From the moment we wake up until we close our eyes to sleep, we are surrounded by screens. Even if your job doesn’t necessitate staring at a monitor all day, studies show that we spend an average of over four hours on our phones every day. All that blue light can cause eyestrain and fatigue, but what if your primary device had a paper-like display without any blue light? That’s what Daylight Computer is promising from its new DC-1.
On Thursday, Daylight Computer officially unveiled its DC-1 Android tablet, which it describes as “a new kind of computer designed for deep focus and wellbeing.” That is quite a lofty tagline, but Daylight claims that the DC-1 features the first full-speed paper-like display of any device on the market, theoretically making the device more capable for everyday work, play, and more than other E Ink tablets and readers currently available.
Daylight says that its brand new Live Paper display is like E Ink but runs at 60fps, which means you shouldn’t get any of the ghosting you’d experience on a Kindle, Kobo, or reMarkable device. The display uses flicker-free dimming technology, has a matte finish and a textured surface, and uses an amber backlight at night to “protect your melatonin.”
The DC-1 runs a custom Android OS called Sol:OS, which is built to minimize distractions while getting you to your apps and content as quickly as possible. You also have access to any third-party app Android has to offer, from Kindle to Spotify to Microsoft 365.
As for the specifications, the DC-1 features a 10.5-inch Live Paper display, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage (expandable via a microSD card slot), MediaTek Helio G99 processor, and an 8,000mAh battery. You’ll charge the tablet via USB-C, and it can connect with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and even pogo pins. While the hardware itself is relatively minimal, there are customizable action buttons on one side, stereo speakers, and a microphone.
Daylight has already sold out of the first two batches of Founder’s Edition tablets at the time of writing, but you can secure your spot in the third batch for $729, which will begin shipping on September 30th, 2024. Batch 1 is slated to begin shipping to early adopters on July 4th, while Batch 2 should start shipping on August 30th.
[Ed. note: Edited to correct details about the launch price of the DC-1.]
