LilyGo T3 S3 (SX1276)

LilyGo (Shenzhen Xinyuan Electronic Technology)

868 MHz 915 MHz SX1276 ESP32-S3R8 20 dBm
DIY Modules Budget

Same as the LilyGo T3 S3, but with an SX1276 chip (older version). Community firmware: Companion BLE/USB, Repeater, Room Server. A more affordable option for older frequency bands or specific applications.

Hardware Specifications

MCU

ESP32-S3R8

RAM

8 MB

Flash

16 MB

Display

Optional OLED/E-Paper (Optional)

Button Count

2

Has LEDs

true

Weight

15 g

Dimensions

75 x 36 x 8

LoRa Specifications

LoRa Chip

SX1276

Frequency Band

868 MHz, 915 MHz

Max. TX Power

20 dBm

Antenna Type

U.FL connector

Typical Range

12 km

Connectivity

WiFi

true

Bluetooth

true

GPS

false

Power

USB Type

USB-C

Battery Connector

JST 1.25mm

Solar Support

true

Power Consumption (Idle)

28 mA

Power Consumption (TX)

120 mA

Firmware Support

Room Server v1.16.0 29.06.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/06/06/release-1-16-0

Repeater v1.16.0 29.06.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/06/06/release-1-16-0

BLE Companion v1.16.0 29.06.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/06/06/release-1-16-0

USB Companion v1.16.0 29.06.2025 Release

Release notes: https://blog.meshcore.io/2026/06/06/release-1-16-0

Repeater v1.15.0-evo_0.1.21 14.01.2026 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
Repeater PowerSaving11 02.01.2026 Release

This is for all NRF52-based repeaters and ESP32-based repeaters: 6mA power consumption for ALL NRF52-based repeaters and 10mA power consumption for ALL ESP32-based repeaters

  • [Production] For ESP32-based repeaters, the firmware is very stable and in production. We will improve the timedrift for ESP32-based repeaters in the next version.

  • [Beta] For NRF52-based repeaters, the firmware is newly released. Please test it a while with easy to access repeaters.

  • We will push this PowerSaving version to MeshCore github within 7 days. Usually, we will listen for your feedback before we push to MeshCore github.

NRF52-based repeater at 6mA and ESP32-based repeater at 10mA
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8c5ea995-3af2-4b22-b5c7-9af68a4127a3" /> <img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/194442e6-3228-4df4-a060-07de34bd651d" />

IMPORTANT:

  • On CLI, you need to type "powersaving on" ONCE to achieve 10mA power consumption. The setting will persist even after reboot.

  • Powersaving (if enabled) will start 2 minutes since boot.

  • If you enable OTA via start ota in CLI, then powersaving will have no effect.

New features:
  • Improved PowerSaving for ALL NRF52-based repeaters from 8.5mA down to 6mA. Initially, NRF52 consumes 12mA down to 8.5mA (PowerSaving 9+) and now 6mA (PowerSaving 11).

Instruction:

Videos:
This is a RAK4631 repeater with PowerSaving in action: Sleep at 6mA, wakeup when a LoRa packet comes, process it, wake up for 5s and go to sleep again.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/fbb698ce-f551-4900-bf2b-1c9945d6f3a4

Ping us if you want us to compile for your boards HERE
You may want to buy us a coffee &#x2615; for good work.
Enjoy.

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

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