10 Technologies to Avoid When Developing Your Hardware Product
When you’re developing a new electronic product, it’s easy to get pulled toward the latest and most advanced technologies.
But the truth is, many of these choices will make your product nearly impossible to develop, at least without a huge team, a massive budget, and years of extra time.
In this video, I’m going to reveal 10 technologies that you should avoid whenever possible, because they can trap you in endless development and prevent your product from ever reaching the market.
Technology #10 – High-End Application Processors (Qualcomm, Broadcom, etc.)
These chips look incredible on spec sheets.
They’re what power flagship smartphones and tablets, offering insane performance, beautiful graphics, and every type of connectivity you can imagine.
But here’s the reality: they’re basically off-limits for startups. The datasheets are locked behind NDAs.
You usually won’t get proper reference designs. And unless you’re a huge customer, you’re not getting any meaningful support.
Minimum order quantities can be tens of thousands of units. And integrating the software stack is a massive job, even for experienced teams.
I’ve seen entrepreneurs waste months just trying to get basic documentation, or battling buggy drivers that were never meant for the general public.
A better move is to stick with accessible platforms that actually support small teams. Microcontrollers like the STM32 or ESP32 give you plenty of power and are easy to get up and running.
If you need more performance, something like a Raspberry Pi Compute Module gives you more horsepower, but still with real documentation, community support, and reference designs you can actually use.
And just to add, the same goes for dedicated AI and machine learning chips.
These sound exciting, but they often come with high complexity and limited software support.
Technology #9 – Custom RF Designs (Especially Sub-GHz)
Trying to do your own RF design, especially in the sub-gigahertz range, is a huge gamble.
At higher frequencies like 2.4 GHz, you can at least find pre-certified modules for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee. But once you drop into 433 MHz or 900 MHz territory, you’re usually on your own.
That means designing antennas from scratch, tuning matching networks, and trying to pass FCC or CE testing without much vendor support.
And RF is tricky. Your layout, your enclosure, even the battery wire running too close to the antenna, all of it can break performance.
Unless you have serious RF expertise and test equipment, you’re better off using certified modules.
Or sticking to wireless technologies that come with proven reference designs and antenna solutions you can actually use.
Technology #8 – Custom Battery Packs and Chemistries
One of the most common reasons people choose a custom battery is because they’re trying to squeeze in every last bit of capacity.
If you’re building something small, like a wearable or handheld device, it’s tempting to design a battery that perfectly fits the internal shape to maximize energy density.
But going custom introduces a whole new layer of risk.
The moment you design a custom battery pack, you’re responsible for meeting strict safety and transportation standards.
The testing process is expensive, time-consuming, and failure-prone, especially for small teams without dedicated compliance engineers.
On top of that, you’ll face delays if your certification lab finds anything questionable, and you’ll have to source specialized suppliers who can build packs at low volumes while still supporting traceability and quality control.
A far safer and faster approach is to stick with off-the-shelf batteries, such as pre-certified lithium-polymer packs.
You won’t use 100% of the available internal volume, but you’ll avoid a year-long certification slog and a major liability risk if something goes wrong.
Technology #7 – Advanced USB Features
Advanced USB features like USB 3.0 SuperSpeed or USB Power Delivery sound great on paper.
You get higher data rates, more flexible power delivery, and modern compatibility.
But both of these features come with serious implementation challenges.
USB 3.0 runs at 5 gigabits per second or more.
To get that working reliably, you need carefully matched differential pairs, tight impedance control, and a multi-layer PCB stackup that supports high-speed routing.
Debugging issues is no small feat. You’ll need expensive tools like high-bandwidth oscilloscopes and signal integrity test setups, tools most small teams don’t have access to.
USB Power Delivery is another beast. It lets devices negotiate power profiles up to 20 volts and 5 amps, which sounds great if your product needs a lot of power.
But it also means adding a dedicated PD controller chip, firmware to manage voltage negotiation, and precise power switching.
Unless your product truly needs high-speed data or more than 5 volts from USB, you’re better off keeping things simple.
Use USB 2.0 for data, it still gives you 480 megabits per second. For power, stick with 5V USB charging or a DC barrel jack.
Power Delivery is great when you need it, but you definitely want to know what you’re signing up for.
Technology #6 – Wireless Charging (Qi and Others)
Wireless charging feels futuristic, and for marketing, it sounds great.
Just drop your device on a pad and it charges.
But under the hood, it’s a different story. Coil alignment has to be perfect. Thermal issues come up fast. Efficiency is lower than wired charging.
And if the power transfer is inconsistent, customers start complaining.
On top of that, Qi certification isn’t cheap. And inductive charging introduces a whole new mess of EMI issues that are hard to troubleshoot.
Unless wireless charging is a must-have feature, you’ll get better results with a USB-C port, pogo pins, or even a custom cradle.
Those options still feel sleek, but they’re far easier to implement and much more reliable.
Technology #5 – Proprietary or High-Speed Connectors
It’s easy to be tempted by sleek, modern connectors like MIPI, Thunderbolt, or even Apple’s Lightning connector.
They look clean and offer blazing-fast data rates on paper. But integrating these is brutal.
You’ll often need expensive test fixtures, detailed timing analysis, and access to documents you can’t get unless you’re a high-volume partner.
With Apple’s Lightning connector, you’re also dealing with licensing fees and per-unit royalties through their MFi program.
Unless you’re shipping millions of units, you won’t have the support or the leverage to use these interfaces safely.
Stick with more accessible standards like SPI, I²C, LVDS, or HDMI.
They’re not as flashy, but they’re far more forgiving and they won’t block you from getting to production.
Technology #4 – Fancy Displays
An Active Matrix OLED screen, like the kind used in smartphones and tablets, can make your product look incredibly sleek and modern.
But despite how cool they look, these displays are usually a bad choice for small teams.
They often require a MIPI DSI interface, which isn’t supported by basic microcontrollers.
That means you’ll be locked into using a more expensive application processor, even if the rest of your product doesn’t need that kind of power.
The cost of the displays themselves is also high. They’re typically priced for large-scale phone manufacturers, not low-volume hardware startups.
Even worse, these panels have short lifespans in the supply chain.
A model might be discontinued without warning or replaced by a new revision that isn’t compatible with your existing design.
Even when you can get documentation, integrating them takes time, managing the initialization sequences, voltages, backlight control, and timing.
For most projects, you’re much better off with a standard TFT LCD from a supplier like Newhaven or BuyDisplay.com.
Stick to common resolutions and simpler interfaces like SPI or parallel RGB.
You’ll avoid being locked into an expensive processor, and you’ll have a much smoother path to production.
Technology #3 – High-End Analog Audio
Audio seems simple, it’s just sound, right?
But high-end analog audio is one of the most unforgiving parts of electronics.
Your layout matters. Grounding matters. Shielding matters. Power supply noise matters.
Even tiny mistakes create hiss, hum, or distortion that customers will definitely hear.
And validating those designs requires test equipment that most small companies don’t have access to.
If you don’t have serious analog expertise on your team, don’t try to go toe-to-toe with audiophile-grade products.
Instead, use digital audio interfaces like USB, I²S, or Bluetooth modules where the hard stuff is handled for you.
And if you need analog, start with something small and copy the reference design exactly.
Technology #2 – 5G or Cutting-Edge Cellular Modules
5G sounds like the future, and for some applications, it is.
But most startups don’t need it, and trying to integrate it usually ends up being a huge drain on resources.
These modules are expensive. They often require specialized SIM provisioning, thermal design considerations, and compliance testing with cellular carriers.
And just because a module is pre-certified doesn’t mean your end product will sail through.
If your antenna tuning, ground plane, or enclosure affects performance, you could be forced to go through carrier testing all over again.
In most cases, you’ll get better results using pre-certified LTE Cat-M1, NB-IoT, or even 4G modules.
They’re cheaper, easier to source, and way more forgiving, especially for low-to-medium bandwidth use cases.
Unless your product truly requires high throughput and real-time video or data streaming, 5G is usually more pain than it’s worth.
Technology #1 – Custom IC Design
This one comes up more often than you’d expect, especially with wearables or ultra-compact products.
Founders get the idea that the only way to fit everything into a tiny enclosure is with a custom IC.
And in theory, that’s true. Custom silicon lets you combine everything, radios, processors, memory, into one sleek package.
But in practice, custom chip design is a mountain you do not want to climb.
You’re talking about massive up-front costs, long lead times, highly specialized engineering, and extremely expensive mask sets.
Unless you’re building the next Apple Watch and you’ve raised millions of dollars, this is not the path to take.
Startups should stick with off-the-shelf chips and proven modules.
You can still build something compact, and you won’t risk sinking your budget on a chip that may never make it past tape-out.
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