ESP8266 Community Forum

Anyway, there won't be an ESP-killer in the near future. It would take years to build up such a community with boards, tools, and experience of thousands of (open source) developers. It is like Arduino and Raspi - the boards themselfs are quite average today and you can buy tons of more powerful and even cheaper boards, but nobody cares, as there is no community.

martin_g wrote:you can buy tons of more powerful and even cheaper boards

Wifi boards?

yes, wifi boards.
more powerful than ESP8266, yes.
cheaper, not sure about that.
community, not even close to ESP8266.

You're right that the ESP has great community.

It did not used to. Then it grew. No doubt another chip with better specs (which this realtek chip has, in some ways) would also take time for community to grow.

We needed community for the ESP to help figure out how it works, due to inadequate documentation in English. If another board works, it's documented, and cheaper, then "community" is not as important.

ATM, I'm just interested in comparing features, at a similar price point as the ESP (which this realtek chip is). A board that's in a higher price bracket is not going to qualify as an ESP alternative.

I don't know where you get the idea that "no one cares" about cheap Arduino boards. I sure do!

Another issue is ease of use. I don't know if this realtek chip is easy to use. If so, then it's a viable option.