Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world Nindelofocho @lemmy.world 12mo ago

What inconsequential or surprisingly good thing can I get from Aliexpress?

Im curious as I usually use the site very occasionally to get certain electronic parts or order from PCBway like I just picked up some cheap but infinitely better than stock gps antennas for my LoRa T beams and im about to get a set of also still cheap but much better than stock 915mhz antennas but i kinda wanna throw some other projects or weird thing in the cart with it. It doesent have to be hobby electronics with soldering and all that but bonus points if it is.

43 comments

Have you tried ordering some fuckin punctuation, mate?
- Shipping's too long.
  
  Shipping too long
- Reasonable. Have you tried ordering some friends?
  
  Possible. Have you guys tried that Mac&Cheese burger that Burger King had for a while, but then stopped for some reason?
- A bit harsh, but it did make me laugh.
Every sort of microcontroller/breakout board imaginable. I'm fond of the nanoCH32V305 (144MHz RISC-V CPU, 32k RAM/128k flash, and GPIOs for days)

Soldering project kits. I bought a NTP capable clock kit to learn SMD techniques, then discovered that the Chinese market has no need for time zone support, but I had little need for the time in Beijing.

There's a surprising amount of miniature stuff there-- terrain parts for model railways, or dioramas or wargaming. The actual model railway stuff seems sort of thin on the ground, mostly resold and expensive foreign brands or toy grade stuff.

I got one of those ominous looking wire-stripper-cutter-tools and rather like it.
- Wow, China doesn't have timezones? They're a pretty darned wide country to pull that off!
Permanently Deleted
- Your two links seem to be sending mixed messages.
  
  A little bit of silly, a little bit of practical.
- That's a great price for some cheap zip ties.
  
  This is one of the various examples I use of just how amazing Aliexpress can be.
Not electronic, but engagement/wedding rings. We got titanium and tungsten carbide rings for both of us for less than $10. Your values may be different, for us it’s not about spending six months salary on a ring, it’s about having matching jewellery to show others we’re joined.
- I've never agreed with someone on this and yet been certain they are wearing polished coal rings before
  
  No polished coal here; she got amethyst and I got sapphire.
Electronics, any kind of computer cables, switches, kvm, router, hub, mouse-wiggler etc.

Soldering station, air filters, belts, phone chargers, usb cables. NEMA stepper motors.

Bike lights. 18650 Batteries. Drones. NFC tags. Light table. Sun glasses.

IR Thermometer, blood oxygen tester.

I even bought socks there, quite ok and dirt cheap!

Reading glasses.

I'd avoid :

Fountain pens (they're "ok" but not Lamy Safari quality), wrist watches suck badly. Small scissors.

I buy so much on AliExpress 😅
I got some nice keycaps when I was building my first mechanical keyboard. Aside from that... Soldering gear, 3D printer parts... Cat toys, preflashed smart bulbs (so I can use them completely locally with home assistant), magnets.. And generally any time I see something on Amazon that clearly is just rebranded Chinese stuff, and I don't need it quickly, I can find it on there for a fraction of the price.
If you 3D print, heat inserts. You can use them to insert metal threads into a printed object with a soldering iron to allow you to use standard machine screws in projects.
Tons of good mechanical keyboard stuff on AE. Not the absolute top of the line customs boards or keycaps, but almost everything else is hiding in there somewhere.
- I am intrigued. Any more info about what to look for on AE regarding mechanical keyboards?
  
  A pretty large portion of the kits, components, and pre-built boards are from "obscure" Chinese companies already, so much of what you'd want is just sort of... there. As a single example, get a GMK67 for $35, 70 Milky Yellow switches (if you're into linears. I am not.) for $20, and maybe a YMDK set of keycaps for $30-$50, and you've got a very presentable budget build under a hundred bucks. If you go hunting, you can probably find stuff you'd like just as much for even cheaper.
- Oh yea great place for kit boards and stuff. My first non g8mer board was a MagicForce 68 from there
Cheap disposable tools that you need for some project that you only need a couple times a year (if that).
- I actually have some cheap tweezers i got from there for soldering and theyve been extremely decent at what they do
  
  I scored a pair of small wire cutters for a couple of bucks years back and they keep doing a solid job. I worried at the $3 price tag, but it's been a solid investment.
  
  That said, don't buy solder on Aliexpress. It's barely made of solder. Make sure to invest in a good iron and solder it'll be a life changer for electronics work.
All kinds of small electronics and components, thermal putty, thermal tapes, heatsinks, antennas, plastic cases, replacement customized cases for specific electronics (handheld consoles, etc.)
Pc atx 24 pin breakout board

Cheap esc for bldc ( but those yellow extra cheap ones have a tendency to burn up on high duty cycle loads )

Cheap bldc too, I use one plus a 3d printed fan + shroud to cool nvidia tesla gpus and another two to vent in/out garage door windows in summer

So many sensors

E ink screens plus esp32 or other mcu / sbc

Small touchscreens plus sbc for diy smart stuff

Cheap aluminum extrusion and fixings ( ryobi scroll saw is a relatively quiet and controlled way to deal with smaller stuff like 2020)

Cheap bms and mppt solar bois

Cheap rgb led stuff, I'm partial to the water proof silicone stuff, easy to pair with an esp32

A lot of tat is similarly priced on Amazon and the likes. Always worth a double check before defaulting to ali
- Brushless DC motor, for those curious.
  
  Edit: actually there are a ton of acronyms here. Too lazy to google all of them.
  
  I sure love that The Muppets are embracing solar energy......
Retro handheld gaming machines! One like the Miyoo mini - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805029072733.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.70ea1175JsQ6Yu&browser_id=d65e366aa49c4fc8b9e50714328659c1&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=deaacfcbec18c234cca5c250c07efc932199ddaea1&gclid=&pdp_npi=4%40dis!USD!66.22!66.22!!!470.00!!%40210321c717013992842986230e162a!12000032398395660!sea!US!0!AB&algo_pvid=d938bf3e-547c-424a-9458-27ead5dd64ba

Incredible handheld gaming device.
- Here's the link without all the referral crap.
  
  Thanks I was kinda shocked when I saw the link it gave me lol. I have no intention of earning referral money or anything. I wasn’t even logged into Ali express when I copied the link.
- Was just about to say, Aliexpress is weirdly known for having all sorts of retro or knockoff consoles. Many of them are really cool, too.
- Onion os makes this a really good console.
Decent selection of low brow lingerie for the price.
Diamond sharpening stones. Still waiting on mine but they were cheap and I got the grits I wanted. Somehow I keep ending up putting new edges on knives, chisels, and other blades. I hear diamond stones remove material faster.
I recently bought a Pinecil soldering iron from AliExpress, which is one of the main official ways of getting them. Very nice product.
Probably the best thing I got there was clone of RSP1 with selectable band pass filters for €20. 10kHz - 2GHz range with up to 10MHz of bandwidth in Zero IF mode, although it seems it's more like 8MHz that's actually usable. It's not sold where I bought it anymore, but maybe you could still find it.
It's this one:

The only problem is compatibility, and the fact that I had to install some proprietary API from SDRPlay on my laptop as a SystemD service.
You can find really good wired earbuds. One of my favorites were made by Yincrow $15-$22
- You can play Russian roulette with wireless earbuds. From $4 - $40. Price is not always indicative of quality
- I've heard many people rave about the Moondrop Chu's. Even Crinacle likes them! Also I've ordered myself a pair for ~£15 as an early Christmas present :)
Ridiculous pillows/stuffed animals.
About a decade ago I bought a bare wireless charging circuit and coil.

I built it into a wooden phone stand that holds my phone up just like this one.

43 comments