• Nokia 5110 LCD
    My favorite display for Arduino. Easy to use and with a very low power consumption!
  • Resolution: 84x48 pixels
  • Colors: Monochrome
  • Size: 1.6"
  • Price: $
  • Color OLED SSD1331
  • Resolution: 96x64 pixels
  • Colors: 65.000
  • Size: 0.96"
  • Price: $$$
  • 1.8" Color TFT ST7735
    One of the best color display for Arduino!
  • Resolution: 160x128 pixels
  • Colors: 65.000
  • Size: 1.8"
  • Price: $$
  • I2C White OLED
    Simple to use, very bright, and with low power consumption!
  • It deserves our best rating!
  • Resolution: 128x64 pixels
  • Colors: Monochrome
  • Size: 0.96"
  • Price: $$
  • 3.5" Color TFT
    The biggest color TFT display for your Arduino projects!
  • Resolution: 480x320 pixels
  • Colors: 65.000
  • Size: 3.5"
  • Price: $$$

A good display can make your Arduino project to shine. In this article, I am going to show you the Best Arduino Display for your projects. I have tried many screens. From the most inexpensive ones to the most expensive ones. That’s why I can help you choose the best Arduino Display for your project.  This comprehensive, user-friendly guide aims to assist you in selecting the best Arduino display for you.

>> In a Rush? Click Here to Check Out Our Favorite Arduino Display! <<

1. Best Arduino Display Reviews – In a Nutshell
2. LCD Displays
3. OLED Displays
4. E-Paper Displays
5 1. Nokia 5110 LCD
5 2. Color OLED Display SSD1331
5 3. Color TFT Display ST7735
5 4. White OLED Display SSD1306
5 5. 3.5″ Color TFT Display

 

Best Arduino Display Reviews – In a Nutshell

Display ModelResolutionColorsSizePriceRating
Nokia 511084x48 pixelsMonochrome1.6"$5
Color OLED SSD133196x64 pixels65.0000.96"$$$4.9
Color TFT ST7735160x128 pixels65.0001.8"$$4.8
White OLED SSD1306128x64 pixelsMonochrome0.96"$$4.6
3.5" Color TFT480x320 pixels65.0003.5"$$$4.4
20x4 LCD Display4 Lines of charactersMonochromeIt is quite big$4.0
4.3" E-Paper800x600 pixels4 Shades of Grey4.3"$$$$$3.9

LCD Displays

An LCD display (Liquid Crystal Display) is a flat panel display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals. Since liquid crystals do not emit light, this type of display needs a backlight, or external light to produce an image. That’s why the power consumption of these displays is relatively high for battery powered Arduino projects.

On the other hand, the price of the LCDs is very low. The Nokia 5110, the 1.8″ Color TFT display and the 3.5″ Color TFT display, are all displays that use the LCD technology.

OLED Displays

An OLED display is a screen that uses organic light emitting diodes. It requires no backlight, so the power consumption of these display is low and depends on how many pixels are lit. Also, since the screen does not need a backlight, it can display deep black color. Another advantage of this kind of display is that they are usually thinner and lighter the LCD displays. In low light, OLED displays can achieve better contrast in comparison to LCDs.

On the other hand, OLED displays are more expensive than LCD displays. Because of this, the available OLED displays for Arduino are tiny in size, and until recently they were only monochrome. A few months ago a small Color OLED appeared at a relatively low cost.

E-Paper Displays

E-Paper of Electronic paper are displays that unlike traditional LCD or OLED displays does not emit light but reflect light. It is like the ink on the paper. This characteristic makes e-paper displays very comfortable to read, and they have an excellent readability under direct sunlight. Another great thing about e-paper displays is that they can hold static text and image for months without electricity! Yes, that’s correct, the display can show text and image even if it is off! That makes e-paper displays ideal for low powered projects!

Unfortunately there some disadvantages as well. The price of e-paper display is still very high. For example, this 4.3″ E-Paper display for Arduino costs over $60. Another significant disadvantage is that e-paper displays take a lot of time to update, as much as 2-3 seconds. So, they are only helpful for static text and images and not animations.

1. Nokia 5110 LCD Display

Nokia 5110 Lcd One of the best Arduino Displays

Nokia 5110 Lcd Display One of the best Arduino Displays

The Nokia 5110 LCD display is my favorite display for my Arduino Projects. I think this is the Best Arduino Display for most projects.

The Nokia 5110 is a basic graphic LCD screen which was originally intended for as a cell phone screen. It uses the PCD8544 controller which is a low power CMOS LCD controller/driver. Because of this, this display has an impressive power consumption. It uses only 0.4mA when it is on, but the backlight is disabled. It uses less than 0.06mA when in sleep mode! That’s one of the reasons that make this display my favorite. The PCD8544 interfaces to microcontrollers through a serial bus interface. That makes the display very easy to use with Arduino.

You only need to connect eight wires and use the following library: http://www.rinkydinkelectronics.com/library.php?i…

This impressive library is developed by Henning Karlsen who has put an enormous amount of effort to help the Arduino community move forward with his libraries. I have prepared a detailed tutorial on how to use the Nokia 5110 LCD display with Arduino. You watch it in this video:

2. Color OLED Display – SSD1331

Color OLED Display

Color OLED Display

This is a very new display, and it quickly became one of my favorites, because it uses the OLED technology, it can display 65.000 colors, it is very small, very bright and it has low power consumption.

Furthermore, it is also straightforward to use with Arduino since there is a library for it. It is the Adafruit SSD1331 library, and you find it here.

Also, despite the fact that this display is tiny, it is one of my favorites because it is ideal for handheld projects. Its power consumption is around 10-20 mA, and it depends on how many pixels are lit.

I have tried the display, and I have published a video review of it here:

3. Color TFT Display ST7735

First of all the ST7735 Color TFT display is a very inexpensive display. It costs around $5, and it has a great library support. I have used it many of my projects, and I think it is great!

Furthermore, the display offers a resolution of 160×128 pixels, and it can display 65.000 colors. It uses the SPI interface to communicate with the Arduino boards. In addition to that, it works well with all the available Arduino boards, like the Arduino Uno, the Arduino Mega, and the Arduino Due. It also works fine with ESP8266 based boards, like the Wemos D1 and the Wemos D1 mini board.

Also, the power consumption of the board is around 50mA of current which is not bad in my opinion. We can easily use this board to build battery-powered projects that don’t need to be on all the time.

In conclusion, this is one of the best Arduino displays if you need color and low cost. I have prepared a detailed tutorial about the 1.8″ ST7735 Color TFT display, you can watch it here:

4. White OLED Display SSD1306

 

White OLED Display SSD1306

White OLED Display SSD1306

This is another very nice display to use with Arduino. It is an OLED display and that means that it has a low power consumption. The power consumption of this display is around 10-20 mA and it depends on how many pixels are lit.

The display has a resolution of 128×64 pixels and it is tiny in size. Furthermore, it is very bright, and it has a great library support. Adafruit has developed a very nice library about this display, and you can find this library here.

In addition to that, the display uses the I2C interface, so the connection with Arduino is incredibly easy. You only need to connect two wires except for Vcc and GND. If you are new to Arduino and you want an inexpensive and easy to use display to use with your project, start with display. It is the easiest way to add a display to your Arduino project.

I have prepared a detailed tutorial on how to use this display. You can watch it below:

5. 3.5″ Color TFT Display

3.5" Color TFT Display

3.5″ Color TFT Display

This 3.5″ Color TFT display is the biggest display that you can use in your project if you are using an Arduino Uno or a Mega. Unfortunately, it does not support the fast Arduino Due, nor the Wemos D1 ESP8266 board.

One of the biggest advantages of this display except it big size is its impressive resolution. The resolution of the display is 480×320 pixels! In addition to that, the display offers an SD card reader at the back so that you can store data.

Also, the display comes as a shield. So, you only have to connect the display with your Arduino board, and you are ready to use it. Of course, you need to install the appropriate driver for the display. Luckily I have a link to this driver here. Search for the download file, and you will find the library for the display in that .zip file.

On the other hand, the display is a bit slow in comparison to the smaller displays.

In conlcusion, this display is a very easy to use display and it is ideal for beginners. Additionally you can use this display if you want to add a big display in your project. If fast refresh rate is not a requirement of your project, this display is a great display to use!

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