Proxmark Knock-Offs vs. an ACR122U and Blue Cloner

Alright, it’s that time of the year again where I’m gonna be writing to some fresh implants. As I’m a student, I don’t have the cash on hand to splurge on a legit holy grail Proxmark V3, so I’m looking to compromise. I’m gonna be cloning to a flexMT, so I’ll need both LF and HF functions, especially a more rigorous HF given the S50 1k emulator chip requires some more finessed software that the Proxmark can handle.

That being said, in good old Canada, there is really only two Proxmark v3 on Amazon that arrives in a timely fashion that can be found here and here. I understand these are both not fully legit, but from my checking around on the forum, it seems to be either a hit or miss with these from Amazon/AliExpress. I recognize the KK Moon name from the AliExpress pages and other posts here, so I guess I’m hoping it is also legit. So we have either a 60 CAD or 130 CAD option.

Alternatively, I could just buy the blue cloner off of DT for 40 USD (53 CAD) and then the ACR122U for 50 CAD and use the specialized tools Amal posted.

The question then is, should I invest in the cheap Proxmark and hope it works, invest in the higher costing Proxmark that looks a little more legit in the pictures, or just go the two separate devices route? I don’t have any experience with the Proxmark, so I’d have to flash it and learn to use it, but I imagine I would have at some point anyway when I get a real one someday. Any advice would be appreciated.

A Proxmark of some sort is definitely the right tool for the job, You can get a lot done with the ACR122U, and sort of do what you need to with the blue cloner, but it’ll always be a comprise.

As for the Amazon listings, I’ve never bought one off them so I won’t comment - mine came from AliExpress

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I’ve seen at least 2 others replying so… they’re going to tell you to get a v3 easy. Hope I guess right!

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In your situation
I would recommend the Proxmark3 Easy

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WOOOOHOOO! I CALLED IT! BOOYAH!!! In your face hahahah

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Personal opinion, if you are going to drop $200+ on an implant and have it surgically installed, spend the money on a decent programmer. Get a RDV2 for around $200. Why buy a Ferrari if you are going to maintain it with Autozone parts?

I take it your AliExpress one turned out okay?

Alright, I will grab it then, thank you!

Everywhere I’ve looked the rdv2 is the same price or very close to the rdv4 so at that point might as well get the newest one. That being said the proxmark3 rdv4 is $500 CAD which is why I went the AliExpress route

Absolutely, I’ve had great success with it. The only quirk (which is true of all proxmark a) is that the stock LF antenna is useless for implants. You can’t use the ProxLF antenna so I had to make my own.

Just make sure you get the 512 version not the 256

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Just curious as to the performance difference you’ve noticed between the Easy and the RDV2 - from my understanding they were pretty similar in performance and features, but of course I’ve never owned an RDV2

By this do you mean it has trouble finding the implant?

There’s 2 listed on Amazon.ca shipped from China for less than 150 CAD

Yeah, the positioning is hyper specific. Takes a while to find the right spot, then moving just 1mm will have a negative performance hit.

It can certainly be used, just more frustrating than using a more appropriate antenna

Aren’t those knockoffs so no different than the proxmark3 easy?

A knockoff of a rdv2 will be a lot different than the pm3 easy knockoff. Just because they are both knockoffs doesn’t make them the same thing.

That’s pretty annoying, my pm easy is supposed to get here on Wednesday.

Honestly if I knew for a fact I could clone my student ID I’d have payed the $500 for the real proxmark3 and gotten the LF antenna but since I need a proxmark to scan my card in the first place I didn’t wanna take the chance

For me it comes down to how often you’ll use it to write implants. If you’re a pen tester writing it all the time, go the RDV4 without hesitation. If you’re only gonna write to your implant once every 6 months, you can handle some inconvenience. It’ll still do the job just fine, and I can’t justify hundreds of dollars more to save myself 2 minutes every 6 months. PM3 Easy is still a great device.

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Right but I thought the reason why the pm easy wasn’t as good as the real proxmark3 is cause they cheap out on some of the parts which makes it less reliable so wouldn’t this still be the case of the rdv2 knockoffs?

I’ll likely get the legit proxmark3 rdv4 eventually when I get more into projects and things I can do, right now I’m still learning and I didn’t wanna break the bank so I got the AliExpress one a lot of people recommended

Nope. Proxmark is an old design replaced by 4 newer models now. It’s an outdated design. That’s why they aren’t as good. A real rdv4 will be better than a clone rvd4. But a cloned rdv4 will still be better than a cloned pm3 easy.