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

Good to see some competition, the FlipperZero is very pricey for what it is. Then again, I guess you're paying for the software.

You are paying for a complete package that you can fit in your pocket.

This is still at breadboard stage. If you want to put something together for yourself at sub $35 you can. It's just not going to be portable, pretty, or probably even usable. I carry my flipper zero everywhere for a variety of tasks.

The flipper zero isn't doing anything special that you we haven't been able to do for decades with a variety of parts.

* SubGHZ, you need an RF module.

* Bluetooth? yep

* IR, you need IR,

* network, hey WiFi.

* SD card for any kind of storage? yep, another module

* USB anything but charging? Yep, more wires and modules.

But hey, most devices want at least 4 wires (VCC/GND/A FEW SIGNALs), and other devices want more, to handle clocks and timing. And that's only if your thing supports IC2 and you have enough GPIO. Otherwise you need multiplexers.

Any one of these things can be done with less than a dollar in parts. But have fun combining them all into something workable AND can do them all.

But hey, you are paying for the software right?? Come on.

The complete package is far more valuable because of the software that drives it. More valuable than not needing to solder the wires is not needing to figure out how to make the IR blaster do useful work by editing code. Because if it was just the hardware, the moat discouraging a non-open source competitor wouldn't exist and there would be competition already.

> You are paying for a complete package that you can fit in your pocket.

Yeah. I've got raspberry pis, and some USB Wi-Fi adaptors specifically bought for having monitor mode, and a few different RTL-SDRs, and a HackRF One, and an Ubertooth One.

But I'm _way_ more likely to have my FlipperZero with me when my curiosity is piqued while out somewhere. I'll often have it in my pocket to use as the world's most expensive tv-b-gone.

Side note that I learned the hard way; once you buy a Flipper Zero and get bored with it, they are very, very hard to sell. Both eBay and Facebook Marketplace seem to not allow them to be sold, and simply asking around doesn't do much.

I got mine awhile ago, played with it, did what I wanted to do and lost interest as I moved on to other things. So now I have a costly device knocking around in a drawer.

How do people end up selling it? If you are anywhere near NYC I could be interested in yours.

I honestly don't know. I also advertised on a few less regulated forums, but no bites. Not in NYC, but if it makes a difference, I am in the US and shipping is always an option. If we can establish contact outside of HN, I'm willing to work something out.

You might update your profile to include contact info?

Or email me if you don't hear back from the first person. :) dga@cs.cmu.edu

Yes! You can email me at hn at stereo dot lu

What you are saying doesn't even make sense.

They are discouraging open source hardware therefore that's what makes the software more valuable?

I invite you to hit up ChatGPT or something and shit out a flipper app. It's fun, and straightforward and most people could pull it off with a bit of time and slogging through it.

I would LOVE to see your Gerber design that fits in a case that's around 100x40x25mm and only weighs 104 grams. OH. And because of the parts involved, I'd love to see it because you'd need VERY advanced soldering skills to put it together.

I'll write the OS/SDK. But it has to be the same size or smaller and have:

1. A screen

2. NFC

3. 125 kHz RFID

4. IR Blaster and Receiver

5. Bluetooth

6. USB controller that can be tons of things

7. HID Controllers for lots of things

8. Still lots of exposed GPIO pins for external stuff.

9. SD Card

Any single one of these requires a sub $1 microcontroller/arduino/ESP + soldering ability + 10 lines of boilerplate code.

Yeah. tell me again the hardware isn't anything special.