uhrheber wrote:Maybe the are using scrap chips that failed the end-of-line tests.
Wouldn't be the first time.
That wouldnt explain why some parts are signifcantly cheaper in china then here with the major suppliers. I'm not talking about some percentage but like ten times. For me it is cheaper to buy something on taobao/ebay and have it shipped to europe then ordering it with the major oneline shops. If you use common sense (rating of the seller and price of the item) it is relative safe and you'll get no counterfit. Also they can ship a 1$ item for free (a stamp for a letter (<20g) does costs about .50$ here).
as said I'm loving china and their products Will go overthere soon to do funshopping.
gwizz wrote:If the chip is just required to be a quad-spi flash chip then perhaps getting chips from big-league distributors like mouser, digikey, farnell etc would be a good assurance of quality (at least as good as those without professional procurement business contacts can get). Or if the hobby suppliers like adafruit and sparkfun carry these chips, they also have much better ability to verify procurement than me!
I don't really need 100,000 cycles at all, but I do need to be assured that the flash will survive a few thousand cycles at the very least!
I think only the w25q is supported by the esp. They go for about 1-2 RMB on taobao (+- 30 $cents) and appear legit.