ESP32 vs STM32 vs NRF52 vs RP2040 – Which is Best for Your Product?
When you’re developing a new electronic product, one of the biggest early choices you’ll make is which microcontroller to use. And it’s not an easy decision.
There are hundreds of options out there, but four families stand out as the most popular among those building real products today. The ESP32, STM32, nRF52, and the RP2040.
Each one has its strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases. Pick the wrong one, and you might end up wasting months of work, blowing your budget, or building a product that never quite performs the way you need.
So in this video, I’m going to break down each of these options, starting with the ESP32, then moving through STM32, nRF52, and finally the RP2040.
After that, I’ll walk you through how to actually decide which one is best for your specific product.
Okay, let’s get started.
The ESP32, made by Espressif, has exploded in popularity. And for good reason.
The first thing you need to know about the ESP32 is that it’s a wireless powerhouse. Almost every chip in the family includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
That makes it the go-to choice if your product needs to connect to a smartphone or to the internet.
And then there’s the cost. ESP32 modules are dirt cheap, often just a couple of dollars in production quantities.
That’s an incredible deal considering you’re getting a dual-core processor, generous RAM, flash storage, and integrated wireless.
It’s also beginner-friendly. Espressif provides solid development tools, support, and a big ecosystem of libraries and tutorials.
If you’re just getting started, it’s hard to beat how easy it is to bring up a Wi-Fi connected prototype with an ESP32.
But of course, there are trade-offs.
The ESP32 is not the lowest-power option. Espressif has done a good job adding deep-sleep modes, but the wireless subsystem alone burns more energy than many ultra-low-power MCUs.
That means if your product runs on a coin cell or needs to last years on a small battery, the ESP32 may not be your best choice.
Another drawback is certification. If you use the ESP32 as a bare chip and enable its wireless functions, you’ll need to go through full FCC or CE testing, which is expensive and time-consuming.
Using a pre-certified ESP32 module avoids most of that hassle and is usually the smarter choice unless you have a very large budget.
Security is another consideration. The ESP32 includes standard features like secure boot and flash encryption, but it hasn’t built the same reputation for hardened security as some other platforms.
For most consumer products it’s fine, but if you’re building something where security is critical, it’s worth evaluating carefully.
If your product needs Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and you’re looking for a low-cost, easy-to-use solution, the ESP32 is often the best place to start.
Just keep in mind the power consumption, certification, and security considerations.
Originally there was only a single ESP32 with different memory options, but in recent years Espressif has expanded the line significantly.
Next up is the STM32 family from STMicroelectronics.
This family is massive. Dozens of series, hundreds of part numbers, and a range that covers tiny ultra-low-power chips all the way to high-performance cores with DSP and graphics acceleration.
If I had to describe the STM32 family in one word, it would be versatile.
There’s an STM32 for almost any need. Want something ultra-low-power? The STM32L series has you covered. Need raw horsepower for signal processing or running a little RTOS? Look at the STM32H series.
Another advantage is stability. The STM32 line has been around for years, it’s widely used in industry, and it’s not going anywhere.
That means you can design a product today and still expect support years down the road.
Tooling is strong too. STM32CubeIDE, CubeMX, and the HAL libraries make development smoother.
It’s not as simple as Arduino, but once you get familiar with it, it’s a professional-grade environment.
Where STM32 really shines is in products that don’t need wireless built in, or where you want fine control over performance versus power.
You can pick exactly the series and package that match your needs.
The downsides? Wireless is mostly missing. There are a few STM32 parts with radios, but it’s not the family’s strong point. You’ll usually need to pair an STM32 with a separate wireless module.
And second, the sheer number of options can be overwhelming.
New developers often get lost in the alphabet soup of F1, F4, G0, L4, H7, and more. Choosing the right one requires some careful thought.
To sum it up, STM32 is the safe, versatile choice for general embedded products.
If your product doesn’t need wireless or you need more flexibility in power and performance, STM32 is usually a great fit.
If the STM32 is of interest I also have a video specifically on selecting the best STM32 for your project, and I’ll link to that at the end of this video.
Now let’s talk about the nRF52 family from Nordic Semiconductor.
These aren’t nearly as well known as the ESP32 and STM32, but for many products they’re my favorite solution.
These chips are all about Bluetooth and low power.
If your product is something like a fitness tracker, a sensor node, or a wearable that needs to last months or even years on a small battery, the nRF52 is one of the best options available.
Nordic has put a huge amount of effort into optimizing Bluetooth performance while minimizing current consumption.
Their software development kit is focused on wireless use cases, and they provide good libraries and examples for Bluetooth LE.
Another strength is community adoption. A lot of consumer devices out there are built on nRF52, so you’ll find plenty of reference designs and proven approaches to copy from.
But the nRF52 is not designed to be a general-purpose MCU.
If you just need a fast processor and a lot of peripherals, you’re usually better off with an STM32.
The nRF52 is built specifically around Bluetooth. Yes, you can do other things with it, but the strength of the family is ultra-low-power wireless.
Pricing is reasonable but not as cheap as ESP32. You’ll pay a bit of a premium for the low power and solid Bluetooth stack.
So if your product needs long battery life, compact design, and Bluetooth as the main wireless link, the nRF52 is an excellent choice.
Finally, we have the RP2040 from Raspberry Pi. This one is the newest of the bunch, and it’s quickly gained a huge following.
Just don’t confuse this microcontroller chip with their original microprocessor based Raspberry Pi.
The headline feature of the RP2040 is cost. It’s one of the cheapest 32-bit microcontrollers you can buy.
Raspberry Pi has been very aggressive in pricing, and you can get these chips for under a dollar in volume.
Performance is solid too. Dual-core Cortex-M0+ at up to 133 MHz. It supports common interfaces like USB and SPI, so it works well for general embedded applications.
One thing to keep in mind is memory. The RP2040 includes 264 KB of SRAM but no internal flash, so every design requires an external flash chip for program storage.
That adds a bit of cost and complexity compared to MCUs with built-in flash, though overall it’s still one of the most affordable microcontrollers you can buy.
The development experience is friendly, and because it’s backed by Raspberry Pi, there’s a huge hobbyist and maker community around it.
But there are limitations. No wireless. If you need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, you’ll need an external module.
And while the RP2040 is cheap, it doesn’t have as wide a range of variants or power-optimized options as STM32 or nRF52.
So the RP2040 shines in products that need a lot of computing power at rock-bottom cost, but don’t require integrated wireless or extremely low power.
Now the big question. How do you actually choose between these four?
Here’s how I suggest you decide.
Step 1:
Does your product need wireless? If you need Wi-Fi, the ESP32 is almost always the right choice.
It’s affordable, it’s proven, and it saves you from bolting on an external module. If you need Bluetooth with ultra-low power, the nRF52 is usually the winner.
Step 2:
How important is battery life? If your product needs to sip power for months or years, lean toward nRF52 or certain STM32L series parts.
The ESP32 can work, but it won’t match the efficiency of those ultra-low-power families.
Step 3:
What’s your budget? If cost is your main driver, and you don’t need wireless, the RP2040 is hard to beat.
If you do need wireless, the ESP32 still gives you the best price-to-feature ratio.
Step 4:
Do you need scalability and long-term options? If you want a huge range of part choices, with different sizes, speeds, and power levels, STM32 is the way to go.
The breadth of the family means you can scale up or down in future versions of your product without changing architectures.
Step 5:
What’s your development experience? For beginners, I’d say the ESP32 and RP2040 are the easiest to get started with.
STM32 and nRF52 are more professional-grade, with steeper learning curves but also stronger long-term ecosystems.
