I just had a brainfart (good smelling variant) and did a search for the F103 on LCSC without the "STM", and they sell 7 different variants.
https://lcsc.com/search?q=32F103C8T6Prefix: Mgf:
CSK CSK
HK HK
APM Apexmic
BLM Shenzhen Better Life Elec
GD GigaDevices
MM MindMotion Microelectronics
ST STMicroelectronics
The MM part was labeled as a 5V part which is very unusual for Cortex M3, but the datasheet seems to confirm it:
http://www.mindmotion.com.cn/userfiles/images/MM32F103XiLieWenDang/DS_MM32F103xx_o_V1.13_EN.pdfFor me this probably the end of buying "Blue Pill" boards from China / Ali.
In the latest batch I had to change the ID number to get them programmed at all, and a test program of GRBL for STM32 does not save it's settings in Flash.
I have no interest in figuring out the incompatibilities between those different variants, and Ali Sellers relabeling everything as "STM32" makes it impossible to know what you buy.
Quite a shame, because I liked the form factor a lot. They fit on Breadboads and on matrix board, and I used to solder in the thin round pins instead of the thick square pins, so they can be used in much lower profile sockets.
I also liked the very small ST-Link V2 programmers with Aluminum housing and pinout labeled on the outside.
I never liked the bulky Discovery boards and their on board programmers.
If some western manufacturer sold the "Blue Pill" boards for somewhere around EUR5 I would buy them.
From what I've read, LCSC should be a trustworthy seller. The STM variant is their most expensive, (and slowest, least peripherals probably) but I really don't care about that. Just that it works according to the datasheet, and you don't with those re-labled uC's on the Pills.
STM is USD 1.5 (10 up) from LCSC, while if you look at Octopart, no western seller has them below USD 4 (10 up).