This product is a 32-bit general-purpose RISC-V microcontroller. It is not called a “game changer” because of its performance, but mainly due to its unbeatable cost-performance ratio — reportedly only 0.5 RMB! Yes, you heard it right, 0.5 RMB; some people earn enough from a post to buy one.
As for performance, it is based on the RISC-V architecture with a maximum clock frequency of 48 MHz, utilizing the RV32EC instruction set. Don’t expect too much in terms of performance; just hope that the code density is decent.
In terms of storage, it has 2kB of SRAM and 16kB of FLASH. To be honest, if the FLASH could reach 32kB, it would definitely be more useful.
The power supply is quite convenient, directly supporting 3.3V and 5V, which means you can skip the LDO in simple applications. The peripherals are also quite comprehensive: 1 x 10-bit ADC, 1 x operational amplifier, 1 x DMA, 1 x advanced timer, and 1 x general-purpose timer. Communication interfaces are not neglected either, with one each of USART, SPI, and I2C. The quantity is a bit limited, but all the essentials are there.
With this price, don’t even think about finding complex interfaces like USB or CAN. The debugging interface is similar to the STM8’s SWIM interface, a serial single-wire type, which is quite usable.
There are four packaging options: SO-8, SO-16, QFN-20, and TSSOP-20. Among them, the QFN-20 is 3x3mm in size with a 0.4mm pitch, which is indeed very small.
Speaking of competitors, the TSSOP-20 package can directly compete with the STM8S003F3P6 and N76E003AT20, as the reset, power, and debugging pin layouts are identical, allowing for direct P2P replacement. The SOP-8 package corresponds to the STM8S001J3M3, with the power pin layout being completely the same, allowing for direct replacement, and it has one less VCAP pin while adding an IO pin, making it more practical.
Finally, regarding development tools, their MounRiver is quite user-friendly, but the GCC version needs to be updated quickly; it is still at 8.2.0, which has some minor issues.
Link to CH32V003 introduction
https://www.wch.cn/products/CH32V003.html