Can someone please explain to me what's the point of Flipper Zero? In what way is it capable to do anything Android phones with custom software aren't?
It has hardware that most cell phones don't have.
Sub-ghz
"allowing it to receive and send radio frequencies between 300 and 928 MHz. These switches, radio locks, wireless doorbells, remote controls, barriers, gates, smart lighting, "
RFID
" including plastic cards, key fobs, tags, wristbands, and animal microchips."
Infrared
" that use infrared light (IR) such as TVs, air conditioners, or audio devices. It can learn and save infrared remote controls or use its own Universal remotes"
It also has an iButton reader.
Isn't RFID compatible with NFC antennas? There's plenty of apps on F-Droid to interact with RFID tags using NFC.
Same thing for IRDA, some manufacturers still do include it in their devices.
RFID compatible with NFC antennas
Only the HF RFID stuff. There is also LF and UHF RFID. FZ has an LF RFID antenna.
"NFC tags are a subcategory of HF RFID technology. All NFC tags are HF RFID tags, but not all HF RFID tags are NFC tags. NFC operates in a very specific subset of the high-frequency range —13.56 MHz— and have very different use cases and implementation considerations from other RFID categories" https://www.resourcelabel.com/resources/comparing-different-types-of-rfid-tags/
Same thing for IRDA
IrDA isn't the same as IR. There were some phones with an actual IR blaster built in but most were IrDA.
okay, so what are practical things flipper zero can do that phones with NFC antennas and IR blasters can't?
It's a learning tool, it also has gpio pins and a long lasting battery.
It's a toy for people who are interested in hacking/pentesting. Sure, you can do everything it does with a phone, but without the toy like aspects.
Tbh you can do literally everything that a PC can with a phone. Doesn't mean that a phone is the most fun to use for whatever you're trying to use it for.
"Sure, you can do everything it does with a phone"
No, you can't do everything with a phone. A phone doesn't have the same radios, GPIO for expandability, IR transceiver, etc. Not to mention the radios a phone does have doesn't like it when you start forcing it to do fun things.
Wait... a cell phone can clone, erase, and reprint an rfid chip?
Depends but it's definitely possible. Friend had a mid-high level phone some 2-3 years ago and did it and my Xiaomi 9 does it.
Some RFID are encrypted though so I guess they're out of scope.
retiolus@lemmy.cat to 
Can someone please explain to me what's the point of Flipper Zero? In what way is it capable to do anything Android phones with custom software aren't?
It has hardware that most cell phones don't have.
Sub-ghz
"allowing it to receive and send radio frequencies between 300 and 928 MHz. These switches, radio locks, wireless doorbells, remote controls, barriers, gates, smart lighting, "
RFID
" including plastic cards, key fobs, tags, wristbands, and animal microchips."
Infrared
" that use infrared light (IR) such as TVs, air conditioners, or audio devices. It can learn and save infrared remote controls or use its own Universal remotes"
It also has an iButton reader.
Isn't RFID compatible with NFC antennas? There's plenty of apps on F-Droid to interact with RFID tags using NFC.
Same thing for IRDA, some manufacturers still do include it in their devices.
Only the HF RFID stuff. There is also LF and UHF RFID. FZ has an LF RFID antenna.
"NFC tags are a subcategory of HF RFID technology. All NFC tags are HF RFID tags, but not all HF RFID tags are NFC tags. NFC operates in a very specific subset of the high-frequency range —13.56 MHz— and have very different use cases and implementation considerations from other RFID categories"
https://www.resourcelabel.com/resources/comparing-different-types-of-rfid-tags/
IrDA isn't the same as IR. There were some phones with an actual IR blaster built in but most were IrDA.
okay, so what are practical things flipper zero can do that phones with NFC antennas and IR blasters can't?
It's a learning tool, it also has gpio pins and a long lasting battery.
It's a toy for people who are interested in hacking/pentesting. Sure, you can do everything it does with a phone, but without the toy like aspects.
Tbh you can do literally everything that a PC can with a phone. Doesn't mean that a phone is the most fun to use for whatever you're trying to use it for.
"Sure, you can do everything it does with a phone"
No, you can't do everything with a phone. A phone doesn't have the same radios, GPIO for expandability, IR transceiver, etc. Not to mention the radios a phone does have doesn't like it when you start forcing it to do fun things.
Wait... a cell phone can clone, erase, and reprint an rfid chip?
Depends but it's definitely possible. Friend had a mid-high level phone some 2-3 years ago and did it and my Xiaomi 9 does it.
Some RFID are encrypted though so I guess they're out of scope.
Can't burn a CD.
You sure you can't with the same usb drive you'd need for anything made in the last decade?
With an external USB disk drive you can.
It's just an SDR with an app store