Is The Flipper Zero Useful For Anything?

I've been hearing about this little gadget for a while and decided to try it out. This is NOT a sponsored review by the way, I bought this myself to see if it would be useful for any of my projects.

So far I'm kind of disappointed with the thing. It does a bunch of stuff... sort of... but I already have single-purpose gadgets like a frequency counter, microchip scanner, and RFID reader/writer that work better. The radio module also seems inaccurate and somewhat restricted.

For all the hype around this thing, I can't really think of a practical use for it! Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas (legal please :-) ).

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[NicolyaLS]

"To use this tool as a hacking tool, you must first hack this tool"

[nicholaslewis]

You need to run custom firmware on there. This will open a whole bunch more.

[bobbyhennessy]

I work as a general contractor, my Flipper has been one of my favorite tools I have ever owned. A lot of my clients live in gated communities, apartment complexes, etc. Being able to get in and out of these communities with a pushbutton is one of the most pleasant feelings in the world, that is all. No memorizing codes, don't have to do shit, I can even open some of my customers garages if they ever need me to. Of course, I have to program it first, but it takes seconds

[TemporalRecall]

Quick note about recording the car fob: If your car was close enough to receive your keyfob at time of recording then when you replayed the keyfob signal the car will reject receiving that signal a second time. This is thankfully due to most cars having a "rolling code" that changes with each button press which prevent replays... usually.

[command]

I look at this flipper thing and it reminds me of the bygone days of PSP hacking. Back then you had firmware, flashing and all the cool software people came up with on forums you could even access through the PSP's internet Tbrowser. The fat PSP came with an RFID sensor which made it ideal as a grabber for remotes; I had the AC remote hotkey'd in, as well as the school projector remote :D

[LemmaEOF]

iButton is not actually some Apple nonsense! It's a one-wire communication protocol used in a lot of older security keys and even as a transit pass in some cities! It also goes by the names "touchmemory" or "dallas keys".

[FowlerAskew]

The separate on and off buttons are quite helpful for professional A/V situations where you might not be able to immediately tell if the projector has turned on or not. Instead of just telling the projector to change to an ambiguous "the opposite of the current state", you can specify exactly which state you're looking for.
The result is that you can just spam the power button without needing to worry that you're turning it on and off and on and off and on....

[dylanlaunspach]

In my time with owning a flipper, I have realised that it doesn't do anything that other devices can't do, the only advantage is the tint size. All of the issues thst you have mentioned can be avoided by downloading a custom firmware, I use flipper unleashed. The main downside of the flipper is the lack of power, it often struggles with range and suchlike. I plan on making some external modules for the most often used modes. I see it in the same way that you said, as a multitool. It does the same job as dedicated tools, in a more compact size profile but not as well

[JBrd]

Nah bro, the Flipper Zero is absolutely worthless - which is why you should send me YOURS 😎

[ericlotze]

I want one largely to just use as a GREAT “universal remote”. No messing with button pressing/holding, just a nice GUI and it can control all the stuff not just IR devices.

[alanwatts]

If this guy can hijack a russian satellite's images with an antena made of literally trash i'm worried about what he can do with a flipper

[HAGSLAB]

I have the Xtreme firmware on mine and have tried it on multiple garage doors, at least two of them could be opened after capturing the signal once. They both had a vulnerable rolling key based protocol. The IR functionality can be both fun and useful. I've used it to turn on the TV when I can't find the remote in hotels etc. I was also able to clone some access cards, for a gym for example. Some of the GPIO apps are nice too. The signal generator and apps for testing various sensors. Bad USB is very nice in a penetration test scenario. If you get one of the WiFi addon boards you can also do de-authing and some other stuff. A lot of people (including my kid) have been lead to believe that this device can "hack" anything. Mostly because of fake TikTok clips. But it's a great device with lots of features. My girlfriend has played way too much Tetris on it as well. 😄

[gregma]

A lot of people do not understand RFID. These devices do not transmit data unless they are in close proximity to a reading device. which briefly powers them just long enough to send a packet of data. I think you could probably do the same thing with NFC reader software installed on any modern cellphone.

[jordansime]

I really appreciate your perspective on updates. On one hand, not updating some things has the potential to leave the user in a vulnerable state. On the other, it can (and often does) strip away features, or add things that benefit the manufacturer and not you. Even if it's just increased data collection that takes performance/battery life away from you. It's something worthy of consideration and discussion in my opinion.

[calebdalby]

I remember one of my friends got one of these and started testing it out with Flipper Unleashed... he then proceeded to accidentally change his AC unit from Fahrenheit to Celsius, couldnt figure out how to change it back, and then sold it to one of his uncles friends 💀

[libertyauto]

If you ever decide to automate your home to manipulate your projector, you will be very grateful for its discreet On and Off signals. Toggling power is hard to program around since you have no guarantee of starting state.
Thanks for your videos.

[jgiesbre]

Also badusb is keyboard emulation to inject a payload, for malicious or prank purposes. Custom firmware adds BadBT which does the same thing to affected devices without even needing to connect physically

[TheChefmike]

I've got this device on my wish list, for no reason other than it seems fun and cool. I'm no criminal. I have researched it somewhat (watched youTube vids). You are going to get tons of great advice from actual users, so let me just ask that you please do an update It was frustrating to see your results when I had seen others do some spooky, cool stuff! I have never seen weather satellite photos from junk before, so I have complete confidence in you, dude! I really love your channel!

[danielellison]

Who flinched when he almost chopped his thumb off?

[thomashenry]

It did not lock the car because vehicles and keyfobs use a synchronous rolling code. The car and the key have a seed value stored in them, and whenever you send a command such as lock, unlock, etc, using the fob it uses that seed value and then they update the value internally. By recording the key fob you are replaying an old value. So the car wont listen to it. You need to do whats called a Rolljam attack which will prevent the car from hearing the keyfob while you record the value.

Buyer beware! This can disassociate the fob from your car and you need to manually reset the rolling code inside the vehicle in order to reassociate the key fob with your vehicle. If your car doesnt allow you to do this manually you might need to have it taken to a dealership. Its not such a problem if you have a metal key in addition to your fob. If you are entirely pushbutton though as many modern vehicles are...

You wont be able to drive your car. And thus you will have to have it towed to a dealership.