Heltec Vision Master E213

Heltec Automation

868/915 MHz MHz SX1262 ESP32

The Heltec Vision Master E213 (HT-VME213) is a compact development kit based on the ESP32-S3R8 microcontroller with a 2.13-inch black-and-white E-Ink display (250 x 122 pixels, supports partial refresh). It offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (BLE), and an optional LoRa module with an SX1262 chip, and is compatible with open-source projects such as Meshtastic. Thanks to its very low power consumption (20 µA in deep sleep) and an E-Ink display that retains content for up to 180 days without power, it is particularly well-suited for battery-powered IoT and LoRa mesh applications. Integrated battery management (SH1.25-2 connector) and two SH2.0-4P sensor interfaces expand its range of applications.

Hardware Specifications

MCU

ESP32

RAM

-

Flash

-

Display

E-Ink (2.13)

Button Count

-

Has LEDs

false

Weight

-

Dimensions

-

LoRa Specifications

LoRa Chip

SX1262

Frequency Band

868/915 MHz MHz

Max. TX Power

-

Antenna Type

-

Connectivity

WiFi

true

Bluetooth

true

GPS

false

Power

USB Type

USB-C

Battery Connector

SH1.25-2

Solar Support

false

Power Consumption (Idle)

-

Power Consumption (TX)

-

Firmware Support

Room Server v1.18.0 28.09.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/10/15/release-1-18-0

BLE Companion v1.18.0 28.09.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/10/15/release-1-18-0

USB Companion v1.18.0 28.09.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/10/15/release-1-18-0

Repeater v1.18.0 02.10.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/10/15/release-1-18-0

Repeater v1.15.0-evo_0.1.21 17.03.2026 Release

⚠️ Check that radio.rxgain(on) and flood.advert.base (0.308) are set correctly after flashing! ⚠️

This build is based on official MeshCore 1.15.0 dev branch (as of 25-May-2026 and additionally includes the following unmerged upstream PRs/changes:

Additional changes:
  • Flood adverts are disabled (flood.advert.interval set to 0) by default
  • :new: modified PR1810 to not block flood adverts but only PAYLOADTYPEGRPTXT and PAYLOADTYPEGRPDATA so that some limited flood advert distribution can be managed via PR2553 to support e.g. observer maps.
Changelog:
  • Based on dev v1.15.0 as of 25-May-2026
Full Changelog: https://github.com/mattzzw/MeshCore-Evo/compare/v1.15.0-evo0.1.20...v1.15.0-evo0.1.21
BLE Companion pre-release-Heltec-E213-Wireless-Paper-E290 11.06.2026 Release
v1.16_0611 pre-release for Heltec E213, Wireless Paper and E290
  • New device: Heltec Vision Master E213 — full support (Companion, Repeater, Room Server).
The Heltec Vision Master E213 is now fully supported. It is an ESP32-S3 based board with a 2.13" e-ink display, SX1262 LoRa radio, and a USB-C port. The complete companion UI runs on the e-ink display — Quick Send, Contacts, Settings, Saved Locations, GPS Trace, and message preview. Repeater and Room Server firmware are also provided.

Notable characteristics:

  • Always-on e-ink display — no screen timeout; the display retains its content indefinitely without power.

  • Native multilingual text — Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts render natively.

  • I2C sensor support — environment sensors (temperature, humidity, pressure...) can be connected via the QuickLink I2C port.

  • Two user buttons — the second button (GPIO21) makes navigation faster: press it to scroll up in any list, or to go back/exit any menu.

  • New devices: Heltec Wireless Paper and Heltec Vision Master E290 — full support (Companion, Repeater, Room Server).

Two new e-ink boards are now supported:
  • Heltec Wireless Paper — ESP32-S3 with a 2.13" e-ink display (same resolution as E213), SX1262 LoRa radio, and a compact form factor. Shares the same companion UI and firmware variants as E213.
  • Heltec Vision Master E290 — ESP32-S3R8 with a larger 2.9" e-ink display (296×128), SX1262 LoRa radio, and a QuickLink I2C port for external sensors. The companion UI adapts automatically to the wider, taller display — showing more message lines and better-spaced layouts compared to the 2.13" boards.
Repeater MeshCore-low-power-v1.18.dev_1031 11.06.2026 Release
v1.181031
  • New: most of what the app sets can now be done on the node. (Companion)
  • Contacts: favourites, Remove contact, Reset path, Share contact, and a person's Permissions (Telemetry, Location, Environment, Remote CLI). See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#contact-action-screen).
  • Channels: + Add channel at the end of the conversation list (Public, and with the CardKB hashtag and private channels), Share and Invite in a channel's menu, Join channel on a received invite and Join #sos on a message naming a hashtag channel. See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#channels).
  • Settings: now in groups, with Auto-add and the telemetry settings added. Changes are saved when you leave Settings. See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#settings-page).
  • TerminalCLI: commands for the rest (auto-add, telemetry, position, flood scope, radio tuning, erase), and TerminalCLI in a person's menu for a node that allows you Remote CLI. See [Companion TerminalCLI Commands](CompanionTerminalCLICommands.md).
  • New: warning before messages or contacts run out of room. (Companion)
The node warns once when 20 places are left, counting places an older entry can give up, and alerts each message or contact lost once it is full.
  • New: radio presets on the node. (Companion)
Settings → Radio → Preset lists the region presets of the MeshCore app, then up to five of your own saved with set radio.custom.<N>; the header shows the selected one's frequency, bandwidth, SF and CR, and long press uses it. TX power stays as it is; Settings → Radio → TX Power picks it from a list in 3 dB steps. The config portal has the same Preset list in its Radio section and a Custom Radio Presets section for C1 to C5, which are included in backup/restore. See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#radio-preset-screen).
  • Changed: the Radio page shows the link instead of the settings. (Companion)
One row for the preset and TX power, then noise floor, RSSI / SNR of the last packet, packets received / sent, airtime and receive errors. Long press opens Preset, TX Power, RxGain and RxDuty. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#radio-page).
  • New: GPS interval and mode on the node. (Companion)
Long press on the GPS page opens GPS on/off, Interval (Always, 30s up to 1h) and Mode (which satellite systems are used). Mode is shown only when the GPS takes it: the built-in GPS of boards such as Heltec V4 and T096, or an ATGM336H on the GPS header. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#gps-page-optional).
  • Changed: the HT-CT62 keeps up to 250 contacts (was 350). (Companion, HT-CT62)
This leaves enough memory for Bluetooth. If your node has more than 250 contacts, remove the ones you don't need before updating. Otherwise, on the first start the node keeps your favourites, then the most recently heard contacts, and removes the rest together with their messages. Restoring a backup with more than 250 contacts does the same.
  • New: LoRa radio off. (Companion)
Settings → LoRa Radio or radio off; an icon in the Home header shows it, and a restart turns the radio back on.
  • New: repeater and room server tools. (Companion)
A repeater's menu has Ping (zero hop) and Trace path, a repeater's or room server's menu Request status. A login with no reply over the stored path is retried once by flood. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#path-trace-screen).
  • New: sensor contacts. (Companion)
Sensors appear in the contact list with a pulse trace icon; their menu has Request telemetry and, with the CardKB, TerminalCLI. A sensor answers telemetry only after you have logged in to it once with its admin password.
  • New: Refresh Frequency for e-ink screens. (Companion, e-ink)
Settings → Display → Refresh Frequency sets after how many screen changes a full refresh cleans the screen, done once you stop pressing keys: 1, 5, 10 (default), 15 or 30. Leaving Settings no longer does a full refresh of its own; opening the CardKB message composer does one. Switching pages is also faster.
  • Fix: text on e-ink screens faded. (Companion, Repeater, Room Server — E213, E290, Wireless Paper)
Text that stays on screen, such as the header and battery icon, no longer turns faint after a while, and new text is no longer darker than the rest.
  • New: type messages in other languages with the CardKB. (Companion)
Settings → Input Languages adds Belarusian, Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian, US-International (accented letters for French, German, Spanish and other Latin-script languages) and Vietnamese (Telex) to English. In the message editor, Tab switches between them. On an OLED, set Message Font to Large to see accents and non-Latin letters. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#typing-in-other-languages).
  • New: Delete all messages. (Companion)
The Home menu has Delete all messages: it deletes every message on the node, in RAM and in flash. Contacts, channels and settings are kept. See [Display Guide](Companion
Display_Guide.md#home-page).
  • Fix: the app got no reply to CLI commands once the node's message store was full. (Companion)
When the node held as many messages as it can keep, replies to TerminalCLI commands from the app, and to commands sent from the app to a repeater or room server, never reached the app.
Room Server MeshCore-low-power-v1.18.dev_1031 11.06.2026 Release
v1.181031
  • New: most of what the app sets can now be done on the node. (Companion)
  • Contacts: favourites, Remove contact, Reset path, Share contact, and a person's Permissions (Telemetry, Location, Environment, Remote CLI). See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#contact-action-screen).
  • Channels: + Add channel at the end of the conversation list (Public, and with the CardKB hashtag and private channels), Share and Invite in a channel's menu, Join channel on a received invite and Join #sos on a message naming a hashtag channel. See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#channels).
  • Settings: now in groups, with Auto-add and the telemetry settings added. Changes are saved when you leave Settings. See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#settings-page).
  • TerminalCLI: commands for the rest (auto-add, telemetry, position, flood scope, radio tuning, erase), and TerminalCLI in a person's menu for a node that allows you Remote CLI. See [Companion TerminalCLI Commands](CompanionTerminalCLICommands.md).
  • New: warning before messages or contacts run out of room. (Companion)
The node warns once when 20 places are left, counting places an older entry can give up, and alerts each message or contact lost once it is full.
  • New: radio presets on the node. (Companion)
Settings → Radio → Preset lists the region presets of the MeshCore app, then up to five of your own saved with set radio.custom.<N>; the header shows the selected one's frequency, bandwidth, SF and CR, and long press uses it. TX power stays as it is; Settings → Radio → TX Power picks it from a list in 3 dB steps. The config portal has the same Preset list in its Radio section and a Custom Radio Presets section for C1 to C5, which are included in backup/restore. See [Display Guide](CompanionDisplayGuide.md#radio-preset-screen).
  • Changed: the Radio page shows the link instead of the settings. (Companion)
One row for the preset and TX power, then noise floor, RSSI / SNR of the last packet, packets received / sent, airtime and receive errors. Long press opens Preset, TX Power, RxGain and RxDuty. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#radio-page).
  • New: GPS interval and mode on the node. (Companion)
Long press on the GPS page opens GPS on/off, Interval (Always, 30s up to 1h) and Mode (which satellite systems are used). Mode is shown only when the GPS takes it: the built-in GPS of boards such as Heltec V4 and T096, or an ATGM336H on the GPS header. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#gps-page-optional).
  • Changed: the HT-CT62 keeps up to 250 contacts (was 350). (Companion, HT-CT62)
This leaves enough memory for Bluetooth. If your node has more than 250 contacts, remove the ones you don't need before updating. Otherwise, on the first start the node keeps your favourites, then the most recently heard contacts, and removes the rest together with their messages. Restoring a backup with more than 250 contacts does the same.
  • New: LoRa radio off. (Companion)
Settings → LoRa Radio or radio off; an icon in the Home header shows it, and a restart turns the radio back on.
  • New: repeater and room server tools. (Companion)
A repeater's menu has Ping (zero hop) and Trace path, a repeater's or room server's menu Request status. A login with no reply over the stored path is retried once by flood. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#path-trace-screen).
  • New: sensor contacts. (Companion)
Sensors appear in the contact list with a pulse trace icon; their menu has Request telemetry and, with the CardKB, TerminalCLI. A sensor answers telemetry only after you have logged in to it once with its admin password.
  • New: Refresh Frequency for e-ink screens. (Companion, e-ink)
Settings → Display → Refresh Frequency sets after how many screen changes a full refresh cleans the screen, done once you stop pressing keys: 1, 5, 10 (default), 15 or 30. Leaving Settings no longer does a full refresh of its own; opening the CardKB message composer does one. Switching pages is also faster.
  • Fix: text on e-ink screens faded. (Companion, Repeater, Room Server — E213, E290, Wireless Paper)
Text that stays on screen, such as the header and battery icon, no longer turns faint after a while, and new text is no longer darker than the rest.
  • New: type messages in other languages with the CardKB. (Companion)
Settings → Input Languages adds Belarusian, Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian, US-International (accented letters for French, German, Spanish and other Latin-script languages) and Vietnamese (Telex) to English. In the message editor, Tab switches between them. On an OLED, set Message Font to Large to see accents and non-Latin letters. See [Display Guide](Companion
DisplayGuide.md#typing-in-other-languages).
  • New: Delete all messages. (Companion)
The Home menu has Delete all messages: it deletes every message on the node, in RAM and in flash. Contacts, channels and settings are kept. See [Display Guide](Companion
Display_Guide.md#home-page).
  • Fix: the app got no reply to CLI commands once the node's message store was full. (Companion)
When the node held as many messages as it can keep, replies to TerminalCLI commands from the app, and to commands sent from the app to a repeater or room server, never reached the app.
Repeater v1.0.1 17.05.2026 Release

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...repeater-v1.0.1

BLE Companion v1.0.1 17.05.2026 Release

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...companion-v1.0.1

USB Companion v1.0.1 17.05.2026 Release

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...companion-v1.0.1

Room Server v1.0.1 17.05.2026 Release

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...room-server-v1.0.1

Automatic sync from different repositories