Last Updated on August 23, 2025 by pg@petergamma.org
OpenBCI modules made in China are available since several years on eBay and Aliexpress. Users in the OpenBCI forum tested those, but failedsince they had issues.
We suppose that modules sold from www.openbci.com are tested, whereas those sold on eBay and Aliexpress are not tested.
The Chinese developers have demonstrated that they are able to offer OpenBCI modules which are free from issues, but only as demo devices.
Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org often buys products directly from China over Aliexpress. But unfortunately, we did not find users who report that they use the OpenBCI modules made in China. There are also OpenBCI users from China in the www.openbci.com forum.
But do they really want to buy their products from www.openbci.com with high shipping costs and import taxes?
Therefore, Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org invites universities from China or Asia to deal with the sellers of OpenBCI modules sold on eBay and Aliexpress, to offer also tested modules as www.openbci.com which are free from issues. Whe do we not have yet a www.openbci.com in China.
Hong Kong Baptist University is one of the top public universities in Hong Kong:
We highly appreciate Prof. Thomas KNOPFEL – Director of the JC STEM Laboratory of Neuronal Circuit Dynamics
https://physics.hkbu.edu.hk/people/prof-thomas-knopfel
who formerly worked for the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich. We know his high standards in research, we think a university like the Hong Kong Baptist University would be a good candidate to be interested in OpenBCI products made in China.
Products from www.openbci.com seem hardly to be developed further since years.
For instance, www.openbci.com does since years not offer the OpenBCI Wifi shield anymore.
These are available only eBay and Aliexpress, but need to be tested. These Chinese sellers who sell their products for instance on Aliexpress are very skilled hardware developers. Every know and then they offer new demo EEG products. But what is still missing is a shop similar to www.openbci.com which offers tested OpenBCI modules from China.
Similar to Pine64 who offered the Pinephone Pro and the Pinephone keyboard, but then pulled these components from the market again, since the sales rates where too low, there are basically no new products available from www.openbci.com.
And similar is the situation with Raspberry Pi inc. For several years, Raspberry Pi was not able to release new single board computers. Then, SBCs made in China such as the Orange Pi 5 had become more interesting for developers. So it is highly desirable that products like these are taken over by Chinese developers, if they can manufacturer those products at a lower price and ship those from China.
Www.openbci.com has a forum which is alive, but hardly offers any new products. Similar to the situation with single board computers and the Pinephone from Pine64, where products from China have become more interesting than the Raspberry Pi s which are made in U.K.
We suppose that sooner or later Chinese developers who even today seem to be superior in producing OpenBCI modules will develop OpenBCI further, so that for instance tested modules are offered on eBay an Aliexpress. And this would certainly increase the sales rates of those.
Another candiate to offer OpenBCI made in China would be companies like DFRobot.
Zhiwei Robotics Corp. was established in 2008 and their headquarters was moved to Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Shanghai in 2010. The company is also known as DFRobot which is the abbreviation of Drive the Future and Dream Factory.
Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org reviewed low-cost EEG devices since hears. But we are asking: Is there a violation of competition laws in this field?
The Muse SDK was pulled from the market. And in the Mind Monitor forum get support from Mind Monitor developer James Clutterbuck.
The OpenBCI Wifi shield was pulled from the market. And in the www.openbci.com forum users get support from William Croft.
If the Chinese do not take over, who are the last hope for us, then products based on InfluxDB are starting to become more intersting, also for students and beginners: