whats the difference between - sensored/sensorless motors/esc

[mudd_slinger]

could someone explain the differences in the two please or direct me in the right direction to learn

[Charlie-III]

Motors & ESC's can either handle both (sensored or sensorless) or one (usually sensored).

The easy way to see is whether or not there is an additional cable/port for the sensor.

For crawlers, sensored is better since the low speed control is much better.
For "go fasts", there is not much difference.

Sensored (motor or ESC) usually costs a little more.

Not all sensored ESC's like all nonsensored/brand specific sensored motors.

[Meatwad]

The main differences are price and power, not to mention smoothness and lack thereof. Sensored stuff is generally more expensive and generally on the lower powered side (not many 1/8-1/5 options). Unsensored stuff is generally cheaper with generally alot more high power options (1/8-1/5 with higher voltages).

Sensored setups have another multipin plug for the sensor, basically rotor position and in some cases temp sensor making it very smooth at all throttle positions. Unsensored doesn't and don't do very well at low speeds, cogging and wiggling around trying to find rotor position at startup.

Sensored is tons smoother at low speeds than unsensored. Unsensored is basically useless for crawling. Although unsensored outrunner motors can be made to be acceptable to some, but brushless motors are another topic altogether.