I replaced my Raspberry Pis with $5 ESP32s for smart home projects, and they do everything I need
The author transitioned from using Raspberry Pis to $5 ESP32 microcontrollers for smart home projects due to cost and practicality. ESP32 boards offer better compatibility with sensor modules and are easier to program for DIY home automation tasks. While different from single-board computers, ESP32s meet the author's needs effectively.
- ▪The author stopped buying Raspberry Pis after prices increased during the RAM shortage.
- ▪ESP32 microcontrollers are more cost-effective and easier to program than Raspberry Pis for smart home applications.
- ▪ESP32s integrate well with sensor modules and are used with Home Assistant via ESPHome.
- ▪The author now uses old thin clients for server experiments and ESP32s for smart home projects.
- ▪ESP32 boards support use cases like Bluetooth Proxy in home automation setups.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at XDA.
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