\n\t\t\tI built my own local-first Ring Doorbell alternative with an ESP32
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\nIt works the same way, except without any subscription fees.<\/p>\n
This 4G ESP32 smartphone shows off what the microcontroller can do<\/p>\n
And then some<\/p>\n
Over on the ESP32 subreddit, user LuckyBor has been making waves. They posted photos of a smartphone that uses an ESP32 at its core, and it can already achieve some things that you’d expect from a phone:<\/p>\n
It is based on an ESP32 N16R8 with a 4G simcom modem, specifically the A7682E, with the ability to make phone calls, sms (soon), and take pictures with a 2MP ov2640, and a 3000mah battery! This is my first prototype pcb before things get serious, so don\u2019t mind that lots of things are a module and not a bare chip.<\/p>\n
LuckyBor didn’t share much else than that, which, as you might imagine, whipped the ESP32 community into a fervor. The comments are (understandably) full of people asking about every little detail, and fortunately, LuckyBor isn’t one to withhold secrets.<\/p>\n
First, LuckyBor replies to a comment about how to get a SIM plan working on the phone by claiming that you can just slot a SIM card in there and it should be good to go. For the software, they say “It\u2019s lovyangfx + just the at command interface for the modem,” and for the OS, they said they’re using a custom Arduino IDE because ESP IDF is, as they say, “a huge pain.”<\/p>\n
LuckyBor then explains why they used an ESP32 and not a Raspberry Pi:<\/p>\n
Science isn\u2019t about why, it\u2019s about why not, but seriously it\u2019s because Linux drivers and device trees are inconvenient, and the esp32 s3 is low power too, and also I like esp32\u2019s that\u2019s why<\/p>\n
Finally, the question on everyone’s minds right now: will LuckyBor actually release the source code? Well, I have good news for you; they replied to a comment asking for the code repo with a simple “It\u2019ll be foss later,” meaning they do intend to release it soon. Keep an eye on LuckyBor in the coming days; we may see people grabbing their code and making their own phones with an ESP32 sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary This ESP32 S3 4G smartphone prototype handles voice calls, a 2MP camera, and a 3000mAh battery, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,190,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-487758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"ESP32](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/esp32-ring-doorbell-1.jpg\"\/)
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