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What we bought: Our favorite gadgets of 2021
Here's a list of Engadget staffers' favorite gadgets they bought in 2021.
A $600 E Ink typewriter got me one step closer to writing a novel
I spent the last month using the Astrohaus Freewrite, an E Ink typewriter that syncs your work to the cloud. It's an expensive piece of hardware, but it's also really fun to use if you're trying to cultivate a writing habit.
The Freewrite Traveler is a lovely (and flawed) e-ink typewriter
The Freewrite Traveler is a good tool for distraction-free writing on the go, but it's expensive.
The Freewrite Traveler lets authors battle writer’s block outside
Many authors can attest that writing isn't as simple as just sitting down at a computer and typing. A typical day might go more like this: Check email, look at Facebook, tweet. You know, anything but actual writing. Astrohaus' Freewrite E Ink typewriter was designed to combat these distractions by removing the internet from your view entirely, though you could still save your files digitally. However, its clunky console had nothing on the portability of a laptop. But this spring the company will ship the Freewrite Traveler, a lighter clamshell model that lets writers easily take their craft wherever the mood strikes them.
The smart typewriter is here
Find it nigh-on impossible to focus when writing on your computer? You now have a dedicated device to help you shut out the social networks and other distractions: after more than a year's wait, Astrohaus has started taking orders for the Freewrite (formerly the Hemingwrite). Plunk down $549 ($449 in the first 24 hours, or $499 through the end of March) and you'll get a smart typewriter that lets you cut out non-essentials while keeping the conveniences of modern tech. You only have an E Ink display and a mechanical keyboard to work with, but there's WiFi under the hood to sync your masterpieces with Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive and other cloud services. You also have onboard storage for over a million documents, in case you're particularly prolific, and the 4-week battery life will keep it running through an epic-length camping trip.
