz, 16 MB flash and 32 MB of PSRAM - four times what the S3 versions had to work with.
The P4 brings a wrinkle the S3 boards didn't have: no radio at all. Wi-Fi comes from an onboard ESP32-C6 over an SDIO link running ESP-Hosted firmware, which gets you 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 and works transparently enough in ESP-IDF and ESPHome. Bluetooth 5.3 is on the spec sheet, but the hosted stack is Wi-Fi first - plan as if BLE isn't there. The module socket is the same one we plugged ESP32-H2 and nRF24 modules into on the 7.0, so Zigbee, Thread, LoRa or Wi-Fi HaLow remain a module away.
The "AI display" angle is more than marketing this time: two 3W speakers, a PDM microphone, and a MIPI-CSI camera header (2MP camera sold separately) that the P4's ISP and H.264 encoder can actually feed - voice-assistant panels and camera experiments are realistic here, not aspirational. A microSD slot, GPIO header and PH2.0 battery connector with charging round out the I/O.
Our honest read: this is first-wave P4 hardware. Current units ship engineering-sample silicon, ESP-IDF is the primary path, Arduino support leans on Elecrow's prepared package, and you'll copy their worked examples rather than wire things up from library docs. At around $43 it's one of the cheapest ways to get a P4 with a screen attached - but if you just need a dependable HMI today and 8 MB of PSRAM is enough, the S3-based CrowPanels are the more boring, safer buy.
- 5" 800x480 IPS panel (400 cd/m2) on a 16-bit RGB565 parallel bus, with GT911 5-point capacitive touch
- 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 via onboard ESP32-C6-MINI-1 running ESP-Hosted over SDIO (Bluetooth 5.3 on paper, Wi-Fi-first in practice)
- Wireless module socket for optional ESP32-H2 (Zigbee/Thread), LoRa, nRF2401 or Wi-Fi HaLow modules, DIP-switch shared with UART1
- Dual 3W speakers on two NS4168 I2S amplifiers plus a PDM microphone for voice-assistant builds
- MIPI-CSI camera header - optional 2MP camera, backed by the P4's ISP for face detection and object tracking
- 32 MB PSRAM and 16 MB flash - LVGL at 800x480 fits comfortably
- Two USB-C ports - UART0 flashing/logs via CH340K, plus native USB 2.0 (also used for supplementary power)
- Crowtail I2C and UART ports, 2x8 GPIO header (IO26, IO29-IO32, IO47, IO48 + 3V3/5V rails), microSD (TF) slot
- PH2.0 battery connector with TP4059 charging (430mA max) and a power switch
- STC8 housekeeping MCU handles backlight brightness (I2C, address 0x2F) and touch reset
- Boot and Reset buttons; -20 to 70 degrees C operating range
FAQ
6 common questionsDoes the CrowPanel Advance 5.0 ESP32-P4 work with ESPHome?›
Does it have Bluetooth?›
How is this different from the ESP32-S3 CrowPanel Advance 5.0?›
How do I program it?›
Is a camera included?›
Can it do Zigbee or Thread?›
Where to buy
prices are typical street prices