Custom MPU9250 Circuit problem

It looks mostly fine to me. You might have to scope the I2C pins and check power - sometimes they can get unhappy if the power supply is non monotonic, noisy or has dips.

Design wise, Pin 11 FSYNC should be grounded if not used. This shouldn't stop ot responding on I2C but could result in reading rate irregularities.

I would still say, if you doubt your soldering, it may well be the issue. Otherwise verify the orientation if the part - square parts are often mis-oriented.

- Gough

Both signal lines, SDA and SCL, need a pull-up resistor on them, to restore the signal to high when no device is asserting it low.

Poster claims 2.2k resistance for pull up in original posting. PCB layout R5 and R6 appear to do this, good for 400kHz mode. That being said, the routing is a bit strange ...

- Gough

You're right, I'm totally asleep, I'm going for a coffee :D

I agree that it looks fine, but the routing is kind of odd.

If OP has resoldered it various times that could have damaged the IC.

On a circuit I made yesterday, I forgot to solder the power connector. Have you checked that your VDD pin is connected, it is not clear from the PCB.

Can you post a zoom image of the actual PCB? Also please check the voltage level of SDA/SCL lines. Even if it's not working, there should still have 3.3V based on the design.

You can use an I2C analyzer tool to check the communication between the MPU9250 and the ESP32. This will help you determine if the problem is with the I2C communication or with the MPU9250 itself.

I have some questions as I have also designed something with MPU6050

Does ESP32 respond if you connect to any other i2c sensor? That is because that way you are sure that i2c bus is working on esp32 side.

What is EXP pin your symbol?

One suggestion is that you can use the typical operating circuit for your reference in section 4.2 of the datasheet.

I suspect EXP stands for the exposed rear paddle on the package ...

- Gough