# Chameleon Ultra (RFID Research Group)

> A compact, programmable RFID card emulator.

- **Category:** RFID & NFC
- **Availability:** Listed by maker
- **Price:** €129 (at lab401.com), checked 2026-09-15
- **Good for:** Experiment with supported RFID card emulation.
- **You'll need:** A compatible client and your own supported tags.
- **Trade-off:** Supported operations depend on firmware and tag type.
- **Page:** https://gadgets.sh/devices/chameleon-ultra/

## Where to buy

| Shop | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Lab401 | Orderable | https://lab401.com/products/chameleon-ultra?utm_source=gadgets.sh&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=chameleon-ultra&utm_content=api |
| Hacker Warehouse | Orderable | https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/chameleon-ultra/?utm_source=gadgets.sh&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=chameleon-ultra&utm_content=api |
| MTools Tec | Orderable | https://shop.mtoolstec.com/product/chameleon-ultra?utm_source=gadgets.sh&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=chameleon-ultra&utm_content=api |
| RFID Research Group | Source repository | https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra?utm_source=gadgets.sh&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=chameleon-ultra&utm_content=api |

## Blueprint

**Open hardware.** RfidResearchGroup publishes schematic PDFs and Gerbers for both the main and antenna boards in its firmware repo; no dedicated BOM file, no editable KiCad/Altium source.

### Design files

- schematic: [Main board schematic (PDF, rev 1.0)](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/blob/main/hardware/ultra/Chameleon_nrf52_ultra_V1.0.pdf) (PDF)
- gerbers: [Main board Gerbers (rev 1.0)](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/blob/main/hardware/ultra/Chameleon_nrf52_ultra_main_V1.0.zip) (ZIP)
- gerbers: [Antenna board Gerbers (rev 1.0)](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/blob/main/hardware/ultra/Chameleon_nrf52_ultra_ant_V1.0.zip) (ZIP)

### Source repositories

- [RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra) — hardware, GPL-3.0, ★3041
- [RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltraDocs](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltraDocs) — docs, GPL-3.0, ★27

### Key parts

| Part | Role | Datasheet |
|---|---|---|
| Nordic nRF52840 | MCU + BLE radio | https://www.nordicsemi.com/products/nrf52840 |
| NXP MFRC522 | HF (13.56 MHz) reader/writer front end | https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/MFRC522.pdf |

_Notes:_ Verified via gh api tree of RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra plus downloading and unzipping both hardware zips (Gerbers present, no BOM). The Devkit variant shares the same hardware/dev-tools/*.pdf+zip in the same repo but isn't in this batch.

## Specifications

### Core platform

| | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Nordic nRF52840 |
| Firmware | Open-source ChameleonUltra firmware and command-line tools |

### Hardware

| | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 24 × 40 × 8 mm |
| Radio hardware | 13.56 MHz HF and 125 kHz LF antenna boards with ferrite shielding |
| Emulation | Hardware supports simultaneous HF and LF emulation |
| Reader hardware | MFRC522 provides HF ISO 14443-A read/write capabilities on Ultra |
| Controls | A and B buttons; eight slot indicators |
| Connection | USB-C for charging and data |
| Battery | Internal rechargeable LiPo; capacity not stated in this guide |
| Serviceability | Four-screw assembly |
| Package | USB adapter cable, 3.5 hex driver, two spare screws and keychain are shown in the hardware guide |

### Software & versions

| | |
|---|---|
| Clients | ChameleonUltraGUI, MTools BLE, iOS beta and Sailfish community clients |
| Ultra vs Lite | Reader hardware and supported operations differ; Ultra specifications must not be applied to Lite |

## Firmware & community

- [ChameleonUltra Official Firmware](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra) — Open-source firmware and CLI for LF/HF RFID emulation, sniffing, and nested card cracking.
- [ChameleonUltraGUI](https://github.com/GameInstance/ChameleonUltraGUI) — Cross-platform desktop and mobile management GUI for card slot dumping and firmware updates.

## Documentation

- [Maker specifications and product details](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra)
- [Project documentation](https://rfidresearchgroup.github.io/ChameleonUltra/)
- [Project hardware guide](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/wiki/Hardware)
- [MFRC522](https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/MFRC522.pdf)
- [wiki](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/wiki)
- [docs](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/tree/main/docs)
- [firmware](https://github.com/RfidResearchGroup/ChameleonUltra/tree/main/firmware)

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Source: gadgets.sh · https://gadgets.sh/devices/chameleon-ultra/ · JSON: https://gadgets.sh/api/v1/devices/chameleon-ultra.json