Are clone ESP32 devboards allowed by Espressif?

[danielrc]

I'm trying to learn whether the company allows clone devboards to be developed and sold. The official Aliexpress store doesn't sell the particular model I'm looking to buy anymore, but other stores do. I assume the available ones aren't the genuine boards initially made by the company, so I'd like to know whether Espressif is OK with them the same way Arduino doesn't mind their clones.

[Sprite]

We have absolutely no problem with devboards not made by Espressif, clone or not. Do note that we obviously cannot guarantee the quality of especially the no-name boards, though; for instance there have been instances of bad designs that limit the range of the module.

[eriksl]

I don't think the dev boards are Espressif's core business

Espressif refers endcustomers to Aliexpress for dev boards, but I can't remember having seen an original Espressif dev board there Many clones though, indeed.

[Sprite]

I don't think the dev boards are Espressif's core business

Espressif refers endcustomers to Aliexpress for dev boards, but I can't remember having seen an original Espressif dev board there Many clones though, indeed.

We have an official store on Aliexpress, run by Espressif. I'd be very surprised if any of the boards there weren't original

[eriksl]

You're so right, I see now! I seem to have missed the store altogether

[RandomInternetGuy]

They publish the schematics and everything else needed for you to do so. Not speaking for them, but I'm pretty sure they WANT companies to start from their design instead of doing their own thing and screwing it up because that just makes everyone look bad.

Examples of "innovative" designs that frustrate users and mess up everyone's reputation:

• That R/C circuit that releases the reset (EN) after power stabilizes
• Antenna design
• Changing the USB Mini-B connector to USB-C without reading the "new" (it's been 14 years...) specification and understanding that CC1/CC2 are wires that matter.

Still, someone will try to save a penny and make a board that won't boot reliably, won't connect to an A/P ten feet away, or won't power up when connected to a majority of USB-C power sources...none of those traits make the product look good

Development boards aren't really a product line of their own. They're meant for developers to prototype and validate a design around a chip or module. Companies do that, make their own boards, and then buy a bazillion chips or modules. The dev boards are just a bootstrap (sorry) to the process to get developers coding and learning about the parts.

Back in the old days, dev boards usually had sockets for analyzer probes, required NDAs to be able to even see, and were thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. They were very much an engineering-oriented product for hardware and software development.

That they happen to be usable by hobbyists for lunch money in modern times isn't an unfortunate consequence.

I'm not Espressif. I've just been around the block. I've never known a chip company to consider dev boards to be a profit center on their own. They're a gateway product.

[eriksl]

I'd like to add my $0.02 here. I've been working with set-top-boxes for some time (the devices that you connect to a satellite dish, terrestrial or cable tuner) and I found that at least the world leader on the SoC's for these always presents a "reference implementation schematic" and that most companies mostly adhere to that. So if you look inside these STBs, especially the cheaper ones, if the SoC is the same (which often is the case), the PCB design is the same too, it's just the reference.

I can imagine that any company producing silicon rather have all the implementations more or less the same and being their own design, actually, than everyone tempering and just doing "something" *) that more or less works but makes the (silicon) product look bad. Yes, exactly as you say.

*) I actually meant the dutch word "aanklooien" but I can't think of a good English word right now. Maybe someone can jump in here