After months of speculation, Flipper Devices Inc. - the company that brought us the wildly popular Flipper Zero - has finally unveiled its next project: the Flipper One. And if you thought the Flipper Zero was cool, this thing is basically a cyberdeck on steroids.

The Flipper One is an open, high-performance Linux platform. When Flipper Devices says "open," it means it: full mainline Linux kernel support, absolutely no binary blobs, closed drivers, proprietary firmware, or vendor-locked board support packages. It can form the basis for pretty much anything you want, from a network analyzer to an SDR (software-defined radio) to an offline AI or LLM project.

Doing all this requires power, and the Flipper One has it. Inside, there's a 2.2 GHz octa-core RK3576 chipset featuring a Mali-G52 GPU and an NPU capable of 6 TOPS (trillion operations per second), allowing you to run local LLMs - including a Flipper One-specific LLM. This chipset is fully supported by Linux and comes with 8GB of built-in RAM to run the operating system and apps. All that power in a device that fits in the palm of your hand.

Alongside the main chip is a secondary dual-core Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller for handling basic tasks like the display, button interface, touchpad control, LEDs, and power subsystem. And if you don't want to run Linux, the Flipper One can run entirely on the RP2350 chip, making it surprisingly power-efficient when not in full Linux mode.

The hardware list reads like a hacker's Christmas wish list: a 1.4-inch screen, a touchpad, a five-button D-pad, and an M.2 slot that can accept everything from cellular or satellite modems, SDR modules, and SSDs (NVMe or SATA) to AI accelerators and Wi-Fi cards. While the Flipper Zero was aimed at offline devices (level zero), the Flipper One targets IP-connected hardware (level one). To pull this off, it features twin gigabit Ethernet ports (so you have a router or bridge out of the box), Wi-Fi 6E support, and 5 Gbps Ethernet over USB-C. Wi-Fi is handled by the MediaTek MT7921AUN chipset (the same one used in the Alfa AWUS036AXML wireless adapter), which is popular among security professionals because it supports monitor mode and packet injection.

One of the most annoying aspects of the Raspberry Pi platform - reflashing microSD cards every time you want to change what it does - is something the Flipper One aims to fix. The developers have created a Debian-based Linux platform called Flipper OS, which allows the system to run profiles configured with specific packages and settings. Want to change what your Flipper One is doing? Boot up a different profile. Broke something in a specific profile? Reload a different one. Think of it as a desktop system running a bunch of virtual machines, but in a portable form factor.

FlipCTL is a program that provides wrappers for Linux programs, turning them into graphical interfaces that work on the tiny built-in screen. It offers a comprehensive framework for building menu-based interfaces controlled using the D-pad and buttons, giving you access to tools like ping, nmap, and traceroute without losing your mind. The developers also want to extend this concept beyond the Flipper One, creating a platform for "cyberdeck builds based on Raspberry Pi, or any portable tactical Linux box." But as founder Pavel Zhovner admits, "we're not 100% sure how to architect it yet."

The Flipper One can also act as a thin client or survival desktop - all you need is a display, keyboard, and mouse, and you have a full Linux system at your fingertips.

This announcement is also a call for help. While the project is mature and a product isn't far off (though no timeline is committed), Flipper Devices wants community assistance with things like getting full mainline Linux kernel support for NPUs, getting Flipper OS profile support working, and choosing a specific NTN (non-terrestrial network, i.e., satellite) M.2 module to support. Given the massive developer enthusiasm around the Flipper Zero, this seems like a challenge they can actually pull off.

Price? Unknown. The Flipper Zero costs $199, so the Flipper One will be more. The modular nature will help keep costs down, but you'll be spending on accessories - an M.2 satellite modem alone will set you back at least $100. But then again, Raspberry Pi 5 boards aren't exactly cheap these days either.