Which TTGO Beam to purchase? (Or better alternative)

[bluejedi]

Hi,

@DIYglenn

I can’t figure out what’s different with them.

Unfortunately, that’s a big problem with LilyGO (TTGO) products:

@bluejedi

My experience with LilyGO is that they are very poor at providing and updating documentation. I also can’t remember having ever seen documentation that describes what’s new and other changes for new releases of their products.

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@DIYglenn

It seems like TTGO has a lot of devices for getting started with Lora.
I found their official AliExpress store, but they have three different TTGO-Beam versions. Which is the “proper” one to go for? There is one with Neo-M8N GPS.

Regarding “(Or better alternative)”:
That depends on your requirements and definition of “better”.

The major Chinese ESP32 LoRa development board providers are Heltec Automation (Heltec) and LilyGO (TTGO).
My experience with Heltec over the last 1.5 years is that they provide better documentation and better software support than LilyGO does for their TTGO boards.

Since recenty Heltec has a GPS LoRa board in their product range:
Heltec CubeCell GPS-6502 (HTCC-AB02S)

It is not based on ESP32 but on ASR6502 which is a SiP (system in package) that combines an ARM microcontroller with the newer Semtech SX1262 LoRa tranceiver.
Heltec provides Arduino development support for the CubeCell products.
Compared with T-Beam it does not have WiFi and BT, has U.FL/I-Pex instead of SMA antenna connector and does not have a battery holder but does support powering with Li-ion (and charging) and supports connecting a solar panel. The GPS module on the CubeCell is not from U-Blox.

I’m not aware what the deep sleep currents for T-Beam v1.0 and the new T-Beam v1.1 are, but the CubeCell GPS-6502 has a documented deep sleep current of 50 uA.
Depending on your requirements it might be worthwhile to give this board a try.

You may also check the Heltec CubeCell - part 1 topic.