The LilyGo T-Embed CC1100 has similar hardware capabilities of the FlipperZero plus WiFi/bluetooth and runs the Bruce Pentest firmware all for under half the price of the flipper. The Bruce firmware works well on it but is not as polished as the flipper zero but both hardware and software are open source and easily modded.
The popularity and usefulness of many devices like the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi doesn't stem from the hardware capabilities, but the "communities of scale" (lots of people use it -> it's much easier to find compatible software, hardware, guides etc.)
I would expect this to be the same for the Flipper Zero.
On the one hand, sure it has a big effect, especially with hardware addons.
But on the other, I think this is overstated, I lose count of how many "How to X on Raspberry Pi" pages I've seen that were really "How to X on linux" or at best "How to X on embedded Linux". Often they were worse than existing "How to X on linux" resources but picked up traction because of the association with a popular board.
But then I'm just an old curmudgeon who's been messing with embedded linux since long before there was a RPi...
I’m not sure I’ll ever understand HN aggression with certain downvotes. This is the OP from Italy and likely English is not their first language. Why is this comment so bad?
Do this device and the other alternative mentioned (Capibara Zero) have the same level of software support as the Flipper Zero? I imagine the strong community behind the Flipper Zero is a big factor in its ongoing popularity.
Having a SATA or M2 is something what I would consider definitely better, however software is usually garbage stuck on one specific Linux Kernel and that's the reason why better hardware will never catch on.
Exactly, the flipepr have a enormous community that help, beyond all the people that work for flipper. So in this case is no, the software support is not even remotely comparable
Not seeing it mentioned here but the big difference from a first glance is the RF capability. This is little more than a 433 MHz replay attacker. Maybe you can generate arbitrary data out, as long as it's the ook modulation. I'm sure there's a great use-case for this, but avoid any delusions of grandeur, this is very cut down.
" Important Notice: This is just a fun project, it was started to pass the time, it is not at all professional and is not intended to be. Is not an alternative for professional device."
The title blurb seems to present it as a functional clone, rather than a limited copy.
"A Flipper Zero clone, but cheapest, DIY and simply Open Source, made with Arduino IDE"
Why not?
"A hobby partial Flipper Zero clone, cheaper, DIY and Open Source, made with Arduino IDE"
So it doesn't have to be clarified further down. I get that it's not that down, but the title is what will be shared and seen in web previews everywhere.
That being said, it looks very cool, and the name is fun.
And that's very fair but an OOK replayer is not a clone. The hardware isn't nearly the same capability. That's fine, it's just a different product entirely
In the first version i added It, probably on the initial commit you can see It, but It have a problem with the microcontroller that i use, so for now i removed it
This is like asking a painter why the hell he used ready made paints and did not create his own for each color he needed. Not everybody has a hobby of spending time and money fixing tracing mistakes of PCB revision 11, playing with working contraption is fine as it is.
A good reason to do it (IMO, as someone who has done it) that it's a lot faster, easier, and often cheaper than designing a fully custom board.
Not only would designing a fully custom board require a lot of error-prone effort, getting a lot of components in tiny quantities can be prohibitively expensive.
Good engineering includes optimizing for cost (monetary and non-monetary), and I'd argue that for many hobbyist one-off projects that won't be manufactured at scale, dev-boards-on-PCB is good engineering.
It’s easier to do pcb-layout wise. Allows you to re-use most components between board revisions, or when you’re done with the project. Probably less ewaste overall because of that.
I mean, yeah, why not? You take a bunch of off the shelf boards and put them together on the PCB as is. To make a PCB with all of the components on it would not be very DIY. That's a custom board and out of scope for DIY.
If that is a boundary one sets up for him or herself, then I question why set up that boundary? Is it an identity matter? "I'm a DIYer (maker?), not an engineer. I have have no interest in doing anything deeper." I was thrilled when I learned about the Maker movement; then disappointed after observing that so much of it is done without ambition to learn more, or become better at the craft.
Okay, have you ever tried to "become better" to the point you researched what would be needed to have a custom PCB built with all of the components on a stock Arduino and any additional shields you might use? You'll see that you will need minimum orders. You'll also have a much more difficult time creating the PCB, as you'll have create all of the traces to connect everything. The method chosen allows for off the shelf components with a much more easily created PCB with minimum traces created connecting pins from shields/LEDs/etc. These will be dirt cheap and can be order in tiny quantities.
This is also a hobby project. To custom build a PCB with all of the components brings this into the Kickstarter world of something. So the person can buy <5 PCBs to play with as hobby or attempt to fund say minimum 500-1000 pieces. From TFA: "Important Notice: This is just a fun project, it was started to pass the time, it is not at all professional and is not intended to be. Is not an alternative for professional device."
Even with the method chosen, if you think the person did not become better after making the simple PCB or any of the other coding required, you're off your rocker. Every build like this comes with mistakes and learning how to correct them.
I know this is a hobby project, but the whole appeal of Flipper Zero is that you can get one for $200 and it instantly grants you a seat on Joe Rogan or Shawn Ryan show where you can wave it front of camera, flip a switch and say "all you base are belong to mine".
Edit for all replies: I'm coming from a place of lack of education; it's not that I know FZ is phoning home, it's that I know I wouldn't be able to tell if it was.
> Read rf signal and emulate it or save it
I assume it checks that you actually have the licensing requirements to be transmitting on whatever frequency?
The LilyGo T-Embed CC1100 has similar hardware capabilities of the FlipperZero plus WiFi/bluetooth and runs the Bruce Pentest firmware all for under half the price of the flipper. The Bruce firmware works well on it but is not as polished as the flipper zero but both hardware and software are open source and easily modded.
The popularity and usefulness of many devices like the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi doesn't stem from the hardware capabilities, but the "communities of scale" (lots of people use it -> it's much easier to find compatible software, hardware, guides etc.)
I would expect this to be the same for the Flipper Zero.
On the one hand, sure it has a big effect, especially with hardware addons.
But on the other, I think this is overstated, I lose count of how many "How to X on Raspberry Pi" pages I've seen that were really "How to X on linux" or at best "How to X on embedded Linux". Often they were worse than existing "How to X on linux" resources but picked up traction because of the association with a popular board.
But then I'm just an old curmudgeon who's been messing with embedded linux since long before there was a RPi...
Yes i know It, but when i started It this, It didn't exist yet
Its sometimes fun re-inventing the wheel, at least you get to understand it all better.
The name alone deserves a project hahah thanks for the laugh
I’m not sure I’ll ever understand HN aggression with certain downvotes. This is the OP from Italy and likely English is not their first language. Why is this comment so bad?
Yep. Very Reddit-like.
Oh wait: It's against the rules to compare HN to Reddit. I wonder why...
Downvoted by three Reddugees. Waahhhh.
Also the Kiisu which is 1:1 with capabilities, plus a few more.
Do this device and the other alternative mentioned (Capibara Zero) have the same level of software support as the Flipper Zero? I imagine the strong community behind the Flipper Zero is a big factor in its ongoing popularity.
It is exactly same problem like Raspberry Pi vs all other (cheaper, better) single board computers.
Except the RPi competition isn't better, only cheaper, because it has terrible software; and without a big community, no support?
Having a SATA or M2 is something what I would consider definitely better, however software is usually garbage stuck on one specific Linux Kernel and that's the reason why better hardware will never catch on.
what do you mean "terrible software", as long as they have linux kernel for it, i don't see how it's more terrible than raspberry
Terrible as in you will be stuck in the pretty much only kernel image that runs on it without being able to update things beyond the kernel
Totally depends on what “better” means to you and your use case.
Exactly, the flipepr have a enormous community that help, beyond all the people that work for flipper. So in this case is no, the software support is not even remotely comparable
[dead]
The firmware repo was archived Apr 12, 2025. I don't think it's going to be revived or be feature-competitive.
Wondering what the hotels in Vegas around Defcon will think of it this year lol.
Not seeing it mentioned here but the big difference from a first glance is the RF capability. This is little more than a 433 MHz replay attacker. Maybe you can generate arbitrary data out, as long as it's the ook modulation. I'm sure there's a great use-case for this, but avoid any delusions of grandeur, this is very cut down.
" Important Notice: This is just a fun project, it was started to pass the time, it is not at all professional and is not intended to be. Is not an alternative for professional device."
The title blurb seems to present it as a functional clone, rather than a limited copy.
"A Flipper Zero clone, but cheapest, DIY and simply Open Source, made with Arduino IDE"
Why not?
"A hobby partial Flipper Zero clone, cheaper, DIY and Open Source, made with Arduino IDE"
So it doesn't have to be clarified further down. I get that it's not that down, but the title is what will be shared and seen in web previews everywhere.
That being said, it looks very cool, and the name is fun.
That's my thinking. It's not a clone. I finally remembered the term I was looking for. It's a "demake" - a remake but worse
yes i know that is simply a replay attack, for now i was all that i want, in the future I will see what can be done
And that's very fair but an OOK replayer is not a clone. The hardware isn't nearly the same capability. That's fine, it's just a different product entirely
really excited for the NFC support
I wonder if modern smartphones could bus power one of these in a phone case. I love my Flipper, but it's a chonker and I have to charge it.
Yes is possible, it doesn't consume too much, but the hardware remains bulky
But does it look like a Tamagotchi?
In the first version i added It, probably on the initial commit you can see It, but It have a problem with the microcontroller that i use, so for now i removed it
What is going on with the PCB? It looks like the soldered several dev boards to a big PCB. I can't think of a good reason to do this.
This is like asking a painter why the hell he used ready made paints and did not create his own for each color he needed. Not everybody has a hobby of spending time and money fixing tracing mistakes of PCB revision 11, playing with working contraption is fine as it is.
A good reason to do it (IMO, as someone who has done it) that it's a lot faster, easier, and often cheaper than designing a fully custom board.
Not only would designing a fully custom board require a lot of error-prone effort, getting a lot of components in tiny quantities can be prohibitively expensive.
Good engineering includes optimizing for cost (monetary and non-monetary), and I'd argue that for many hobbyist one-off projects that won't be manufactured at scale, dev-boards-on-PCB is good engineering.
Some good reasons off the top of my head:
It’s easier to do pcb-layout wise. Allows you to re-use most components between board revisions, or when you’re done with the project. Probably less ewaste overall because of that.
I mean, yeah, why not? You take a bunch of off the shelf boards and put them together on the PCB as is. To make a PCB with all of the components on it would not be very DIY. That's a custom board and out of scope for DIY.
If that is a boundary one sets up for him or herself, then I question why set up that boundary? Is it an identity matter? "I'm a DIYer (maker?), not an engineer. I have have no interest in doing anything deeper." I was thrilled when I learned about the Maker movement; then disappointed after observing that so much of it is done without ambition to learn more, or become better at the craft.
Okay, have you ever tried to "become better" to the point you researched what would be needed to have a custom PCB built with all of the components on a stock Arduino and any additional shields you might use? You'll see that you will need minimum orders. You'll also have a much more difficult time creating the PCB, as you'll have create all of the traces to connect everything. The method chosen allows for off the shelf components with a much more easily created PCB with minimum traces created connecting pins from shields/LEDs/etc. These will be dirt cheap and can be order in tiny quantities.
This is also a hobby project. To custom build a PCB with all of the components brings this into the Kickstarter world of something. So the person can buy <5 PCBs to play with as hobby or attempt to fund say minimum 500-1000 pieces. From TFA: "Important Notice: This is just a fun project, it was started to pass the time, it is not at all professional and is not intended to be. Is not an alternative for professional device."
Even with the method chosen, if you think the person did not become better after making the simple PCB or any of the other coding required, you're off your rocker. Every build like this comes with mistakes and learning how to correct them.
It is absolutely possible to DIY a custom board and it is extremely common.
I love the name
thanks, i have a lot of fantasy
FlopperOne when? :)
There's also https://capibarazero.com/
Don't suppose anyone has seen in person one of the clones of the flipper zero that are on Aliexpress?
I know this is a hobby project, but the whole appeal of Flipper Zero is that you can get one for $200 and it instantly grants you a seat on Joe Rogan or Shawn Ryan show where you can wave it front of camera, flip a switch and say "all you base are belong to mine".
nope, the whole appeal of flipper zero to me and for my friends is what you can do with it, not that you can get one for $200.
Is it not...a bit of both? There's some dollar amount where "what you can do with it" wouldn't make up for the price, no?
Mr. Ryan hands out gummy bears.
yes, but it's not fun
This rocks; the idea of flipperzero phoning home is the(my) primary concern given its use case
It's a very dumb device. If you don't put in a separate wifi module it literally has no way to phone home.
Would you be willing to elaborate on the FZ phoning home?
The FZ itself is very unlikely to even be capable of phoning home.
I do sometimes wonder how concerned I need to be about the companion app though.
What use case?
I got mine to make a backup copy of the remote controls that I'm worried about losing, which happen to be sub-GHz and infrared.
Edit for all replies: I'm coming from a place of lack of education; it's not that I know FZ is phoning home, it's that I know I wouldn't be able to tell if it was.
considering it has no wifi or gsm capabilities that is going to be pretty hard trick to achieve
The firmware is open source