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Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Jowi Morales

Zerowriter Ink typewriter sequel comes with larger 5.2-inch eInk screen, all-week battery, and mechanical keyboard

Zerowriter Ink.

The Zerowriter Ink is an eInk typewriter and word processor that features a 5.2-inch e-paper display, a low-profile mechanical keyboard, and a 5,000mAh battery - enough for one week of daily use. The Zerowriter Ink is the follow-up to the Raspberry Pi-powered Zerowriter typewriter that launched late last year.

The biggest change that the Zerowriter Ink brings to fans of the format is that it already comes fully assembled and works right out of the box. So, if you just want to have a distraction-free device for writing but don't want to go through the 3D building and setup process (or find someone to do it for you), you'll find the Zerowriter Ink a suitable piece of kit.

Working on the 5.2-inch eInk screen is also a joy with its 1280 x 720 widescreen resolution. While it may not be 1080p, the pixel density should be more than enough for most text hacking needs given its physical dimensions. When you're done typing, you can then save and manage your work using a microSD card. You can then just pop the card into your computer when it's time for further text manipulation or processing, and you're ready to roll.

If you also like to track your writing productivity, the Zerowriter Ink comes with a few tools to help you out. These optional add-ons will give you a word count, track writing time, set goals and milestones, and more.  

The Zerowriter Ink moves the device family from the Raspberry Pi to the Inkplate 5, which is a 5.2-inch e-paper display baked into an Arduino-compatible board powered by an ESP32 microcontroller. This makes it easy to hack and customize, allowing you to turn it into whatever you want.

Its built-in 60% low-profile mechanical keyboard is hot-swappable, meaning you can change its switches and keycaps to suit your needs. This makes the Zerowriter Ink customizable inside and out, allowing you to build a distraction-free writing device for you and you alone.

Despite coming fully assembled, you're still free to customize it as you please. If you're into coding, you can easily turn the Zerowriter Ink from a writing device into basically anything you can think of. The maker even suggested 'distraction-free Doom' for its more programming-adept customers.

Zerowriter says that it will open-source the project and publish the code base on GitHub when the Zerowriter Ink starts shipping to its backers. The company will also release the hardware design files, allowing you to build the Zerowriter Ink from scratch if you want to do so.

The Zerowriter Ink is still in the crowdfunding stage at Crowd Supply. So, if you're interested in this, you better hop on and check out the details of the Zerowriter Ink. We just have to remind you that backing any product in the crowd funding stage entails some level of risk, even from seasoned creators, so you should always triple check everything before investing in a product that you like.

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