PocketMage is an open-source hardware, ESP32-S3 personal digital assistant (PDA) with a primary, sun-readable 3.1-inch E Ink display, a secondary 1.8-inch OLED for high-refresh rate feedback, a full tactile QWERTY keyboard, and a capacitive scroll bar.
The device also features a microSD card slot for storage, a buzzer for audio/sound feedback, a USB-C port for charging the 1,200 mAh battery or connecting a USB keyboard, as well as an RTC and an FPC connector for GPIO expansion.
PocketMage specifications:
- SoC – ESP32-S3 microcontroller with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity
- Memory – 2 MB QSPI PSRAM
- Storage
- 16 MB QSPI flash
- MicroSD card slot
- Displays
- Primary 3.1-inch E Ink/e-paper display with 320×240 resolution
- Secondary 1.8-inch OLED with 256×32 resolution
- Audio – Piezo buzzer for beeps and boops
- USB – USB Type-C port for charging and peripherals like a keyboard
- User input
- Built-in tactile QWERTY keyboard
- Capacitive scroll bar
- USB keyboard support
- Expansion – FPC expansion port with power, I2C, SPI, UART, and GPIO
- Misc – PCF8563T RTC (real-time clock)
- Power Supply
- 5V charging via USB-C port
- 1,200mAh LiPo battery with integrated charging and battery management; good for about 7 days
- Dimensions – 100 x 73 x 21.7 mm
- Weight – TBD
The PocketMage PDA runs a wizard-inspired OS described as “a character-filled operating system that makes every interaction feel like magic”. Based on FreeRTOS, it features a built-in software suite with a text editor, a dictionary, a terminal, and more. It also supports side-loading 3rd-party applications through the Bazaar app store, including a calculator, a text-based web browser, a Tarot card reader, an e-book reader, and so on.
The project is open-source hardware with the KiCad hardware design files, software, and documentation under the Apache-2.0 Open Source Hardware license. You’ll find all resources on GitHub, and you can easily install the latest firmware for your hardware through a web installer.
The closest alternative is probably the open-source hardware Picocalc based on a Raspberry Pi Pico W or Pico 2 W, which features a 4-inch IPS display with 320×320 resolution, stereo speakers, and a backlit QWERTY keyboard. The overall design is different, and it’s not quite as pocketable since it’s larger at 167 x 97 mm.
The ESP32-S3-based personal digital assistant has just launched on Crowd Supply with a $100,000 funding target. Rewards start at $185 for a DIY kit to be assembled by the user, or you can pledge $235 for a fully assembled unit. In either case, two colors are available: “Royal Purple” and “Parchment”. Shipping is free to the US and adds $12 to the rest of the world. Backers will have to be patient, as deliveries are scheduled to start by the end of March 2027.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Fun project, been seems a bit expensive for a show off toy, don’t think you will actually use it for something meaningful
It’s about as capable as a $250 ($473 in 2026) Palm PDA from the early 2000s, and has a keyboard and modern connectivity, so it’s actually not that bad of a deal. As long as the app ecosystem takes off it looks to be more than just a “toy”. I used Palm PDAs extensively in the pre-smartphone era, in fact my first smartphone was a Palm Treo 650, and this looks to be a non-cellular, e-paper analog to that device.
Yeah but we live in 2026 now where we have supercomputers as phones compared to that time, there will be no practical benefit to that toy
There is value in simplicity. Sometimes you don’t need a supercomputer in your pocket, you just want something you can read and write on without distractions.
To put it another way, I could play old GBA and DS games on my phone as it’s more than capable, but I prefer my RG DS for its simplicity and more accurate, tactile controls.
This device lacks a killer app. It comes in an interesting package but the OS looks little more than a tech demo.
Make it a meshtastic/meshcore device at least. Also, hilariously expensive. One can get a fully working android phone for half the price.
I believe that they are planning to add that capability as an addon device in the future:
https://github.com/TailsmanDesign/PocketMage_PDA/tree/main/Resources/PCB/Meshtastic%20Add-On%20Module
As another Palm user saddened by the decline of PDAs, it’s great to see the concept revitalized in new and innovative ways. Creative end-user friendly solutions utilizing economical contemporary technology is creating some very useful and intriguing products. Very inspirational.
You know, reading these comments is precisely why a device like this is great! It does what it says it does, with minimal distractions, and it won’t drag you down into the negativity that is the internet today, and right here about this product.
Congrats Jean-Luc, developing any product that’ll be brought to market is a monumental undertaking full of stress, doubt, language barriers, sleepless nights, and MONEY, so much money (not sure how many of the commenters here know how much tooling dies for injection moulding costs)… and before anyone says, “but it’s crowd funded”, yes, now it’s at that stage, after a massive initial investment of time, talent, and money from Jean-Luc upfront to even get it here.
We should all be supportive and encouraging in this community, if you don’t have something constructive to add, don’t, if you don’t want one, don’t buy one, there is zero reason or need to pop in and complain about price or whatever… move on. Guarantee those numbers are solidly based on something, and probably reduced even more for the first run at the creators expense.
This is a great product, a good idea (I don’t go anywhere without my old fashioned calculator, because it always works and does exactly and ONLY what it’s supposed to), and this will resonate with the people it’s meant to.
Congrats again!
If “Jean-Luc” is me, I didn’t develop the product, only wrote about it…
This whole comment really seems like it was written by an LLM that really doesn’t understand context. Jean-Luc just wrote the article just like how he writes loads of articles on here about new products. If you hadn’t noticed this is a website with a technical audience used by people to keep up with new products, people will discuss things like the price or features and there is nothing wrong with that. Why shouldn’t someone comment that it seems expensive for what it is? What harm is that doing? Also saying that it seems expensive is constructive criticism. This is the real world, price is a major factor for a lot of people so pretending that price doesn’t exist and not judging its value based on its price just isn’t realistic.