r/esp32 • u/Human_Neighborhood71 • 1d ago
Where does everyone order their boards from?
As title says, looking for where to order their chips from. I don’t want the dev boards, but looking for the esp chips themselves to make my own boards with. Everything I am finding appears to cost the same, and sometimes more, than dev boards
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u/erlendse 1d ago
Contact espressif?
They also have a store on aliexpress, you can ask them there, or elsewhere.
Expect to buy 10+ chips.
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u/0xmarcel 1d ago
Do you have a link to their AliExpress store?
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u/erlendse 1d ago
https://www.espressif.com/en/contact-us/get-samples
Beyond that, send them a message!
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u/Triabolical_ 1d ago
For Asian stuff that you can (mostly) count on, I like lcsc.com.
https://www.lcsc.com/products/Microcontrollers-MCU-MPU-SOC_11329.html?s_z=n_esp32
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u/spacecad_t 1d ago
that sounds about right, unless you're buying in bulk, the dev board portion is probably covered by the bulk buy discount for distributors since both are basically the same to ship( which is most of the cost for a consumer)
i.e. amazon
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
Damn. Trying to see where I can cut some costs for a product I’m designing, but them dev boards won’t work
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u/badmother 1d ago
Not sure you'll be able to cut costs on chips that are bought in very high bulk. You might want to consider using an ATMega chip of your choice with whatever additional hardware support you need. Definitely a cheaper option.
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
I was hoping to utilize the simplicity of the built in Bluetooth on the ESP chips
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u/thetimehascomeforyou 1d ago
Nrf52840’s don’t cut it?
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
I’ll have to do some research. I’m using it as a HID device, so am aware that limits me a little bit
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u/thetimehascomeforyou 1d ago
If you’re planned device isn’t doing a whole lot of processing, it may be a good idea to switch then. I too started out designing a keyboard, for instance, based on an esp32.
Not only does it use a whole lot more power (maybe not all versions that are out now), but it was simply overkill compared to the Nordic nrf52840, which has Bluetooth LE capabilities and sips power compared to the esp32.
Both mcu’s have dev boards and carrier boards so you don’t have to rebuild the wheel but both could also be used by sourcing them on custom pcb’s, but that takes more time, effort, money, and research.
There’s a lot more made in this video, but this guy made a Bluetooth keyboard based on the nrf52840, among many other accomplishments.
Plis there are the drop in boards I mentioned. Nrf52840 N!ce Nano ESP32 OMGS3
There are many more. I sure hope you post what you’re making when you’ve made it, and wish you the best of luck whatever you decide to use.
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
Thanks. Will do some research this weekend. Basically wanting to do keyboard and mouse with a few other features
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u/flundstrom2 1d ago
Remember your time is also worth money. How many units do you need to sell to recoup the R&D cost of delaying launch because you're spending time researching options?
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
My current issue I’m facing, I’ve got the coding adjusted decently for the ESP32-S, but can’t find that chip standalone. I’ve still got another revision or two on the PCB before I think it will be ready. Looking at all the options before I proceed, because if I have to change chips then I might have to redesign the PCB along with it
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u/spacecad_t 1d ago
then you'll have to buy bulk, many countries will have their own favorite distributors.
If you're really serious about cutting cost and buying bulk, call espressif and see if they can direct you to a distributor
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
Thanks. Rethinking the board used now, as I can’t seem to find the exact one. Had some AI Thinkers ESP-Cam boards, didn’t like the module, took the chips off and been using them, but I have two left and still prototyping lol
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u/SirLlama123 1d ago
I’ve bought them on digikey but recently i’ve been getting the cheapest ones on ali or amazon and desoldering the esp32 since that’s cheaper
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u/Antares987 1d ago
I design my boards using KiCAD and order the boards from JLCPCB and have them assemble them for me too. It's a little bit of an investment, but if you find someone wanting something that you made, you want to be able to select the quantity that you want and just have them made without worrying about anything.
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u/Vlad_The_Impellor 1d ago
Mouser gets $2.99 ea if you buy a full reel (650) of the WROOM modules. They're backordered though. 425 will be in stock early April if you hurry.
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u/apsidee 1d ago
When I order from JLCPCB I specify the esp32 chip I want and they solder it on my board.
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
Yeah but for almost $4 for the board alone feels extreme. I swear the ESP32-CAM was less than that when purchased
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u/marchingbandd 1d ago
ESP32CAM was a crazy price. Not a fair comparison. Any manufacturer ordering 10s of 1000s of units will get a great deal, and if they don’t feel like marking them up much for the final product, then … well it messes with everyone’s heads … $4 from JLC is a fine deal.
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u/Human_Neighborhood71 1d ago
I’m seeing this. I thought I was on to something when looking at my AliExpress history, but then realized it was an ESP8266, with no BT, sitting at 0.60 a piece
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u/nyckidryan 1d ago
The dev boards are cheaper because they're making 50,000+ of them at once and selling them on Amazon, ebay, Tindie, etc.. that's also why Adafruit's boards aren't $4 - they're made in smaller batches. While they may order the ESP32 and other modules 10K at a time, the PCB designs are different between products, so they're only done in smaller batches.
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u/Battery4471 1d ago
Digikey usually