I would describe the ESP32 as having a basic peripheral set. The ADCs and DACs are not great, and there are basically no other analog peripherals. The timers are meager, and low-power functionality is lacking.
The documentation is horrible, which is very important when you compare it to NXP and STM which both put out fantastic 2k-3k page reference manuals.
Yes it's a shame.
The hardware is quite capable for the price but the documentation is lacking, so one has to resort to reverse-engineering - which is totally ridiculous.
Traditional MCU vendors have set quite a high standard to the quality and availability of documentation.
I know good documentation takes effort, but the lack thereof is hampering the product.
One can only hope that with Espressif trying to become more mainstream, they will improve in that department.
A datasheet is a contract, not just documentation. If they put something on the datasheet, they need to write the document, then test the parameter, and guarantee that performance.
If I receive 10k of a part that does not satisfy specified performance parameters, I will return the reels, and never design that manufacturer's parts into any future product.
Oh, surely they're not contracts. They're full of disclaimers like: "MICROCHIP MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND [..], RELATED TO THE INFORMATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ITS CONDITION, QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR PURPOSE."
And then they publish 50 pages errata including: "Ethernet functionality in 64-pin packages is not available."
Well the Errata Sheet should be considered part of the data sheet ;)
Working with same54 has taught me to always also read the Errata Sheet when checking out a feature, I can only guess that there was a bit of a shake-up with the acquisition by Microchip that so many errors slipped in.
Not that STM32 is any different. Recently I designed around STM32F105 specifically due to it's ROM USB bootloader. Too bad I didn't read the errata which says no USB bootloader for 64 pin package.
Well, I can tell you that if 5% of the parts on a reel are out of spec, that reel is being returned for a full refund. Everyone treats the datasheet as a contract, whatever the small print may say.
This is also why parts can often perform well above their specified performance levels, and often have undocumented functionality; the manufacturers are happy to design in this performance, but they refuse to test and guarantee it.
