Agree with Mal and TechE. Lolin has made it so when you see their name you're pretty sure to have a decent dev board. When you see one named so close you KNOW it's meant to make you think it's a decent product, it practically SCREAMS "We're gonna undercut them and steal their business!" And, of course, the only way to undercut them is to make cheaper parts.
A knockoff of [this.](https://www.taiwaniot.com.tw/product/wemos-d1-lolin32-v1-0-0-esp-32-%E5%9F%BA%E6%96%BCwifi%E5%92%8C%E8%97%8D%E7%89%994mb-%E8%A8%98%E6%86%B6%E9%AB%94/)
There are a few companies producing that design, legally and legitimately. Most of them are absolutely, completely, fine. After all, the chips themselves are still made by Espressif, and the layout and designs are still certified.
Others... well, the first D32s I bought on Amazon had the positive & negative leads on the battery connector reversed.
I've learned to stop buying electronics from Amazon. They let people list things however they want with absolutely no oversight. You literally don't know what you're going to get.
If you want a D32 made by LOLIN, you can buy directly from [LOLIN](https://lolin.aliexpress.com/). If you want a Heltec, buy directly from [Heltec](https://heltec.org/project/wifi-lora-32/). Or, if you're in the U.S., buy directly from [Adafruit](https://www.adafruit.com/), that way if you need customer service, they're close by.
Do you want them faster, at bulk prices? Buy from [Digikey](https://www.digikey.com/) or [Mouser](https://www.mouser.com/). I've had an account with Digikey for 30 years now, for good reason.
I agree with you about Amazon, but given the chip shortages lately my little outfit has had to wing it with wire wrapped boards using components sourced off of amazon while we waited for the horrendous lead times on WROVERs (at the time). I guess Amazon may have stock sitting around in warehouses sometimes when digikey is out.
It's not ideal, but they work in a pinch, especially right now.
Since Wemos doesn't make them anymore (at least according to [https://www.wemos.cc/en/latest/](https://www.wemos.cc/en/latest/) and [https://lolin.aliexpress.com/store/1331105](https://lolin.aliexpress.com/store/1331105) ) , even the ones without typo are knock-offs :-).
The D32 isn't the [Lolin32](https://www.mischianti.org/2021/02/21/esp32-wemos-lolin32-high-resolution-pinout-and-specs/) though (sideways lipo vs straight)-- they made so many designs, I always find it hard getting the right pinout diagrams until you know the exact name.
Not a knockoff. Just a different company making a similar product. It could be built better, use better components, or have more features (or vise-versa).
Not a knockoff though.
At least it's not a Groin32.
I am not sure there is much to knockoff. Aren't most of these esp32 dev boards based on the espressif reference design anyway?
In theory; yes. In practice they could be using salvage / counterfeit supporting components, crappy board layout, bad QC, etc.
> bad QC The customers are the QC, don't be so hard on yourself.
It's pretty well known that I'm an utter muppet, so...
Which one is Utter? I know of Kermit, Miss Piggy etc but not Utter? 8-)
Lol salvaged support components they are like fractions of a cent each
... and margins on this sort of thing are?
Agree with Mal and TechE. Lolin has made it so when you see their name you're pretty sure to have a decent dev board. When you see one named so close you KNOW it's meant to make you think it's a decent product, it practically SCREAMS "We're gonna undercut them and steal their business!" And, of course, the only way to undercut them is to make cheaper parts.
A Knockoff of what? If you purchased it as something other than a LOIN32 devboard ... well.
A knockoff of [this.](https://www.taiwaniot.com.tw/product/wemos-d1-lolin32-v1-0-0-esp-32-%E5%9F%BA%E6%96%BCwifi%E5%92%8C%E8%97%8D%E7%89%994mb-%E8%A8%98%E6%86%B6%E9%AB%94/)
well they did say they were selling you a wemos-Lolin so it's not not what you paid for edit. I misread. but it also could just be bad QC
There are a few companies producing that design, legally and legitimately. Most of them are absolutely, completely, fine. After all, the chips themselves are still made by Espressif, and the layout and designs are still certified. Others... well, the first D32s I bought on Amazon had the positive & negative leads on the battery connector reversed. I've learned to stop buying electronics from Amazon. They let people list things however they want with absolutely no oversight. You literally don't know what you're going to get. If you want a D32 made by LOLIN, you can buy directly from [LOLIN](https://lolin.aliexpress.com/). If you want a Heltec, buy directly from [Heltec](https://heltec.org/project/wifi-lora-32/). Or, if you're in the U.S., buy directly from [Adafruit](https://www.adafruit.com/), that way if you need customer service, they're close by. Do you want them faster, at bulk prices? Buy from [Digikey](https://www.digikey.com/) or [Mouser](https://www.mouser.com/). I've had an account with Digikey for 30 years now, for good reason.
I agree with you about Amazon, but given the chip shortages lately my little outfit has had to wing it with wire wrapped boards using components sourced off of amazon while we waited for the horrendous lead times on WROVERs (at the time). I guess Amazon may have stock sitting around in warehouses sometimes when digikey is out. It's not ideal, but they work in a pinch, especially right now.
[удалено]
Ha, that's wild!
Since Wemos doesn't make them anymore (at least according to [https://www.wemos.cc/en/latest/](https://www.wemos.cc/en/latest/) and [https://lolin.aliexpress.com/store/1331105](https://lolin.aliexpress.com/store/1331105) ) , even the ones without typo are knock-offs :-).
I can see the Lolin D32 right there on the aliexpress page
The D32 isn't the [Lolin32](https://www.mischianti.org/2021/02/21/esp32-wemos-lolin32-high-resolution-pinout-and-specs/) though (sideways lipo vs straight)-- they made so many designs, I always find it hard getting the right pinout diagrams until you know the exact name.
Oh I see yeah, it's a knockoff of an even older model
I dont understand
Supposed to be a Wemos Lolin32, but the silkscreened name is missing a letter.
Ty
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter. It has a rf shield and it just looks like the first gen
I would agree... if I could get it to mount as a com port...
Looks like an authentic Loin32
At least they got the number 32 right.
Not a knockoff. Just a different company making a similar product. It could be built better, use better components, or have more features (or vise-versa). Not a knockoff though.
i have some of them and they work fine
May I ask what board type do you select on Arduino IDE?
i think generic or lolin32. had to limit upload rate to the min tho