A little box on your desk that does your most frequent things with one button: ask an AI out loud, drop a thought straight into your own Obsidian, hear what happened today, switch off the TV, count your reps. I wrote this firmware for myself and then took it to the point where it can be handed over: it installs with one button, with no development environment and no command line.
What exactly you are buying
This is easy to get wrong, so plainly. Firmware is a program. Like an app for your phone, only for a tiny gadget: on its own it does nothing, it needs something to be installed into. The gadget is a separate piece of hardware, and you do not buy it from me.
If you do not have the gadget yet, buy it first and the firmware after. Without the hardware the file you bought simply sits in your account and waits. Nothing is lost, but nothing is useful either until the parcel arrives.
There is exactly one model that fits — M5StickS3
The one on the ESP32-S3 chip. Not the StickC Plus2 — that is the previous generation on a different processor, and the firmware physically will not go onto it. Not the Cardputer, not the Atom, not the Core: different screen, different buttons, different wiring. Not sure what box you are holding? Send a photo on Telegram and I will check before you pay.
What the device does with this firmware
On top of that: a spoken news brief, a teleprompter and phone remote over Bluetooth, a rep counter. Every mode in detail, with the honest downsides, is in the long piece about this gadget.
A couple of the modes in that piece are wired to my own server and my own computer — "do this on my computer", a message to my family chat, my server balance. They are not in the firmware you get: nobody can drive someone else's machine. Everything else works for everyone.
What the purchase includes
What happens after you pay
The firmware will not stand still
This is not a "download it and forget it" product. I use this device every day myself, so it keeps changing — and everything that appears reaches you on the same key, at no extra cost.
Where your voice goes
The question worth asking of any voice device. Here is the honest chain — not one link more than necessary.
Your Wi-Fi password is not part of that chain at all: the installer writes it into the device's memory over the cable and sends it nowhere.
What is weak about it — honestly
I would rather tell you here than have you find out at home. Nothing on this list is fixable in firmware — these are properties of the hardware.
Who should definitely skip this
I would rather talk you out of it now than refund you later.
- If you do not have the device and are not planning to. Firmware without a Stick S3 is just a file.
- If your home network is 5 GHz only. The chip works on 2.4 GHz exclusively, and that cannot be fixed.
- If you are expecting a smart speaker. It is not one: the speaker is small, the microphone only wakes while the button is held, and it does not play music.
- If you want a fully offline gadget. Voice and AI go through your Wi-Fi. Without a network you keep the buttons, the remote and the counter.
- If you write firmware yourself. Then building your own is more fun — and the ideas are free to take from the article.
Common questions
Which model fits and which does not?
Only the M5StickS3 — the one on the ESP32-S3 chip. The StickC Plus2 will not work: it is the previous generation on a different processor and the firmware physically will not go on. Cardputer, Atom, Core2 — also no: different screen, different buttons, different wiring. If you are unsure, send a photo of the box on Telegram before paying and I will look.
Where do I buy the gadget itself, and what does it cost?
From the manufacturer (m5stack.com) it is around 22 dollars. Resellers charge noticeably more, often double — that is the markup and shipping, not a different product. The box holds the stick only: cable, strap and modules are sold separately.
Why is the price different in roubles and dollars?
Two checkouts, two markets. The Russian page is priced for Russia; the Lava price is the international one. Both give you exactly the same thing: the same firmware, the same installer, the same key and the same updates. Pay through whichever one your card can actually reach.
Is there a subscription? What does it cost to keep using?
No subscription. You pay once. After that the only spending is on the AI model — pennies per request, taken from your own key. The starting credit comes with the purchase and covers hundreds of questions. The non-AI modes — remote, counter, phone control — cost nothing at all.
How do I top the key up, and by how much?
On the site: sign in at base.eltonlabs.org, open “API key”, press “Top up” and pay by card. You pick the amount — there are no fixed packages. Put in a little and see how far it goes. The credit lands on the key the moment the payment goes through. The same balance works in the Elton AI plugin for Obsidian, if you use it: it is one wallet.
Are updates paid?
No. Everything I add to the firmware reaches you on the same key for free — open the installer, “More” → “Update firmware”. Settings are not reset. I use this device every day myself, so it keeps moving: news, computer shutdown and the screen themes all appeared after the first release.
What about privacy? Is it always listening?
No. The microphone only wakes while the big button is held — like a walkie-talkie. The recording goes to my server, becomes text and is sent on to the model; the audio itself is not kept. Your Wi-Fi password never leaves the device: the installer writes it into memory over the cable.
The model runs abroad. Is that fine?
AI providers sit outside Russia, so during installation you separately confirm your consent to data crossing the border. The consent text and everything else is in the legal documents. The offer for the firmware itself is here.
Answers take a while. Is that normal?
The time is three pieces: the recording goes up, the model thinks, the answer comes back and is spoken. Three to six seconds for a short question is normal. It gets slower for two reasons: weak or distant Wi-Fi, and a “smart” model — those think several times longer than cheap ones. A fast model is the default, and there is no reason to change it without one.
Do things go wrong?
They do, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. This is a small device on home Wi-Fi reaching other people’s services over the internet. If the network blinks, the answer does not arrive and the device says so. If the model provider is down, the same. That is not a fault, it is ordinary life for a gadget like this: repeat the command. Everything that could be smoothed over has been — the device reconnects on its own, picks whichever of your two networks is on air, and does not go silent when something fails.
How long does the battery last?
The cell is 250 mAh — the size of a fingernail. With Wi-Fi up the whole time, that is a few hours. Sleep saves it: after five minutes idle the device drops off by itself and then lasts the day. It charges over an ordinary USB-C cable in half an hour.
The computer does not see the device. What now?
Nine times out of ten it is the cable: many cheap USB-C cables are built for charging only and physically have no data wires. Use the one from the box. If that does not help, plug into a port on the computer’s own body rather than a hub or a monitor. In the stubborn case these devices have a forced write mode: hold the Boot button on the front and plug the cable in without letting go.
What if I do not like the firmware?
Before writing anything, the installer saves a full copy of the device’s memory. “Restore from backup” puts everything back exactly as it was — including the factory firmware, if the stick was new. Nothing here is irreversible.
Does it work on a Mac?
Yes. There is a build for macOS on Apple Silicon (M1–M4) alongside the Windows one, and both are in your account after payment. On an Intel Mac it will not launch — write to me and I will build one. On the first launch macOS asks about an unidentified developer: right-click the app → “Open” → “Open”. Once.
Windows complains about an unknown publisher
That is SmartScreen. The program has no paid developer signature yet, so Windows warns about it — standard behaviour for any new program without a certificate. Click “More info” → “Run anyway”.
Can I install it on two devices?
Yes. The licence is personal: install it on as many of your own devices as you like. What you may not do is resell the file or publish it — every copy is stamped with your details.
"Write this in Obsidian" — does that work for me, or only for the author?
For you, but the device has to be joined to your vault once. You install the free Elton AI plugin in Obsidian, switch on “Connector” and “Quick capture”, and copy a short code from there. That code goes into the installer — after which thoughts go straight into your daily note. Until the code is set, the device says honestly that it has nowhere to write: it will not write into someone else’s diary. A step-by-step guide with pictures is in the PDF that sits in your account next to the installer.
Will "do this on my computer" work?
No, and I will not pretend it will. That mode is wired to a bridge running on my own computer, and it does not drive anyone else’s machine. It is not in the firmware you get. If you really need something like it, write to me and we will talk.
Questions first? Write to @anton_sway Get the firmware Access opens automatically at the email you pay with. AI key and starting credit immediately, updates free afterwards. $29.99 once, no subscription Pay with Lava →Can I get a refund?
A digital product of proper quality cannot be returned once access is open — that is Russian consumer law, art. 26.1 §4. But if the firmware does not run because of something I did and I have not fixed it within a week, I will return the money. All the terms are in the offer.
By buying you accept the firmware offer, the personal data policy and the consent to cross-border data transfer.