CapibaraZero: A cheap alternative to FlipperZero based on ESP32-S3

M5stack.com makes a whole bunch of ESP32 modules with display, enclosures, batteries, etc already integrated, and they're cheap and robust. You can get one with a built-in keyboard for $30.

Espressif(the ESP* company) bought M5Stack earlier this year. So M5 products are basically official ESP* reference platform.

Oh wow, had no idea. I like their products, have a bunch of sensors and liking the ease of use. Most recently got the SCD41 co2 sensors to migrate away from all the crappy cloud-based sensors, and works great!

For the more budget concious - you can get ESP32 modules with USB C, Wifi/BT and a few IO pins from AliExpress for $4. These things are amazingly cheap.

Agree, but M5stack devices also start at $5 and come with a case. Add $10 or 15 and you can get a device with a screen, accelerometer, buttons, microphone, and more. No soldering required.

Which of theirs is the most comparible to the flipper zero? Besides the cool looking Cardputer it is quite hard to make sense of their product lineup and compare features.

Care to recommend one? Appreciate it.

I will check it, thank you.

It depends what you want to do with it and how many modules you want to hang off it (or not). The 'entry level ' one is the M5stickC, which is about the size of your thumb, has a couple of buttons, a screen, a grove connector (to attach peripherals), an accelerometer, a real time clock chip, and a battery for around $20.

All their stuff is programmable in C or in MicroPython, and they have a Scratch-type building-block interface called UIflow which lets you prototype in MP very fast, and is extensible with your own modules. You kind of need it even if you're competent in Python because the documentation tends to be barebones and focus on the electronic schematics, so the UIflow software components are the API documentation.

Expressif's own documentation is very good so this may be changing since they acquired M5stack, but I still find UIflow the fastest way to get hands-on with a new module.

Great to hear the docs are good.