The ESP32 is a fine series of MCUs, but it doesn't have PIOs, a choice between ARM and RISC-V (or both!), 5v-tolerant IO -- to name a few things that this new RP2350 provides.
There's a ton of stuff in the world that uses an MCU and doesn't have wireless, and that would not benefit from having wireless.
But if RP2350 features and wireless are both necessary today, then nothing but a few schekels and some space on the board stops anyone from integrating those things. One can have both.
Remember, even the ESP8266 was first seen in English-speaking DIY circles as just a way to add wifi to things like Arduino projects and not so much as a capable, programmable MCU itself.
The ESP32 is a fine series of MCUs, but it doesn't have PIOs, a choice between ARM and RISC-V (or both!), 5v-tolerant IO -- to name a few things that this new RP2350 provides.
There's a ton of stuff in the world that uses an MCU and doesn't have wireless, and that would not benefit from having wireless.
But if RP2350 features and wireless are both necessary today, then nothing but a few schekels and some space on the board stops anyone from integrating those things. One can have both.
Remember, even the ESP8266 was first seen in English-speaking DIY circles as just a way to add wifi to things like Arduino projects and not so much as a capable, programmable MCU itself.
https://hackaday.com/2014/08/26/new-chip-alert-the-esp8266-w...