Success Stories with OpenBeken: Compatible Devices, Use Cases, and Where to Buy

Hi all,

I'm quite new to the area of OpenBeken but have some experience in the field of Tasmota.
As Tasmota devices are increasingly hard to get (or getting more expensive) I try to find out whether OpenBeken might be a solution for me.

So far I tried my luck with a disassembled bulb (7231T) and a RGBW controller (BL602) and both did not succeed yet.
Perhaps I just focused on the wrong devices but from my personal experience point of view I fear that OpenBeken will introduce potentially more issues than solutions for me.

I'm really curious of your success stories with OpenBeken.
Which interesting devices do you have working at home, which use cases do you address with them and for which price and where can I buy the hardware behind?

I'm aware of the device compatibility list but nearly all devices that made me curious are not any longer available on the market.

Long story short:
Which devices are you currently buying and successfully using?
Before I buy some new hardware i.e. on A**Exp***s I would like to know whether it will be easy decloudify them and integrate into my home.

My personal field of action/interest:
- MQTT gateways for IR, RF433, Zigbee, BLE (I have Tasmota gateways in use but no spare parts)
- devices to display "status information", "warnings" or similar (currently I developed a tiny solution with 8x8 RGB LEDs by myself)
- speaker devices to announce status/warnings (i.e. window still open or garage door not closed)
- voice enabler (without cloud) to identify predefined "action words" and activate some flow in the home automation (in my case: Node Red)
- remote controls (I currently love to use IK*A zigbee remote controls of type Tradfri and Styrbar that provide multiple buttons in one WAF-compatible case)
- temperature sensors (currently I use XI**MI MI*A sensors but I don't like button cells and the devices need a power reset from time to time)
- plenty of power measuring plugs to measure power consumption and control ON/OFF by rule (eliminate standby consumption i.e. for network printer, ...)

not yet in place
- power outage sensors with alarm buzzer?!
- controllers for shutters or similar
-

I'm happy to provide more information about every of my use cases if you are interested in.

Greetings
Eva

The best thing I can recommend is the list you most likely already know, here:
https://openbekeniot.github.io/webapp/devicesList.html
You can also tick "Only detailed teardowns" checkbox to see full user reports, many of which were also written directly by me.
I have already flashed hundreds of devices succesfully and most of them works very good as long as you know how to configure them. The worst issue I experienced so far is low quality hardware, see:
https://www.elektroda.com/rtvforum/topic3898805.html , but you can prevent it more or less by using PowerSave 1

That being said, buying devices is always a lottery, as the internals may change over time. Still, just buy one piece and post a topic, I will help with flashing.

Some of the things you listed may be better in a Zigbee form, Zigbee is always recommended for battery powered devices, no matter which firmware you use.

Buzzers can be added to existing devices, with OBK, there are many options...

If you have some issues with BK7231T bulbs or BL602 strips, please also open separate topics for questions (if you didn't already, because I'm sure I saw your bulb topic already.... that's a very strange issue indeed, you seem to be the first one reporting it)

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

If you have some issues with BK7231T bulbs or BL602 strips, please also open separate topics for questions (if you didn't already, because I'm sure I saw your bulb topic already.... that's a very strange issue indeed, you seem to be the first one reporting it)

yes, I already opened 2 separate topics.
Then BL602 based device is getting extremely hot and "PowerSave 1" has no effect for BL602 devices so far (as far as I understood and checked with my device)
The BK7231 device is currently not responding anymore and before it had issues to get into my local network
=> so far 2/2 failed tests with OpenBeken but I'm convinced that this is not usual and probably my fault!

Judging from the update on previous topic, the BK7231T WiFi issue is solved now, so 1/2 are working at the moment?

Then I can try looking into your BL602 topic as well....

And regarding your question from the first post - what about this - can you choose some devices yourself and we'll both look into them? First into offers and then, if you decide to order them, I will help with getting them running (at least as long as they are on supported chips)? When you have an issue, always open a topic, you can also send me a link to the topic on private message so I can find it faster.