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The great Flipper Zero shortage of 2023 has finally come to end

I like everything about the Flipper Zero, except the way it was always out of stock, pushing buyers to overpriced third-party sellers.

Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer on

Flipper Zero reading the Apple Pay NFC signal from my Apple Watch Ultra

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Despite initial fears that it was nothing more than a hyped toy, I love my Flipper Zero!

It’s a $169 multifunctional device that can interact with digital interfaces in the physical world. It can do all sorts of things, from emulating RFID and NFC cards, to analyzing radio protocols, imitating remote controls, and much more. It’s a “digital Swiss Army knife” for cybersecurity enthusiasts, tinkerers, and those interested in exploring the digital side of their environment.

Also: 7 cool and useful things to do with your Flipper Zero

But there’s been a problem. It was too successful for its own good, and it was constantly out of stock. This means that some buyers went to unscrupulous third-party sellers who were charging extravagant amounts. I saw one Flipper Zero for sale for five times the retail price.

Flipper Devices, the company behind the Flipper Zero, claims it has sorted out the issues, and this should mean that devices are consistently available in stock with quick delivery in all primary regions, typically within 2-7 days.

According to the company, monthly deliveries of Flipper Zero devices grew fourfold between January and June 2023. In order to cope with this, the company had to rebuild its entire logistical infrastructure and address several challenges related to logistics and chip shortage.

Also: How to unlock the Flipper Zero’s true power

For $169, the Flipper Zero is an awesome tool. Throw in a $29 Wi-Fi dev board, and you can also start experimenting with wireless pentesting, giving you a fantastic platform to experiment and learn.