Freewrite Smart Typewriter | Digital Typewriter with E Ink Display for Distraction-Free Writing | Wifi-Enabled Word Processor Syncs Directly to the Cloud | Dedicated Drafting Machine for Authors

I am so impressed how quickly my daily word count increased and how I’ve been more passionate about writing more than ever before. I love the keyboard and the backlit screen. I’ve been wanting one of these and originally bought the Alpha but didn’t really love it. But I liked it enough to invest in the Smart Typewriter and I’m glad I did. I’m a filmmaker and this tool has helped me work on my investors outline, write and explore ideas for short films, and work on my first short stories (something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time bc one of my dreams is to release a collection of short stories). The battery life is incredible. The set up was very easy. I love the built but I will say that the product is very pricey and I wish it wasn’t so cost prohibitive so more people could use this tool and increase their writing output.

I’ve purchased this, the Traveler and the Gen 2 Freewrite. This is by far the best of their products. The Traveler bricked after a few months and refused to take an update. After a convoluted process I was able to get it working again but I couldn’t update it. And this company’s warranty is less than stellar. They require $150 and to replace it with a refurbished item not including shipping. After already sinking $400 into that product, I refused. One afternoon I decided to try an update it again after it had been a very expensive paperweight for the better part of three years and it magically worked. I’m version they were able to fix whatever bug in their update system and that was what caused it to finally work. Anyway, that gave me confidence in the company again. And I decided to purchase the Freewrite Gen 3. It’s far better than the Gen 2 and even thought it is expensive for what it is, I don’t regret it one bit. I still use the Traveler when I’m on the go, but the Freewrite is my go to for long form drafts. I don’t like how limiting it is but the arrow key features make the product useable for me. Whereas I struggled with the Gen 2. The hardware is great. The software gets the job done but it could be better. That being said, if you can not or do not want to pay for such an expensive product the Alphasmart Neo does exactly the same thing as this for a fraction of the price. Their newest product does also and it’s much more cost effective.

It's an attractive piece of kit. It has an interesting aesthetic, and the idea of typing using an e-ink display is a nearly perfect wallet crowbar. But this is not a good way to get that done. First, the display is very slow. It is very noticeably slow. It is... distractingly slow. It's so slow that in the existence of faster options (of which there are many) it's enough to decide away from the Freewrite for one of those. Then it gets worse from there. Astrohaus wants to bind you tightly to them so that your success--even your hobby--depends on their continued existence as a company. This most obviously starts with the need to build a postbox account with them to have your draft work emailed to your desktop device--assuming it reaches a point where that's the next logical step. You can also get access to your files by mounting the Freewrite as a USB drive. But if you dig any deeper, things start getting uncomfortable. All your work is saved on the internal drive as read only rtf files. The only way to change the content of those files is via the Freewrite device. This means that you can't move partial documents to another device to work on, then put them back on the Freewrite. Unless you subscribe to their enhanced postbox service. That will allow you to copy or send files via postbox to your Freewrite via wifi, rather than that USB cable you have right there. That's a strange thing to do. It's only a requirement because AH decided it should be. It's not a functional limitation of the tech itself, and the default, simplest arrangement for things to be, isn't like that all. That would be to have the internal drive mount as a USB drive when connected to a computer, and then be browseable and usable as such, to include adding files that may or may not even make sense to have on such a device, simply because it's a drive. The reason for designing it this way, is to create a problem for their end user, so they can then sell them an ongoing solution. For some, that might be enough to shake off interest. It was more the door hitting me in the keister as I abandoned ship. What bothered me were other deeper design choices that echo the same tentacular, clingy mentality shown in the postbox thing, but in a manner half abandoned while still being very much a problem. The deliberately non standard keyboard. I didn't mind that it comes with mediocre keyswitches, because I'm handy with a soldering iron and when it comes to what I want, I can be pretty blase about warranties. I had no problem swapping out keyswitches--though the ribbon cable was a little bit of a nuisance. Attempts to dampen the ping of the aluminium case were less successful, but I could have lived with that--much as I was also willing to adapt to the basic quirks of file storage and the idiosyncrasies all embedded devices crop up. What ultimately turned my gut with disgust was when I realized Astrohaus had deliberately and needlessly altered the keyboard layout so that no profile of aftermarket keycaps would fit it except the ones they personally made. They did this by subtracting a portion of the length of the modifier keys on one side and adding it to the length on the other. This causes the keyboard layout to look right. It doesn't interfere with typing, only replacing keycaps. Astrohaus is the only source of modifiers (or spacebars) that will fit the Freewrite. And they aren't there. They have exactly one set of aftermarket keycaps. I can't emphasize enough that this was a deliberate, and purposeful design choice. It meant they had to foot the bill for a handful of special molds so they could then have an iron fist on a market they almost immediately abandoned. Probably because it turns out, churning out variations of keycaps that only fit one type of keyboard only used by a niche market isn't much of a moneymaker. They could have either reduced the cost of the device, or possibly shifted that budget to a better screen--or even simply pocketed it. They could have produced a better device by doing less, and they decided against it. If the keycap thing were the only issue, I'd still think less of the device because it wasn't necessary or useful to bring the device into being. It's not like Topre where the incompatible designs predate compatibility being a concern. This was a device that was designed from the start using recognized components for a marketplace that thrives on general inter-compatibility and customized end user experience, to market to a niche of people who are in those communities, only to not provide the whole reason for that compatibility. It's an ugly choice they made to try and drive people to buy all their accessories from AH. But add in the Postbox issue, the lockdown on writing files to the internal drive, and above all, the latency of the screen and lack of well optimized partial refresh--and it's just a disgusting mess and you can do and deserve to have better. I can't even bring myself to sell it because I have too much empathy for the hypothetical buyer.

I must admit, the Freewrite is kind of a joy to type on. Astrohaus gets a lot right, but the software leaves something to be desired and the device is too limited to justify the price. Purchase a small form Android based e-ink reader and a hot swappable, BT mechanical keyboard with a phone / tablet slot and you can recreate the experience for less than half the price with better software. (You will also gain the ability to change keycaps and switches to meet your needs and you will get keyboard RGB backlighting.) It won't be the same because the Freewrite hardware is an exceptional build but you will get the distraction free, e-ink experience for less.

First of all, I want to say that I really like this device. The ease of use, and overall experience of the keyboard is very good, and I write with it regularly. There are a few things that make the Freewrite not the perfect writing machine though. Firstly: it writes in a very basic text editor. It's so basic that it doesn't even have a function to use tabs or indentations. Instead, when you hit the tab button, it applies 8 spaces to the start of your line. It looks fine, but when it comes to editing later in Google Docs, it becomes a hassle. I have to go to a third party site for coders that converts spaces into tabs. Not a dealbreaker, but it is inconvenient. Secondly: the screen. I love an E-Ink display, and I would replace them on almost all of my devices if the technology was there...but it's not. I don't mind the display, but it is just a little bit too laggy for my liking. I quickly got used to it, but it does become noticeable on occasion. Especially when I want to go back, and see if I accidentally misspelled a word, and it hasn't appeared yet. It's also at slightly too flat of an angle. Depending on what your set up is, it may be a bit uncomfortable to look at for longer periods of time. It could be remedied by just tilting it down a couple degrees, so you would be able to see it easier from a lower angle. And thirdly: the cost. It's far too expensive for what it is. I realize that they are a smaller company, and in order for this product to even exist, it probably has to be around this price point. I spent the money, because I love the experience of typing on a manual typewriter--or even an electric one--but I don't like the process of transcribing my writing later into a digital document. This solves that problem. But, I would be much more lenient if it was half the price. There is literally no competition in this field right now though. I wish that there were. That all being said, I bought one, and I don't want to go back to writing without it. It's the closest thing I can get to exactly what I want. It's also very nice that it automatically syncs to a Google document. I love the feel of the keyboard, and it's very cool when I take it out to coffee shops and things. I can't easily take a typewriter everywhere with me, and I wouldn't really want to anyway. I can take this with me anywhere--in one of the felt cases--and there's no excuse for me not to write. I've accomplished quite a bit on this device, and I've enjoyed the experience. If you have the money to spend, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. If you're on the fence about it, just realize that there are quirks, and it's not perfect by any means.

I bit the bullet and bought this thing, yeah kinda expensive, but dang is it a great help. Ive had it for about 4 months and have written more then i have ever before. It just feels so damn great, the screen lag people talk abouts not a big deal, it dose lag pretty bad when you reach about 10000 words in a doc. But then you just switch to the next doc. Or download your file, erase, and keep going lag goes back to normal. The lag honestly feels like the slight delay from hitting a key on an old timey keyboard into the striker ribbon. Using one of those payment systems really helps, im paying about 30$ a month for it, and adding a bit more each time to pay it off. I felt that it gave me the drive to write more, and want to write more. Oh and the instant transfer to postbox and gmail is super great, i love reading my pervious nights work each morning before work. Thank you freewrite for such a great product, i cant wait to see what else you come up with.

I absolutely love my Freewrite smart typewriter! I’ve been eyeing these for years, and being able to purchase one with Affirm made it finally attainable. If you’re a fan of the classic click-clack feel of a typewriter, you’ll adore this device. It offers a fantastic, distraction-free way to dive into writing and stay in the zone. I’m someone who tends to fall down rabbit holes and lose focus, but the Freewrite keeps me on track and helps me find my creative flow. My only initial issue was the glaring white keys and the small font size on the keycaps. Thankfully, I found some SA profile keycaps that suit me perfectly. After watching a few tutorials and using the included tool, I swapped them out with ease. Now it’s absolutely perfect, and I couldn’t be happier! If you’re looking for a focused, nostalgic writing experience with a modern twist, this is it!

I decided to give this e-typewriter a try after dealing with headaches from too much screen-staring. Before you buy this, I recommend you read my pros and cons below. :) Pros: I received it in a timely manner. It was easy to set up the necessary account. It was easy to learn the functions of the machine itself. Cons: the way the machine is shaped, the user must keep their arms and hands in an awkward position while typing...similar to playing the piano. When typing, you also have to hit the keys much harder than a regular computer keyboard. I know there are people who enjoy having a certain keyboard aesthetic with the sound etc, but after a while, it becomes physically challenging. Also, I am a relatively fast typer (65+ words per minute), and the lag time got to the point where it was ten words behind me...pretty annoying. Lastly, I returned it to Amazon well within the return window, and I am still waiting for my refund after almost exactly 2 months. I spoke with two customer service reps who both assured me it was coming, but I'm still waiting. :) Bottom line: Maybe the other models of the FreeWrite are more suitable for long periods of (fast) typing, but this one did not work well for me because of the above mentioned issue. Be aware the keys are much stiffer and harder to push than a regular keyboard. And, if you decide to return it, be aware your refund might take quite a long time to process. I hope this helps! :)