Comment by bob1029
I've tried using datalist with text inputs and it never quite worked out from a UX perspective. Users would always complain about weird quirks with how it populates & clears values. A normal <select> element with an "Other" option + conditional input element is much more predictable.
Yeah, for autocomplete it has a weird UX feel to it.
Some of the other examples like using it with the slider and the color picker seem like they're useful.