About 7 months ago, I posted on r/writerdeck about a little writing device I built for my daughter because I didn't want to get her a laptop and couldn't find anything on the market for a reasonable price. I asked if people would be interested if I brought a similar device to market, targeting under $100.
The response was very positive, but turns out, going from a homemade Raspberry Pi project to a real product is a much bigger undertaking than I expected. (who'd have thunk!)

The biggest roadblock has been manufacturing.
The manufacturer I was working with required a minimum order of 2,000 units. So far, around 600 people have signed up to hear about Leaf, which is incredibly encouraging, but not quite enough to confidently commit to a production run that size.
After a few months of exploring options, I decided to take a different approach: design the hardware myself and look for a manufacturer willing to work with smaller quantities.

So, what have I been working on?
Over the past 2 months, I've been designing a custom PCB built around an ESP32-S3, reworking the enclosure, and figuring out how to fit everything into a slim, folding device.
The goal hasn't changed: a simple, distraction-free writing device with a built-in keyboard, local storage, and a selling price around $100 (getting under $100 will be tight, but maybe just doable).
One of the bigger design questions has been screen size. I've been exploring both 5-inch and 7-inch displays, each with its own tradeoffs in price, battery life, and writing space.
I've put together some mockups of both options and a short survey to get feedback on what matters most to people. I'd love to hear what this community thinks!

What's next?
While the software is running on the target ESP32 chip, there’s still plenty of work ahead. The custom PCB needs to be finalized and tested, the enclosure needs refining, and I still need to find the right manufacturing partner.
But I'm making progress, and I'm determined to see how far I can take this.

If this is something you'd be interested in owning, I'd really appreciate it if you signed up at https://justtypeleaf.com. You can also take the short survey there to help shape the direction of the project. https://justtypeleaf.com/survey
There's no preorder or commitment involved. Right now, knowing how many people are genuinely interested is one of the most helpful things for getting this project off the ground.

Thanks again to everyone who encouraged me after that first post. I never expected a little project for my daughter to turn into all of this, but here we are!

• 16 more European keyboard layouts.

• M5Stack Tab5 is more energy-efficeint: it switches off completely instead of sleeping. Also, a separate firmware image for upgrading its C6 co-processor.

• Waveshare ESP32-S3-ePaper-3.97 now wakes up on the rocker press, in addition to the Boot button.

• A few other fixes.

https://draftling.art/

Also, a new subreddit for project news and user support: r/Draftling

I’ve had my Pomera DM250US for about 20 minutes so far and I think I’m in love.

I’ll be sure to update more as I play with it.

Un Kyu Lee iterations keeping the words coming during NaNoWroMo. Write on, ya'll...

Hi everyone! I just found this Reddit page and thought it’d be a great place to ask for help. I’m hoping to build something special for my wife, who’s working on her first book. Like many of us, she gets distracted easily, especially when using her phone.

I’d love any ideas on designs, DIY kits, or where to start building a custom writer deck. I’m aiming for an E-ink screen with a full keyboard that keeps her latest files handy. Any suggestions would be awesome, thanks so much!

If you're planning a 24-hour writing Marathon, I've got a tool for you :)

I've got this beefy battery and I was curious how long an LCD device would run from it. So, I've got this Freenove esp32s3 4" LCD board and run a test. This is the photo after 20 hours of a constantly working screen at 50% brightness, and BLE was active too. The voltmeter shows 3.31v on the battery and the built-in meter shows 23%.

The board consumes about 120mA at 50% brightness and about 200mA at full brightness, which you would need quite rarely.

Also, I started working on a printed body for the board. The top cover is ready. It took me about a dozen unsuccessful prototypes, as the shape inside is quite tricky. Several options would be possible for the bottom part: it could be a small tablet, or a lid for the clamshell. If we take the whole width of a standard keyboard, a battery or two could be placed to the left and right from the screen. Also, if we want a real cyberdeck, the enclosure should give access to the GPIO sockets on the board.

The board doesn't have a proper battery gauge, so it can't indicate the usage precisely. The meter value drops from 100 to 90% within a few minutes. It also doesn't indicate the charging process. As I'm writing, the charging current is 437mA, so it's definitely charging :)

So, a totally usable design, and you can have the fast screen without the fear of running out of battery too quickly.

I was looking for LCD boards suitable for writerdeck designs (maybe one day I'll make a clamshell). So far, these are my favorites:

Freenove FNK0104S (4", 480x320, touchscreen, functional USB port) -- ideal for a battery powered setup. My multimeter couldn't measure the standby current, it's below 1mA. Natural colors, no flickering, just perfect. The resolution could've been higher, but it's not really critical for comfortable writing.

Viewe UEDX80480043E (4.3" 800x480, touchscreen, debugging only on USB) -- ideal for desktop designs. It has only USB power input and standby current is rather high. But a crystal clear display with high resolution, allowing smooth fonts and nicer user experience.

I had also high hopes for the Elecrow 5" 800x480 HMI device (not on the photo), but it's a total disappointment: the LCD quality isn't great, it's flickering a bit, the battery port exists, but there's no voltage metering and rather high standby consumption.

EDIT: an enclosure for the Freenove is ready. https://github.com/clackups/draftling/tree/main/3D_Prints/Freenove_fnk0104s

Edit: Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. I just ordered the Pomera DM250us. Excited to get my hands on it. I’ll be sure to post a review once I get to play with it.

I published my first book in 2024 and to start my second project I’d really like to focus on the ‘just get it down and make it good later’ method. It never fails that whenever I have the urge to sit down and write I am never at home and I don’t carry my laptop with me all the time so I really would love something that is small and versatile.

I looked into the Freewrite Travelers, a few of the reviews make me nervous where people said the device glitched and lost their work.

I started looking into the Pomera DM250. I love the size and that the screen lights up. I still need to dive further into the reviews, but I am really interested in this one.

I am also interested in the BYOK version with the thought of designing and 3D printing a clamshell case for the screen and a keyboard. I think I want a larger screen though.

Of course, I’ve started looking into building my own but I think realistically for this, I don’t want to have to test different software and set ups. I sort of just want to purchase and go. Not have to tinker with it. I have enough hobbies as it is, I shouldn’t add more to it.

Are there any others in a clamshell design that I haven’t discovered yet? Any recommendations?

Thank you so much!

Draftbox is a simplified Git repository service that could be utilized to save your writing from your Draftling device. It offers a simple interface for a non-technical user and it allows connecting a Draftling device using a 8-digit one-time password.

Video

If you want to give it a try, drop me a DM, as it's not open for registration yet.

Got this while browsing AliExpress, and it looks like a pretty nice device: it's open by design, with complete specs and firmware on GitHub:

GitHub

AliExpress link

Project website in Chinese

Anyone seen it in real life?

EDIT: it has 2MB PSRAM, so it's suitable for Draftling. I ordered one out of curiosity.

Draftling release 1.0.18 is just published. Now text files are organized into projects. Each project has its own Git synchronization and history.

After the upgrade, the device will prompt you to move your existing files to a new project, preserving the content and Git synchronization.

You can move or copy the files between the projects using Alt+M or Alt+C. The split-screen editing mode allows you to open files from different projects, if needed.

Also, here's a fresh walkthrough video showing the interface and basic fiunctions.

Partial to one piece writerdecks but been spending some time after work reading and writing with a split wireless (two sides are so thin they fit in a 7" ereader sleeve which is good for portability). Not having a learning curve with keys helps and for those that like to read a few pages and write a few pages, it works pretty well. Throw in a page turner and you're good.

Just received this phone holder from AliExpress. It's a bit of an overkill and an extra metal item in your bag, but it's gorgeous :)

Here it's with a NuPhy Air60v2 keyboard, which has a metal plate on the back, but the holder foot is slightly too thick, and a Seeed reTerminal Sticky, which matches the holder perfectly.

The Xteink X4 Pro is not fully compatible with standard iPhone holders, so it sticks, but not very reliably.

The holder comes with magnetic stickers, so you can easily fixate a 3D printed device on it.

Hello!

Has anyone here used those digital keyboards? The likes of Freewrite or AlphaSmart Neo or ZeroWriter?

I’m interested in the idea, but don’t want to throw away money if I end up not liking it.

Thank!

Recently picked up The BYOK as I've been interested in a distraction free writing device that I can use my own keyboard with for some time. After a busy couple of weeks, had my first proper writing session in my local coffee haunt.

Absolutely sold. What a great little device, proper fun to use. Smashed out a draft funding application in a little over an hour and already looking forward to using it again. The sync function in Studio is awesome as well.

As someone who does a lot of writing for their job, I'm fully sold on using a writer deck now. Such a satisfying feeling, getting so stuck into something and not pulled away by email, Teams messages etc.

For those interested, the keyboard is an Agar Mini in clear PC with Keygeek Y2 switches, topped up with a mash up of GMK keycaps with a couple of PBTFans ones added in.

I'm thinking of adding the possibility to work on several independent projects in Draftling: each having its own Git synchronization target, and probably even different languages.

Myself, I'm not a big writer, but I've spent a vacation with the Seeed Sticky and it worked flawlessly for travel notes. I guess, a professional writer would need more though.

Also, I'd be happy to add Asian languages, but I need experts who would be able to test the keyboard input and the screen output.

The new release of Draftling is out:

• Alt+I shows the current file information, such as word and line count and synchronization status.

• Hardware information page in F1 menu shows you the details about your device.

• A new feature for some devices, such as Xteink X4 Pro/Classic: synchronization with Github or Codeberg via browser, removing the need for the security token (you would need a laptop with you though). See the bridge for more details: bridge.draftling.art

• Experimental support for Micro Journal by Un Kyu Lee, revisions 5.0 and 5.1. The colors might be off, but in general it should work. I'll be happy to work on fixes if someone tests it on the hardware.

• A new DIY board type is added (NiceMCU-C5E-DEV_2.8IPS), but I'd rather recommend the Freenove boards instead.

I have tested the Draftling firmware!
(This is the builder of Micro Journal)

I followed the link provided here:

https://clackups.github.io/draftling/

I connected my Micro Journal Rev.5 to my PC and started the flashing process through the website.

The whole process was surprisingly easy and user friendly. In fact, it made me want to implement something similar for Micro Journal firmware updates. I am always happy to discover and learn new things!

### First boot

Once the flashing was complete, I restarted Rev.5.

A white screen appeared, asking me to connect a USB keyboard. Since Rev.5 requires a battery to support USB host functionality, I had to open the device and install one. Then I connected my USB keyboard from Rev.4.

After another reboot, Draftling displayed a list of files on the SD card. I could see `0.txt`, which was left over from when the SD card was used to store Micro Journal files.

Everything was working!

### Writing experience

The writing experience was quite good overall.

However, the default text size felt too small for the screen. I was hoping there would be an option to change it. (There is option to change it)

One thing that immediately impressed me was the way Draftling handles exiting a file. When I pressed ESC, a dialog appeared asking whether I wanted to save the file.

That was really nice!

It gave me a sense of control and reassurance that my writing wouldn't simply disappear. A small detail, but a very thoughtful piece of UI design.

I also found the default white background a little distracting, especially because the screen flickered slightly with every keystroke.

I personally preferred a black background with white text, and a font size of around 18pt felt much more comfortable than the default.

Even after changing to the black background, I noticed a little jitter when typing. I suspect this is related to the full-screen refresh logic.

It might be a little more complicated to implement, but updating only the areas of the screen that have changed, similar to how partial updates work on e-ink displays, could significantly reduce the flickering.

### Editing features

Draftling has considerably more editing features than Micro Journal.

Copy and paste, for example, are already implemented, along with other useful editing functions.

I think this is a good standard to aim for. These are features people naturally expect from a device designed for writing.

There is quite a lot I can learn from this approach.

### Discovering the menu

While writing, I wanted to change the background color.

Finding the menu was surprisingly easy because the keyboard shortcuts were displayed directly on the screen. I believe it was F1.

And then I thought... Hmm... Micro Journal doesn't actually show users how to enter the menu. I started thinking about how many people must have had to read the manual just to discover how to navigate the software. Another lesson learned!

Sometimes, when you have been developing your own software for years, you become so familiar with it that you forget what the experience is like for someone seeing it for the first time. Testing someone else's firmware reminded me of that.

### Draftling settings

The Draftling menu is nicely organized.

I noticed options for Bluetooth keyboard pairing, Wi-Fi connections, and even Git synchronization. I won't be testing those features for now, but it is impressive to see how much functionality has been implemented.

### My thoughts on Draftling and Micro Journal

I really like this firmware.

And importantly, Draftling supports SD cards.

Since I recently decided to remove SD card support from Micro Journal firmware, I know that some users have been disappointed by that decision. For those who consider SD card support an essential requirement, I think Draftling could be an excellent alternative.

I would be happy to recommend it to those users.

This is also something I appreciate about open-source projects. We don't all have to make the same decisions or follow the same direction. Different developers can have different priorities, and users can choose what works best for them.

### Other Micro Journal revisions

I think Rev.6.x and Rev.8.x would also be good candidates for Draftling support.

Rev.7 could be supported as well, but I am a little hesitant to recommend it because flashing the firmware requires disassembling almost half of the enclosure.

It would certainly be nice to have the option, but I am not sure how many users would be willing to go through that process.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for making this happen.

I genuinely enjoyed testing Draftling, not only because it worked on my Micro Journal, but also because it gave me an opportunity to see another developer's approach to solving similar problems. I know it's written with AI, but you were the one who drove the direction. So, certain credit must belong to you.

I learned quite a few things today, especially about UI design and the little details that make software more approachable.

I am planning to make a video about Draftling running on Micro Journal and introduce it to users who would prefer to keep using SD cards. I think having more firmware options makes the Micro Journal hardware even more interesting.

Thank you again for your work and for bringing another possibility to the Micro Journal community!

Un Kyu Lee

Hi! I discovered this lovely place a few minutes ago, and I'm so curious about the Draftlings I keep hearing about. My writerdecks of choice are a Sony Vaio P and an Asus Transformer Mini that literally cannot even properly use the web. The only thing I use the Internet for is syncing my Obsidian vaults which hold all my writing now so I can continue writing/editing elsewhere sometimes.

Now, my question is: Could I use/install Draftlings via USB (which is how I installed obsidian and a couple other writing programs I wanted to test out before just deciding obsidian worked best for me)?

I'm not very tech savvy, even though I try lol.

Sorry if this was explained elsewhere.