Kindly Morrow
NFC E-Ink Phone Case 4-Color Display No Battery Required
Tap your phone to the case and the display updates instantly. No battery, no cable, no charging port. The NFC field from your phone powers the refresh directly.
The 4-color e-ink panel (black, white, red, yellow) holds whatever you last sent to it indefinitely, drawing zero power between updates. A companion app on iOS or Android handles image formatting and NFC write commands. Refresh takes seconds, and the image persists even if your phone is off, dead, or in your pocket.
Things to build with this
- Write a Shortcut (iOS) or Tasker profile (Android) that pushes your current git branch name and last commit message to the case display every time you open your IDE, using the NFC write command in the companion app's URL scheme
- Pull your Slack status emoji and display text over a local API call, then tap-to-update the case so your physical presence signal matches your digital one without unlocking your phone
- Use the red and yellow pigment layers specifically to render a two-tone alert badge, driven by a Home Assistant automation that writes a warning state to the NFC tag payload when a door sensor triggers or a server goes offline
Key Features
- 4-color e-ink display: black, white, red, and yellow pigment on a single panel
- NFC-harvested power: the phone's NFC field supplies enough energy to drive the full display refresh, no onboard battery needed
- Persistent image retention: display holds its last state indefinitely with zero power draw
- Companion app (iOS and Android): supports custom image uploads, text layouts, and live data feed templates
- Update speed: display refreshes in seconds from a single tap
- Compatible with any NFC-enabled phone, both Android and iPhone
- Full wraparound case construction with standard port and button cutouts
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this work with iPhone's NFC, or only Android?
It works with both. iPhones (XR and later) support background NFC tag reading and writing, which is what the companion app uses. No additional hardware needed.
Can I write to it programmatically without the companion app?
Yes. The display accepts standard NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) payloads. Any app or script that can write NDEF records, including NFC Tools on Android, can push image data or text to it directly.
What resolution is the e-ink panel?
Exact panel resolution depends on the case variant, but 4-color e-ink panels in this form factor typically run around 152x152 pixels. Check the companion app's image upload specs for the exact pixel dimensions before preparing artwork.
Will the image disappear when my phone battery dies?
No. The e-ink panel holds its last image without any power source at all. The display only changes when you actively tap and write a new payload.
Why we stock this
Curated by Kindly Morrow. We test and vet every product before it hits the store. If we wouldn't use it in our own builds, we don't sell it.
Things to build with this
Fun projects to try once you get your hands on it.
Split-flap board connected to Claude
Hook up a display to the Claude API and have it show you a new message every morning. Motivational quotes, weather, or passive-aggressive reminders to drink water.
Spotify now-playing display
Show the album art and track name on your desk display. Looks incredible on e-ink. Updates every time the song changes.
Real-time crypto/stock ticker
Pull prices from an API, show them on the display. Flip between assets. Try not to check it every 30 seconds.
Ambient room dashboard
Temperature, humidity, air quality, and time on a bedside e-ink screen. Updates every 5 minutes, uses almost no power. Looks like a museum label.
