Your First Dev Board Depends on What You'll Build
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In short
A dev board is chosen by the ground it covers rather than by performance: ESP32 for something that communicates, Raspberry Pi when you need Linux, FPGA when you are building the circuit itself.
They cover completely different ground
The three do not compete. Their roles are separate.
| Board | Ground it covers |
|---|---|
| ESP32 | The cheap wireless entry point. WiFi / Bluetooth built in, for building things that communicate, things that transmit |
| Raspberry Pi | A small PC running Linux. Handles AI processing and always-on servers |
| FPGA (DE10-Lite) | Understanding hardware as circuits. Building logic itself, not software |
Whether what you want to build is “a thing that communicates”, “a small computer” or “learning circuits” — that will not steer your first board wrong.
ESP32 — building things that communicate
WiFi and Bluetooth on one chip, small and cheap.
What I actually built was a setup carried on a craft, communicating bidirectionally with a PC on the ground. The craft sends attitude and sensor data for real-time display, and control parameters are adjusted on the ground and sent back on the spot.
It got swamped on the day
This was the biggest sticking point. At the venue everyone else was transmitting over WiFi at once, and the interference meant I could not receive my own traffic. At first I could not even work out the cause.
The solution was setting the counterpart’s MAC address on the receiving side too, so it communicates only with the intended peer. Where radio is flying about, you have to state who you are talking to.
You can never notice this on a lab bench. The only radio there is yours.
Build on the premise it drops
The other thing: design on the premise that the link drops. WiFi is never consistently stable. A fail-safe that behaves safely when it goes has to be built in from the start.
Build on the premise that it is connected and you lose control the instant it goes.
Getting sensor values into a browser is covered in Getting ESP32 sensor values into a browser with Web Serial.
Raspberry Pi — a small computer
It runs Linux, so anything beyond display — resident processes, automation, fine configuration — can go on it. The very cheap microcontroller version (Pico) is part of the same family.
Being broadly useful, it goes to waste unless you have decided what it is for. Two things I actually built:
- Building a power-factor meter on a Raspberry Pi Pico — a clamp current sensor and phase difference
- Face recognition on a Raspberry Pi 5 and the speed wall — the distance between working and usable
Choosing one as a signage device is separated out into Google TV or Raspberry Pi for a signage device.
FPGA — building the circuit itself
Unlike software, much more of it is thinking about and building the structure of a circuit yourself. What you write runs immediately on LEDs and 7-segments, so logic design, which tends toward the abstract, becomes something you understand physically.
- Why I Chose the DE10-Lite as a First FPGA Board — what is on the board
- What Stops You First in Quartus Is the Setup — drivers and pin assignment
On the axis for choosing
What lining up the three makes clear is that comparing them will not choose for you.
Compare spec sheets and ESP32, Raspberry Pi and FPGA do not sit on the same axis. It is not a difference of performance but of the ground they cover, so once the purpose is settled there was only ever one option.
Which also means that being unable to choose is a sign you have not settled what you want to build. Settling that before choosing a board lands you sooner.
Frequently asked questions
Q1How do I choose the first board?
It is decided by whether what you want to build is a thing that communicates, a small computer, or a way to learn circuits. Comparing specs will not choose for you. They cover such different ground that a settled purpose leaves almost no room for doubt.
Q2What do I do when radio interference stops reception?
Set the counterpart's MAC address on the receiving side too, so it communicates only with the intended peer. In an environment full of radio traffic, stating who you are talking to is what works. It never happens on a lab bench, so you hit it for the first time on site.
Q3What design should be in from the start when using radio?
Fail-safe. Build on the premise that the link drops, and make it behave safely when it does. Build on the premise that it is connected and you lose control the instant it goes.
What this article is based on
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