And the ESP32 is offering CPU power on par with many of the embedded-x86 SOCs that powered some of the early wifi routers...
In this amazing world full of such inexpensive choices, it seems so bizarre to me to demonize any of them. They're all excellent in some way, and it's OK that there's more than one.
This isn't football, handball, American politics, or Highlander: There can be more than one. It's OK.