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> they are microcontrollers optimized first and foremost for cost and power efficiency

ESP32 is only optimized for cost. Other wireless MCU are significantly lower power... they are just more expensive (and tend to have worse docs then ESP32).

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> ESP32 is only optimized for cost.

Are you sure? I'm plaing around with the deep-sleep mode of an ESP32-3C and it appears to sip almost negligible current.

Various hibernation modes are great, but 300ma@5v sometimes feels too hungry for the amount of computation in there. I bet things would be better if it wasn’t 45nm ‘pitch’. They are great chips, but require more power than you might expect if you’re doing something network-heavy or, god forbid, using the camera. Unfortunately there’s no competitive alternatives for the hobbyist.

ESP32 is great for low power apps, you can switch off most of the chip subsystems, rely on watchdog timers etc.

Compared to what?

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