Daylight

I have a rule that if I buy a gadget that I'm still using it 6 months later, it's worth writing about.

The Daylight meets that criteria.

My Daylight has mostly replaced reading physical books in bed for me, although I still compulsively buy paperbacks.

The device itself feels well made, with a snappy e-ink screen running Android 13. My last experience with e-ink, the Amazon Kindle, was dramatically worse than the DC-1.

I don't use it for much else other than reading. I've never been a tablet person and tend to use the Daylight when I want to be disconnected from the internet. I occasionally will use ChatGPT or Chrome to answer some query while reading, but have resisted the urge to install messaging apps or social media on the device.

This is also my first time using an Android device since 2016 when I switched to an iPhone. The experience is fine – not spectacular, but sufficient for daily use with some nice benefits that come from being outside of Apple's closed garden. For example, you can buy Kindle books directly in the Amazon app, something that I've mostly forgotten is possible after being kicked out to a web browser for years as part of their ongoing feud to avoid the 30% App Store tax.

The price isn't cheap: about $750 and the shipping time was about 6 months. With that said, this is Daylight's first device and I was happy to support a new hardware company with a fresh take on a stagnant market.

If you're a big reader and have a discretionary budget for new gadgets, I recommend checking out Daylight. It seems like they are onto something special.