Comment by phoehne
7 days ago
They're more fun. The programming is easier (although you can get an Arduino like experience on a ESP32). They have 5V options, which make some projects easier without having to add additional components. The ESP32 API (and the Pico for that matter) are better suited professional programmers.
An Arduino is better if you're doing something and want a quick, easy, simple to program controller. It started as a way for artists to add MCUs to the projects without having to become embedded programmers.
I've only ever used my ESP32s with the Arduino IDE. I don't think there's anything "easier" about using an Arduino board vs that experience.
Ain't fun spending $40 for a 'fun' project. ESP32 is like a dollar for WiFi and GPIOs. That's fun.
That's like the cost of two burritos. Unless you're bricking these things on the daily why would $1 vs $40 be the deciding factor for a project that is tens of hours at a minimum?
I buy 10s them and throw them around the house. I have a couple on AAA batteries and with deep sleep + watchdog wake on WiFi they last months.
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20$ for a burrito? That is like some high-end, premium burrito right there! But hey, its your money, spend it however it makes you happy.
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ESP32 is a dumpster fire IMO.
I prefer to get things done quickly over cheap.
How so? I have a product that you can buy that runs on an ESP32S3[1]. They work very well and you can even do OTA updates. Even my competitor uses an ESP32 :)
[1] https://www.stationdisplay.com/
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For what it’s worth, the original ESP32 is actually 5V tolerant, semi-officially acknowledged by Espressif. Good enough for hobby projects, anyway
I'm surprised cheap level shifters with the same pin pitch as various dev boards aren't common.
There's DIP-packaged level shifters that are 0.1"
Do you know where you can get one?
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And a lot of dev boards you will use as a hobbyist even include level shifters on the board, so you will have a 5V pin.