Back on March 5, 2023, I shared a report by Mr. Brad Linder of Liliputing about a new 6.7 inch e-ink monitor for phones. While I thought that it was an interesting idea, I speculated that even assuming that I would consider buying one, “this device will [probably] be more than I am willing to spend…” Mr. Linder published an update on his story on April 11, 2023:
Prices start at $299 for a ‘Link Wired Version’ which is designed to connect to compatible phones with a USB cable. Basically if you’ve got a phone that supports video out over USB-C, you can probably use this model, but make sure to check out the crowdfunding page for a list of officially supported models.
My guess was correct. Even assuming it works perfectly, $300 is too much for a fun phone add-on. My current phone, a Pixel 3a XL, cost me about $120 used. My previous three phones were also less than $300:
- New Murena Teracube 2e in 2021 ($220) [see my review]
- New Motorola Moto e6 in 2021 ($80)
- Used BlackBerry Classic in 2018 ($110) [see my retrospective, photo rescue story, and BlackBerry Classic photos]
I also recently purchased a refurbished Google Pixel 6a for $205 (see related story). Suffice it to say, while my perspective on phone pricing may be skewed by my erring on the side of cheap phones, I would not spend more for a phone monitor than I would spend on a phone… unless the phone satisfied all of my criteria. The original report did inspire me to write a full article on my ideal phone, which would have a privacy-respecting open source OS, e-ink screen, replaceable battery, and QWERTY keyboard.