I’ve seen a few videos about this and it was even mentioned in the links with friends show a few weeks ago. This is an android tablet with a monochrome RLCD display (not e-ink) that allows it to be used comfortably in daylight. These is also a backlight that allows it to be used in dark environments. The company compares it to e-ink displays, but with a 60Hz refresh rate. They also advertise other benefits such as no blue light and DC dimming (so no PWM flickering). It uses a Wacom-type EMR stylus. The tablet runs android 13. The company has also talked about their own custom OS as well as an unlockable bootloader.
I will warn you that the company and the founder come off with an eccentric hippie vibe. He does talk about backpacking the world for a few years, so at least it’s an authentic vibe.
Beyond the marketing and the backstory, the display looks interesting to me for note taking. Here is my current use case - I have a remarkable2 tablet that I use for note taking and I’m very happy with it. It allows me to take notes and carry all of them around with me, without having to lug around a stack of notebooks. I like being able to annotate notes and sketch out notes in a more open format, and without needing a keyboard. I like being able to re-organize my notes, although I do wish there were more powerful organization tools for the tablet. One of the biggest compromises with the remarkable2, for me, is the slow refresh rate and need to redraw/refresh to clean the display. This might not be an issue for someone who is predominantly interested in an e-reader.
The price tag is steep for a tablet, and there are certainly other devices that are cheaper and/or more performant and/or more feature-rich. I’m interested in this, although I don’t think that I am brave enough to be an early adopter. I also think there are some people that would benefit from the higher contrast, no blue light, flicker free display, although I am not in that crowd.
Any comments, thoughts? Do you think it’s a good product vs good value? Is your snake oil detector light flashing?
Here are some reviews/videos for reference:
Company website
Mr Mobile
Joshua Chang
follow up
original
Daylight Company video
Launch Party
For the children of the 80s
