The Flipper Zero is a Really Damn Cool Device
4 min read
If you are a tech enthusiast, a hacker, or just someone curious about how things work, you probably already have heard about the Flipper Zero. It’s a small, portable device that’s been making waves in the tech community for its versatility and capabilities. But it’s also been the subject of a lot of criticism and misunderstanding. In this post, I want to share my personal experience with the Flipper Zero and why I think it’s such a cool tool for learning and experimentation.
Why I Like the Flipper Zero
The Flipper Zero isn’t about doing one thing really well. It’s about letting you explore how a lot of everyday tech works. Once you start using it, you quickly realize how much wireless, infrared, and access-control tech surrounds you every day. Things you normally never think about suddenly become understandable and testable.
What I’ve Actually Been Using It For
Doorbells and Remotes
IR is one of the first things I played with.
Recording signals from remotes, replaying them, understanding how simple and standardized a lot of infrared communication actually is. Fans, TVs, lights, random gadgets. Once you capture a signal and replay it, things click very fast.
The Flipper basically became a universal remote for half the stuff in my apartment. Recording signals, renaming them, organizing them. It’s surprisingly satisfying to understand how incredibly simple some systems are.
Car Keys and RF Curiosity
Modern car keys are not magically cracked by a Flipper. Rolling codes and crypto exist for a reason. But experimenting with Sub-GHz signals, understanding frequencies, and seeing why some systems are secure and others aren’t is extremely educational.
You learn very quickly that “wireless” does not automatically mean “secure”.
RFID and NFC Chips on My Keychain
This might be my favorite part.
I’ve got multiple RFID and NFC chips on my keychain now. Testing different cards, reading them, emulating supported ones, learning the difference between protocols and frequencies.
It turns abstract concepts into something physical. You don’t just read about RFID anymore, you interact with it.
What the Flipper Can Actually Do
All of this experimentation works because the Flipper packs a lot of capability into a tiny device.
Here’s a quick overview of what’s inside, without turning this into a spec sheet:
RFID & NFC: Supports 125 kHz RFID and 13.56 MHz NFC. You can read, emulate, and experiment with many common access cards and tags.
Infrared (IR): Can record and transmit IR signals, making it a universal remote for a huge range of devices.
Sub-1 GHz Radio: Supports common frequencies like 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 MHz, and 915 MHz. This is where garage doors, doorbells, sensors, and remote switches live.
Bluetooth & USB: Used for communication, updates, and extending functionality.
GPIO Pins: 13 GPIO pins let you hook up external hardware, sensors, or custom modules if you want to go deeper.
iButton: Can read and emulate iButton keys, which are still used in some access systems.
Flipper simply brings all these capabilities together in one device that’s easy to use and experiment with. It’s not about being the best at one thing, it’s about being a gateway to understanding a wide range of technologies.
Why the All-in-One Thing Actually Matters
I see that people love to say “you could just buy separate tools” online.
And yea i mean, sure. You could. But that is not the point.
Its the convenience of having all these tools in one place that makes the Flipper Zero special. It’s not just about the hardware, it’s about the experience of exploring and learning without needing to set up a whole lab or buy a dozen different gadgets.
The Community Is Half the Device
Another thing i want to touch upon is the community around the Flipper Zero.
The Marketplace and GitHub ecosystem add a whole new layer of value to the device. It’s not just about what it can do out of the box, it’s about what the community builds on top of it. Plugins, scripts, experiments, games, utilities. People building weird, clever, and genuinely useful things just because they can. You’re simply not buying a finished product but something that keeps evolving.
My Final Thoughts
For me, it’s been a fun, hands-on way to explore the tech that’s already all around me. Doorbells, fans, remotes, chips on my keychain. Stuff I used daily without ever questioning how it worked. And that alone makes the Flipper Zero worth it to me. This device doesn’t turn people into hackers, but instead turns curiosity into understanding.
Beyond programming, I enjoy sharing my journey and insights through writing, aiming to contribute to the tech community and inspire like-minded professionals.