I honestly had a hard time getting started with ESP32-C3 (my first ESP device). Admittedly all of it was my fault, I got too cocky and assumed things based on previous work with competing devices that I shouldn't have.
Once up and running they really are quite pleasant to use, and pretty damn cheap.
The issues that hurt me the most were:
1/ It doesn't come preloaded with 'AT' firmware, it took me a while to figure this out as well as a PCB respin.
2/ The clearly labelled TX and RX pins are for flashing and debug output only, not for communication with an an external microcontroller. Two to four GPIO pins (decided by the AT firmware) are used for communication in 'AT' mode
3/ Two GPIO pins need to be asserted high and low on startup to enter flash mode. This fine when you figure it out, however the flash tool still tries to upload the firmware and 'fails successfully' with the correct upload delay.
Once up and running they really are quite pleasant to use, and pretty damn cheap.
The issues that hurt me the most were:
1/ It doesn't come preloaded with 'AT' firmware, it took me a while to figure this out as well as a PCB respin.
2/ The clearly labelled TX and RX pins are for flashing and debug output only, not for communication with an an external microcontroller. Two to four GPIO pins (decided by the AT firmware) are used for communication in 'AT' mode
3/ Two GPIO pins need to be asserted high and low on startup to enter flash mode. This fine when you figure it out, however the flash tool still tries to upload the firmware and 'fails successfully' with the correct upload delay.