This small retro display box is surprisingly handy – Knowligent
This small retro display box is surprisingly handy

This small retro display box is surprisingly handy

HomeHow to, TechThis small retro display box is surprisingly handy

Sometimes a quick glance at your data is enough.

This retro smart display is really cool!

That’s what the makers of the Tidbyt retro-style display are counting on. The Tidbyt display is a little box of information that (hopefully) means you don’t have to reach for your phone. So when this little box appeared on my radar, I naturally wanted to give it a try. I wasn’t prepared for just how useful it would be.

At first glance, Tidbyt looks… meh. It's a display. There are no speakers or microphones, so you can't stream music to it or make calls. All it does is scroll through information. So how useful can it be? Well, let me tell you.

The display itself looks pretty good if you like the richer feel of wood. You can get it in walnut or beech, and once it’s plugged in, it’s reminiscent of an old board like you might see on a couch. It’s made up of dots (not technically pixels, but that’s what I think) of LEDs that create an almost fluid display of information against a black background.