Author Archives: JC Torres

Stop Packing Two Chargers: Trozk’s $50 Binary Star Does Both

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Travel chargers have always been a bit of a negotiation. You pack a power bank for the long haul, then stuff a wall adapter in separately because the power bank only helps when there’s no outlet. End up with two items taking up bag space, two cables to hunt for, and the occasional moment of realizing you forgot one of them on the nightstand back at the hotel.

Trozk’s Binary Star tries to settle that negotiation for good. It’s a 3-in-1 device that pairs a 6,800mAh power bank with a 35W GaN wall adapter and throws in a phone stand for good measure. The two units clip together into a single compact form, which is where the “binary star” metaphor earns its keep, two objects perpetually orbiting each other, feeding the same energy cycle.

Designer: PTPC ™ for Trozk

The design is the reason most people will notice the Binary Star before they read a single spec. The charging unit has a transparent body that puts the internal circuitry on full display, giving the whole thing a cyberpunk sensibility. A small green or pink loop at the top adds a pop of color against silver or pink housing, respectively, and doubles as a carry loop for clipping onto a bag.

The adapter side handles up to 35W through third-generation gallium nitride technology, which runs cooler and more efficiently than traditional silicon-based chargers. The power bank can push up to 22.5W, and all three ports across both units support fast charging. That means a phone, a pair of earbuds, and a tablet can all be drawing power at the same time without any of them getting shortchanged.

Inside the power bank are 26650 lithium cells, a step up from the more common 18650 format, contributing to longer battery life and better thermal stability. A pulsing star track light on the body keeps tabs on the remaining charge at a glance, so there’s no need to press a button or fire up an app to figure out how much runway you have left.

The phone stand feature is easy to overlook, but it’s probably the most welcome surprise for a desk setup. Rather than propping a phone against a keyboard while the Binary Star charges it, the design accommodates a phone at a comfortable viewing angle. It’s a small touch, but it’s the kind of detail that makes a charging device feel more considered than the average palm-sized brick in its price range.

At $49.99, the Binary Star sits comfortably below what you’d spend buying a quality GaN charger and a separate power bank of comparable capacity. That price covers both units, the green carry loop, and three fast-charging ports that all deliver real speed. For anyone who’s grown tired of managing a collection of charging accessories every time they leave the house, it’s a clean and credible solution.

The post Stop Packing Two Chargers: Trozk’s $50 Binary Star Does Both first appeared on Yanko Design.

Stop Packing Two Chargers: Trozk’s $50 Binary Star Does Both

Posted on by

Travel chargers have always been a bit of a negotiation. You pack a power bank for the long haul, then stuff a wall adapter in separately because the power bank only helps when there’s no outlet. End up with two items taking up bag space, two cables to hunt for, and the occasional moment of realizing you forgot one of them on the nightstand back at the hotel.

Trozk’s Binary Star tries to settle that negotiation for good. It’s a 3-in-1 device that pairs a 6,800mAh power bank with a 35W GaN wall adapter and throws in a phone stand for good measure. The two units clip together into a single compact form, which is where the “binary star” metaphor earns its keep, two objects perpetually orbiting each other, feeding the same energy cycle.

Designer: PTPC ™ for Trozk

The design is the reason most people will notice the Binary Star before they read a single spec. The charging unit has a transparent body that puts the internal circuitry on full display, giving the whole thing a cyberpunk sensibility. A small green or pink loop at the top adds a pop of color against silver or pink housing, respectively, and doubles as a carry loop for clipping onto a bag.

The adapter side handles up to 35W through third-generation gallium nitride technology, which runs cooler and more efficiently than traditional silicon-based chargers. The power bank can push up to 22.5W, and all three ports across both units support fast charging. That means a phone, a pair of earbuds, and a tablet can all be drawing power at the same time without any of them getting shortchanged.

Inside the power bank are 26650 lithium cells, a step up from the more common 18650 format, contributing to longer battery life and better thermal stability. A pulsing star track light on the body keeps tabs on the remaining charge at a glance, so there’s no need to press a button or fire up an app to figure out how much runway you have left.

The phone stand feature is easy to overlook, but it’s probably the most welcome surprise for a desk setup. Rather than propping a phone against a keyboard while the Binary Star charges it, the design accommodates a phone at a comfortable viewing angle. It’s a small touch, but it’s the kind of detail that makes a charging device feel more considered than the average palm-sized brick in its price range.

At $49.99, the Binary Star sits comfortably below what you’d spend buying a quality GaN charger and a separate power bank of comparable capacity. That price covers both units, the green carry loop, and three fast-charging ports that all deliver real speed. For anyone who’s grown tired of managing a collection of charging accessories every time they leave the house, it’s a clean and credible solution.

The post Stop Packing Two Chargers: Trozk’s $50 Binary Star Does Both first appeared on Yanko Design.

This €235 Rippling Stone Valet Tray Has a Candle Holder Built In

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Most entryway surfaces tell a familiar story, and it’s rarely a flattering one. Keys get tossed wherever there’s space, coins scatter to the edges, and a watch ends up next to a forgotten receipt by morning. The valet tray was supposed to solve this, but most of them look clinical, forgettable, or like they belong in a hotel room rather than a thoughtfully arranged home.

The Delicato Tray takes a different approach, and the solution comes from a direction you might not expect: ripples. Sold through Oftwise, it merges a valet tray and a candle holder into a single disc-shaped object cast from Jesmonite AC730, a sustainable stone composite. The result reads less like a utilitarian catchall and more like something a sculptor quietly left on your nightstand.

Designer: Joao Teixeira for Oftwise

The ripple pattern isn’t purely decorative. The concentric waves are asymmetrical, with the outer rings wider at the front for bulkier items like keys or glasses, and the inner curves sitting closer toward the back for smaller things like rings or coins. It’s a hierarchy built into the shape itself, making organization almost unconscious rather than something you have to think about.

At the center of those ripples sits a recessed pocket sized for a tealight candle, turning the tray into a mood-setter as much as a catchall. Lighting a candle while dropping your watch and keys into the right grooves transforms a mundane habit into something closer to a ritual. It’s a lot to ask of a disc of stone, but Delicato manages it without breaking a sweat.

The material is what makes that balance possible. Jesmonite AC730 is a water-based, VOC-free stone composite that reproduces the look and texture of natural stone without concrete’s weight. It’s independently fire-rated and impact-resistant, which matters for something that routinely sits next to an open flame. A matte acrylic sealer and a cork anti-slip pad on the base round out the practical details.

Because the tray is hand-cast, no two are identical. Small air bubbles, subtle texture variations, and minor color shifts are natural byproducts of the process, and Oftwise is upfront about that. The available color, Bath Stone, is a warm sandy beige neutral enough for almost any interior. At 2kg, it has a quiet weight that makes a surface look deliberately arranged.

The Delicato Tray measures 24.5cm x 24.5cm with a height of just 2.8cm, low enough to sit under a bedside lamp without stealing vertical space. The candle pocket measures 3.9cm across and 1.5cm deep, a snug fit for a standard tealight. It retails for €235 on Oftwise, which places it firmly in the premium tier for an object of this category.

What Delicato gets right is something many design objects miss: it doesn’t try too hard to be either thing. It’s not decorative at the expense of being useful, and it’s not useful at the expense of looking good. A tray that doubles as a candle holder and a sculptural object sounds like a confused brief, but the ripple form settles all of that quietly.

The post This €235 Rippling Stone Valet Tray Has a Candle Holder Built In first appeared on Yanko Design.

Huion Note E Feels Like E-Ink Paper but Actually Draws in Color

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Digital notebooks have been having a moment. E-Ink tablets like the reMarkable and the Kindle Scribe have made a compelling case for leaving the legal pad behind, offering a pen-on-paper feel without all the clutter. But E-Ink’s inherent limitations, from its monochrome display to sluggish refresh rates, have kept it from being the obvious choice for anyone who regularly works with color content.

Huion, best known for its pen tablets and pen displays, is stepping into this space with the Huion Note E, an 8.4-inch Android electronic notebook that takes a different approach entirely. Instead of E-Ink, it uses a soft-light color IPS display with AG nano-etching technology to mimic that familiar pen-on-paper feel, while also delivering the vibrant colors and responsiveness that E-Ink simply can’t offer.

Designer: Huion

The display itself is what sets the Note E apart. It’s 1920×1200 resolution and 270 PPI pixel density outperform most E-Ink screens in sharpness, while the 60Hz refresh rate means scrolling through PDFs doesn’t feel like watching paint dry. Anti-glare etched glass and full lamination bring the pen contact point closer to the pixels beneath, giving strokes a more immediate, grounded feel.

The battery-free PW510 stylus magnetically attaches to the Note E, which helps keep it from getting lost in a bag. It delivers 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity with a report rate exceeding 400 PPS, fast enough to keep up with even the most impatient sketchers. Pressure and tilt are both recognized, making annotations, signatures, and quick sketches feel far more deliberate than tapping at glass.

The Note E runs Android 15 on a MediaTek Helio G99 chip with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. That’s not a powerhouse and not even the latest specs, but it’s more than enough for the built-in HiPaint drawing app, PDF annotation, and everyday productivity tools from the Play Store. Think of it less as a tablet competing with an iPad and more as a focused digital workspace.

At 7.4mm thick and 348 grams, the Note E is slim enough to slip into a bag without adding noticeable weight, and its 8.4-inch footprint closely matches a standard A5 notebook. A 4,500mAh battery with 18W fast charging keeps it going through long reading and writing sessions, while the magnetic protective case doubles as a stand for more comfortable viewing angles.

Huion has also thought carefully about the software side. A customized launcher opens directly to notes and to-do lists, skipping the usual Android clutter that makes you forget what you sat down to do. Handwritten notes are searchable, PDFs can be annotated in color, and everything can be exported and shared. For project managers, students, and mobile creatives, it’s a pretty compelling combination.

The post Huion Note E Feels Like E-Ink Paper but Actually Draws in Color first appeared on Yanko Design.

TiNova II Is the 59g Titanium EDC Knife That’s Hard to Put Down

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Most compact EDC knives aren’t really built to be enjoyed, just used. Angular profiles, tactical textures, and aggressive pocket clips do their job well enough, but none of them encourages you to keep the knife in your hand any longer than necessary. For most compact blades, being pulled out for a quick task and then tucked back into a pocket is already the full extent of the experience.

TiNova II takes a noticeably different approach to the category. Rather than pushing toward more aggressive geometry or more serious hardware, it pulls back and focuses on how pleasant a small folding knife can feel to hold and carry through an ordinary day. It doesn’t try to compete with larger, tougher blades; it just wants to be the thing you’re always happy to reach for.

Designer: Ideaspark Design Team

Click Here to Buy Now: $49 $70 (30% off). Hurry, only 30/420 left! Less than 72 hours to go. Raised over $99,000.

The most obvious departure from the typical compact knife is TiNova II’s body shape. Instead of flat sides and defined edges, the handle uses an oval form that follows the natural curve of a loosely curled hand. There’s no fixed orientation to worry about, no hard corner pressing into your palm. It just rolls between your fingers almost effortlessly, which makes a bigger difference than it sounds.

A precision roller bearing sits at the heart of TiNova II’s flip-and-turn action, and the difference is immediately noticeable. Each movement feels smooth and weighted, free of the stiffness that can make smaller folding knives feel surprisingly cheap. Magnets add a crisp sense of feedback at the end of the motion, giving the whole action a rhythm that makes you want to keep repeating it.

That quality turns TiNova II into something you pick up even when there’s nothing to cut. It ends up on a desk during a long call or meeting, spinning between tasks without much thought. But when you do need a blade, the D2 steel edge comes rated at HRC 58 to 60 and handles boxes, tape, rope, and most things a typical day throws at it without complaint.

Compact is a word that gets thrown around loosely in EDC circles, but TiNova II earns it more honestly than most. The closed handle measures 64.4mm long and weighs just 59.3g, which means it genuinely disappears into a fifth pocket or attaches to a keyring without adding noticeable bulk. It’s the kind of size that lets you forget it’s there until your hand instinctively reaches for it.

The handle is Grade 5 titanium, the same aerospace-grade alloy favored in applications where weight savings and durability both count. It’s corrosion-resistant, light, and refreshingly honest in the way it wears. Scratches and scuffs accumulate naturally over time, giving each knife a slightly different character from the next. It’s the kind of material that becomes more personal with use rather than trying to hide the evidence of it.

Two finish options let you choose how the knife presents itself. The sandblasted version is raw and unpretentious, showing the honest titanium surface and every mark it collects. The black-coated version keeps things quieter, which also lets the dual tritium slots do more of the visual work in darker settings. Those small glowing tubes make TiNova II easy to locate in low light and add a quiet touch of personality.

TiNova II also includes a built-in keyhole for attaching to keys or a bag, and that small detail says a lot about its personality. This isn’t trying to be a dramatic statement piece or an oversized folder pretending to be practical, especially with a lifetime warranty promise. It feels more like a compact companion that happens to carry a real blade, one designed to stay close at hand and feel good doing it.

Click Here to Buy Now: $49 $70 (30% off). Hurry, only 30/420 left! Less than 72 hours to go. Raised over $99,000.

The post TiNova II Is the 59g Titanium EDC Knife That’s Hard to Put Down first appeared on Yanko Design.

ASUS’s €280 9mm OLED Monitor Charges Your Laptop Back

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Portable monitors have quietly become one of the most appealing accessories for people who work on the go. Pack a slim second screen, connect it to your laptop, and you’ve doubled your workspace without lugging a desktop around. What nobody really advertises, though, is the trade-off: those displays almost always draw power from the laptop they’re attached to, cutting into the battery life you were counting on.

The ASUS ZenScreen OLED MQ16FC tries to fix that. It’s a 16-inch portable OLED display that launched in Europe in early May 2026 at around €280 to €300, measuring 9mm thin and weighing roughly 0.68 kilograms. Those are already respectable numbers for a display of this size, but what actually sets it apart is buried in the port specification: two USB-C connections that can send power in either direction.

Designer: ASUS

Here’s how that works in practice. Plug a USB-C charger into one port on the monitor, then run a single cable from the second port to your laptop. That cable carries both the video signal and up to 65 watts of power, so your notebook keeps charging while the display is running. No power brick plugged separately into the laptop, no second cable hunting for a free port.

It’s worth pausing on why that matters. Most portable monitors are passive in the power conversation; they take whatever the laptop offers and give nothing back. ASUS’s approach treats the power relationship between screen and computer as something the monitor has a responsibility to manage. That’s a small but meaningful shift in thinking, one that asks the accessory to do more work instead of quietly billing the host.

Beyond the power story, the MQ16FC has a display worth carrying. The OLED panel covers 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut at a 1920 x 1200 WUXGA resolution in a 16:10 aspect ratio, which adds that extra vertical breathing room that widescreen layouts tend to cut off. Contrast is practically infinite by OLED standards, and a 1ms response time keeps things clean enough for video and everyday multitasking.

That said, the MQ16FC isn’t without its quiet losses. There’s no internal battery, so without a charger in the loop, the monitor can still draw from your laptop’s reserves. The 60Hz refresh rate and WUXGA resolution are competent but not particularly exciting for a display positioned as premium. The kickstand-only stand can be awkward on tray tables, and the glossy OLED panel isn’t always your friend in brighter environments.

None of those shortcomings cancels out what makes the MQ16FC interesting. Adding a second screen to a laptop has always been a negotiation between convenience and cable chaos, and for years, the hardware hasn’t done much to simplify that deal. A portable monitor that treats power routing as part of its job description is making a quiet argument about what the category should have been doing all along.

The post ASUS’s €280 9mm OLED Monitor Charges Your Laptop Back first appeared on Yanko Design.

Microsoft’s $1,950 Surface Pro 13 Gen 12 Got Smarter: Its Design Didn’t

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The 2-in-1 laptop has had an interesting run. What started as a novelty device that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be has gradually become a workplace staple. IT departments are increasingly looking for machines that can handle everything from a boardroom presentation to a cross-country flight without missing a beat, and the pressure to pack more intelligence into smaller form factors keeps growing.

The Surface Pro has been Microsoft’s answer to this for well over a decade, and the new Surface Pro for Business, 13-inch (12th Edition), largely keeps the formula intact. If you’re expecting a dramatic redesign, it isn’t coming. The magnesium chassis, adjustable kickstand, and detachable keyboard are all still here, which is either a testament to the original design or a sign of a very cautious product team.

Designer: Microsoft

That said, what’s happening inside tells a different story. Powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3, either the Core Ultra 5 335 or the Core Ultra 7 366H, this Surface Pro hits 50 TOPS through Intel AI Boost, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC. That means on-device AI is fast enough for a consultant to summarize a contract or an analyst to run through data without needing a cloud connection.

And that AI work happens on a 13-inch PixelSense Flow display running at 2880 x 1920 pixels with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, available in an optional OLED for deeper contrast and richer color. The anti-reflective coating is genuinely useful for anyone working in brightly lit offices or outdoor settings, giving this screen a practical advantage over glossier alternatives.

For workers who annotate more than they type, the 2-in-1 flexibility is still the Surface Pro’s most practical feature. Fold the keyboard flat, grab a Surface Slim Pen for Business, and the device shifts from laptop to inking tablet. It’s a workflow that makes sense during a client walkthrough or a field assessment, and one that doesn’t require any extra hardware to pull off.

Under the hood, memory goes up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM for anyone running virtual machines or demanding workloads. The removable Gen 4 SSD also matters to enterprise IT teams, who can swap drives without replacing the entire unit. Battery life is promised to reach up to 17 hours on the LCD model, enough for a full day of travel without hunting for a power outlet.

Starting at $1,949.99, this is firmly enterprise territory, especially since that doesn’t include the keyboard or pen, which still don’t come in the box. But for IT teams investing in devices that double as laptops, tablets, and mobile workstations, the math starts to make sense. The 12th Edition has a lot riding on what’s happening under its unchanged exterior, and perhaps hopes that its enterprise customers haven’t yet gotten bored with its looks.

The post Microsoft’s $1,950 Surface Pro 13 Gen 12 Got Smarter: Its Design Didn’t first appeared on Yanko Design.

Microsoft’s $1,950 Surface Pro 13 Gen 12 Got Smarter: Its Design Didn’t

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The 2-in-1 laptop has had an interesting run. What started as a novelty device that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be has gradually become a workplace staple. IT departments are increasingly looking for machines that can handle everything from a boardroom presentation to a cross-country flight without missing a beat, and the pressure to pack more intelligence into smaller form factors keeps growing.

The Surface Pro has been Microsoft’s answer to this for well over a decade, and the new Surface Pro for Business, 13-inch (12th Edition), largely keeps the formula intact. If you’re expecting a dramatic redesign, it isn’t coming. The magnesium chassis, adjustable kickstand, and detachable keyboard are all still here, which is either a testament to the original design or a sign of a very cautious product team.

Designer: Microsoft

That said, what’s happening inside tells a different story. Powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3, either the Core Ultra 5 335 or the Core Ultra 7 366H, this Surface Pro hits 50 TOPS through Intel AI Boost, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC. That means on-device AI is fast enough for a consultant to summarize a contract or an analyst to run through data without needing a cloud connection.

And that AI work happens on a 13-inch PixelSense Flow display running at 2880 x 1920 pixels with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, available in an optional OLED for deeper contrast and richer color. The anti-reflective coating is genuinely useful for anyone working in brightly lit offices or outdoor settings, giving this screen a practical advantage over glossier alternatives.

For workers who annotate more than they type, the 2-in-1 flexibility is still the Surface Pro’s most practical feature. Fold the keyboard flat, grab a Surface Slim Pen for Business, and the device shifts from laptop to inking tablet. It’s a workflow that makes sense during a client walkthrough or a field assessment, and one that doesn’t require any extra hardware to pull off.

Under the hood, memory goes up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM for anyone running virtual machines or demanding workloads. The removable Gen 4 SSD also matters to enterprise IT teams, who can swap drives without replacing the entire unit. Battery life is promised to reach up to 17 hours on the LCD model, enough for a full day of travel without hunting for a power outlet.

Starting at $1,949.99, this is firmly enterprise territory, especially since that doesn’t include the keyboard or pen, which still don’t come in the box. But for IT teams investing in devices that double as laptops, tablets, and mobile workstations, the math starts to make sense. The 12th Edition has a lot riding on what’s happening under its unchanged exterior, and perhaps hopes that its enterprise customers haven’t yet gotten bored with its looks.

The post Microsoft’s $1,950 Surface Pro 13 Gen 12 Got Smarter: Its Design Didn’t first appeared on Yanko Design.

Microsoft’s $1,950 Surface Pro 13 Gen 12 Got Smarter: Its Design Didn’t

Posted on by

The 2-in-1 laptop has had an interesting run. What started as a novelty device that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be has gradually become a workplace staple. IT departments are increasingly looking for machines that can handle everything from a boardroom presentation to a cross-country flight without missing a beat, and the pressure to pack more intelligence into smaller form factors keeps growing.

The Surface Pro has been Microsoft’s answer to this for well over a decade, and the new Surface Pro for Business, 13-inch (12th Edition), largely keeps the formula intact. If you’re expecting a dramatic redesign, it isn’t coming. The magnesium chassis, adjustable kickstand, and detachable keyboard are all still here, which is either a testament to the original design or a sign of a very cautious product team.

Designer: Microsoft

That said, what’s happening inside tells a different story. Powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3, either the Core Ultra 5 335 or the Core Ultra 7 366H, this Surface Pro hits 50 TOPS through Intel AI Boost, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC. That means on-device AI is fast enough for a consultant to summarize a contract or an analyst to run through data without needing a cloud connection.

And that AI work happens on a 13-inch PixelSense Flow display running at 2880 x 1920 pixels with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, available in an optional OLED for deeper contrast and richer color. The anti-reflective coating is genuinely useful for anyone working in brightly lit offices or outdoor settings, giving this screen a practical advantage over glossier alternatives.

For workers who annotate more than they type, the 2-in-1 flexibility is still the Surface Pro’s most practical feature. Fold the keyboard flat, grab a Surface Slim Pen for Business, and the device shifts from laptop to inking tablet. It’s a workflow that makes sense during a client walkthrough or a field assessment, and one that doesn’t require any extra hardware to pull off.

Under the hood, memory goes up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM for anyone running virtual machines or demanding workloads. The removable Gen 4 SSD also matters to enterprise IT teams, who can swap drives without replacing the entire unit. Battery life is promised to reach up to 17 hours on the LCD model, enough for a full day of travel without hunting for a power outlet.

Starting at $1,949.99, this is firmly enterprise territory, especially since that doesn’t include the keyboard or pen, which still don’t come in the box. But for IT teams investing in devices that double as laptops, tablets, and mobile workstations, the math starts to make sense. The 12th Edition has a lot riding on what’s happening under its unchanged exterior, and perhaps hopes that its enterprise customers haven’t yet gotten bored with its looks.

The post Microsoft’s $1,950 Surface Pro 13 Gen 12 Got Smarter: Its Design Didn’t first appeared on Yanko Design.

This $30 Gadget Gives Claude a Face That Reacts to What It’s Doing

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AI assistants have mostly lived inside screens, and that’s been fine, until you’re deep in a coding session and Claude is quietly running shell commands, editing files, and hitting tool after tool in the background. Knowing what’s happening without constantly alt-tabbing is harder than it should be, and approving or denying an action while keeping your hands on the keyboard is even harder.

That’s the gap Claude Desktop Buddy was built to fill. Released as an open-source project by Anthropic in April 2026 and built as a prototype by OpenELAB, it turns a small ESP32-based device into a physical companion that sits on your desk and mirrors the activity of the Claude desktop app over Bluetooth Low Energy. It wakes when a Claude Code session starts, idles quietly while Claude works, and gets visibly impatient when a permission prompt is waiting for your attention.

Designer: Anthropic, OpenELAB

The reference hardware is the M5StickC Plus, a pocket-sized board with a 135×240 color display, buttons, a built-in IMU, and a LiPo battery. It costs around $30 and comes pre-supported by the firmware. When Claude Code asks to run a shell command or access a sensitive file, the device lights its screen, buzzes, and shows the prompt. Button A approves. Button B denies. No switching windows, no hunting for the right modal.

Beyond the permission workflow, the device also doubles as a passive status indicator. A full vocabulary of animated states, including idle, busy, attention, celebrate, dizzy, and heart, plays out on the small screen depending on what Claude is doing. Shake the device to make it dizzy, flip it face-down to put it in nap mode, and it’ll power off the screen after 30 seconds to preserve battery. The built-in IMU handles all of this through physical gestures.

Transcript scrollback is another feature that makes more sense once you’ve used it. Rather than breaking focus to check what Claude just said, you can scroll recent messages directly on the device’s display. It keeps the primary workflow uninterrupted in a way that alt-tabbing simply doesn’t. The device pairs once and reconnects automatically whenever both sides are awake, so there’s no daily setup ritual.

Character customization adds a layer of personality that feels unexpectedly considered for what is, technically, a developer tool. You can drag a custom GIF character pack directly onto the Hardware Buddy window, and the device switches to the new character live. The default character, a small frog called Bufo, ships with the firmware.

There’s something genuinely different about having a physical object on your desk that reacts to an AI working in the background. It turns an invisible process into something with a face, a mood, and a pair of buttons that put control back in your hands without disrupting what you were doing.

The post This $30 Gadget Gives Claude a Face That Reacts to What It’s Doing first appeared on Yanko Design.