HackRF One
Hacker ApprovedSoftware defined radio in Tools & making
Popular software defined radio for hobbyists, valued for its wide bandwidth and transceiver capability. The main caveat is weak receiving, and new units cost more than they used to.
Popular software defined radio for hobbyists, valued for its wide bandwidth and transceiver capability. The main caveat is weak receiving, and new units cost more than they used to.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Popular with hobbyists and ham radio
“if you want a popular hobbiest platform you could check out the HackRF line”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “The coolest modern ham stuff is happening on SDRs like hackRF.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Reverse Engineering Yaesu FT-70D Firmware Encryption” Relatively cheap, capable transceiver
“relatively cheap, pretty good transceiver, lots of crappy clones”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Flipper One Tech Specs” “less expensive than a flipper and more capable in every way”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Flipper One Tech Specs” Go-to software defined radio
“HackRF is the gold standard, but definitely not cheap”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Turn a WiFi 7 Router into a 320Msps Software Defined Radio Receiver” “Better use a software defined radio like hackrf”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Poor receiver performance
“HackRF is not as good at listening -- a bit deaf -- but does provide much larger bandwidth”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Turn a WiFi 7 Router into a 320Msps Software Defined Radio Receiver” Expensive for what it is
“HackRF is the gold standard, but definitely not cheap”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Turn a WiFi 7 Router into a 320Msps Software Defined Radio Receiver” “new ones are selling for $400 ($100 more than the kickstarter in 2013!)”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “USRP X420 10MHz – 20 GHz SDR”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scale RF QuadRF | 19 | 4 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
| HackRF OneThis page | 10 | 2 | 83% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
12 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“HackRF is the gold standard, but definitely not cheap”
“Both solid at what they do.”
“HackRF is not as good at listening -- a bit deaf -- but does provide much larger bandwidth”
“a hackrf one and fable was key to the hack”
“Better use a software defined radio like hackrf”
“if you want a popular hobbiest platform you could check out the HackRF line”
“I like my HackRFOne, but be aware it's half-duplex”
“relatively cheap, pretty good transceiver, lots of crappy clones”
“less expensive than a flipper and more capable in every way”
“new ones are selling for $400 ($100 more than the kickstarter in 2013!)”
“HackRF isn't a good SDR by any metric except for the date it came out.”
“The coolest modern ham stuff is happening on SDRs like hackRF.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.