On: ESP32-C5: Espressif’s First Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 MCU

[xchip]

I have yet to see a real use case for these IOT chips (other than adding wifi to your toaster or other innecesary things)

[gruturo → xchip]

I have quite a few running at home:

Irrigation system driving valves through H-bridges

Relays driving ceiling fans

IR blasters (actually an additional feature of the previous relay drivers)

PIR sensors

Expansion of a smoke detector to send a push notification to my mobile

Garage door opener

Security cameras

(Quite a few are ESP8266 rather than 32's, depending on power and i/o lines required)

[xchip → xchip]

Can't mention any good use cases, downvoter?

[generj → xchip]

I didn’t downvote, but there are lots of useful things hobbyists do with this chips. WiFi enabling homebrew CNC machines for example.

To which you may say, just buy a cheaper USB cable. That’s fair, but a homebrew CNC maker could have just bought one of the shelf as well. Part of the fun is making something exactly as you want it, the only trade offs personally imposed.

Adding WiFi to all the things is somewhat of a gimmick, but gimmicks are fun. ESP chips are fast, cheap, and easier to program than alternatives. In many cases for hobbyist use the competitor is a Raspberry Pi which is nearly always overkill.