> There are many options for other MCUs, that compare favorably to with RP2040

That's pretty interesting, could you list some?

The STM32 F0/G0/C0 lines come to mind. More I/O, more peripherals and built-in flash.

For hobbyist levels, buying 1-10 pcs they are comparable in price to an RP2040 + SPI flash. However at volume pricing, the STM32 MCU's can be cheaper than just the RP2040 itself. I do think Raspberry Pi needs to figure out volume pricing if they want to be competitive for anything that's not just hobbyists.

rp2040 is 64cents @ 1000qty, thats a good price, compatible winbond 16mbit flash is 12cents.

You need to go up way above a dollar to get comparable specs, given the unique nature of rp2040, two cores with fairly high clock, 264kb sram, pio.

The only thing i dont like about rp2040 is the package, not hobbyist home soldering friendly for custom board designs.

  > not hobbyist home soldering friendly for custom board designs

I assume by home soldering friendly, you mean too small. I'll make a case for why this isn't a bad thing...

If it's difficult to solder a QFN package, then it will be equally difficult to solder the passives and flash it requires. Its price, availability, and good documentation make up for the package by creating an ecosystem of cheap boards hobbyists can use instead.

For example, I designed a keyboard around the Solder Party RP2040 Stamp (https://www.solder.party/docs/rp2040-stamp/). It integrated all the difficult components in a package that fit between the arrow keys and delete key.

> If it's difficult to solder a QFN package, then it will be equally difficult to solder the passives and flash it requires.

Compatible winbond flash is available in sop-8 package which are very easy to solder. 1206 and 0805 are not hard to solder. Nobody is forcing you to use 0201 and 0402.

Sop, tssop or even LQFP-64 are still quite fine for hobbyists. Those can be soldered & most importantly examined quite easily.

Yes, there are various RP2040 boards that can be bought for as low as 2-3dollars a piece which makes the QFN package less of an issue.

If I need to design my own board, I would almost certainly likely use something else unless I need PIO or some other inherent quality of rp2040.

> The only thing i dont like about rp2040 is the package, not hobbyist home soldering friendly for custom board designs.

- Use home SMT reflow solutions like toaster ovens or hot sand in frying pans; or

- As the other reply suggested, use 'breakout boards' to turn the RP2040 into a through hole part; or

- Use SMT assembly services, which are getting cheaper all the time

It's not just a problem with the rp2040 - loads of modern parts have very fine pitches and/or hidden pads, gotta find a way to work with them or stick to aging out, larger parts and miss out on things like PIO.

At $1.70 (CN sources) you can obtain a 600MHz NXP IMXRT1011 with an M7 core + FlexIO and a dozen more peripherals of all types.

Not sure about favorably, but if it's PIO you're after, there is TI's Sitara family with their PRU. afaics, more functionality for a higher price.

But then you have to deal with TI’s garbage called CCStudio

Which is sad, because on paper the TI Sitara MCUs are unbeatable for peripherals and cost.

TI, if you're reading this:

- Give me standard ARM SWD facilities / CoreSight

- Give me an accurate SVD

- Give me a 10,000 page document detailing the register maps and behavior of all peripherals

- Get out of my way

And nobody else will be able to compete. (Who has USB SS/PCIE/N GMACs in one product? PRU?)