Hacking a Video Walkie Talkie’s TXW818 MCU and Running DOOM
A recent exploration into cheap video walkie-talkies revealed their potential for reverse engineering. Enthusiast Aaron Christophel demonstrated the capabilities of the TXW818 MCU by running the classic game DOOM on the device. While the project has its challenges, such as a convoluted SDK and limited gaming controls, it showcases the fun possibilities of tinkering with these devices.
- ▪The video walkie-talkies contain a TXW818 MCU from TaiXin Semiconductor.
- ▪Aaron Christophel successfully ran DOOM on the walkie-talkie's hardware.
- ▪The device features a 240 MHz CK803 CPU core with 272 kB of SRAM and supports BLE and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.
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| Original publisher | Hackaday |
| Canonical URL | https://hackaday.com/2026/05/24/hacking-a-video-walkie-talkies-txw818-mcu-and-running-doom/ |
| Publication time | Mon, 25 May 2026 05:00:00 +0000 |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Hacking A Video Walkie Talkie’s TXW818 MCU And Running DOOM No comments by: Maya Posch May 24, 2026 Title: Copy Short Link: Copy Recently cheapo video walkie-talkies popped up on everyone’s favorite online retailers, which naturally lured in the usual gaggle of reverse-engineering enthusiasts of cheap tat to see what’s inside these devices, as well as what more they can be made to do. Cue [Aaron Christophel] doing just that, with the typical DOOM demo as proof of concept. Inside these cheerful little devices is a TXW818 MCU, made by TaiXin Semiconductor. It provides its own CK803 CPU core at 240 MHz with 272 kB of SRAM, as well as BLE and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi support. For these walkie-talkies an additional 4 MB of PSRAM is provided as well as 2-4 MB of SPI Flash.
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