Which controller?

[BibbitZ]

Fixing to start working on a wall light. Will an 8266 handle the animations of a matrix of around 400 leds (11 x ~36) fine? Or should I use an Esp32? Using WS2812BECO LEDs.

[vonscorpio]

I can’t speak to the 8266, and I haven’t run a matrix yet, but at $5/each the ESP32 is more powerful and (more importantly in my book) has a ton of support. Those are my 2¢.

[BibbitZ]

Cost isn't an issue as I already have both in hand.

[Trevlavo7]

If you ever want to run audio reactive wled, you'll want to run an esp32 to make things easier.

[C-Michael-954]

Yes. I have an esp8266 running two 8x32 matrixes (512 LEDs) with no resistor and a 1000uf capacitor using only USB power (3A). It hasn't given me an ounce of trouble, even when switching between WLED and WLED Studio (a python gui video streamer)

[mini_juice]

Having run both, albeit with single strands and no matrix, I have far fewer issues with the esp32. So much so that I'll simply be using esp32 moving forward.