I don't understand; you mean 'screen protector' in the sense of that it doesn't have great viewing angles so people can't peer from the side? I don't see this as an issue on such a small screen (having used it) and you don't even notice the bad viewing angles at all. So I don't think the reason for going IPS was to make it readable from a shallow angle of view, moreso for just a better image. I'm not sure it's easy enough to see on pictures or online videos, but the v1 screen was pretty dim and in general the image was a bit weird. Not sure how to describe it really. It looks like this image here, which appears to be a render from their website, but this gradient from a grey to a light grey / white background is there as well as the small little squiggly lines all over the screen (zoom in).
https://foundationdevices.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FD-1842_V05_WebsiteRender_01_7-10-2020.73_edit-scaled.jpgYes, I believe you interpret the first part correctly, but I wasn't implying that they went with an IPS screen because of its great viewing angles... I've read a few comments/blog posts in the past about users who travel with a hardware wallet and I've personally seen a couple of users that were using certain hardware wallets in a public place
[SMH], so a screen with bad viewing angles would've been better for such users
[I do know such situations probably doesn't apply to most of us, but still] and on top of that, it could've been cheaper
[I guess I really want its price to come down, so I can afford it].
Right, makes sense. I mean I'd avoid using one in public spaces in general, just like I don't take $100 bills out of my wallet in public and wave them around. But honestly, compared to a phone or tablet screen, where someone could look from moderately far away distances, these screens are tiny. Unless you're literally within a crowd of people, I doubt anyone can see what's on that stamp-sized screen even if it had the best display technology in the world.
Regarding price, I think I could get some kind of 'referral code' which you could use to get a discount, but I thought about it before and decided against it so not to bias my opinion / review, since I'd get a very small amount ($10) in BTC as well (
Ambassador Program).
I might reconsider for your guys' benefits and just give them e.g. the UA donation address to pay out to. On the other hand, they'll only pay out quarterly, and by June I really hope this war will be over... Anyhow, if you've got an idea (other charity) let me know.
Would be a price of $189 with the discount which seems totally fair to me, since e.g. much worse build quality BitBox02 costs ~$150 and Trezor Model T costs ~$240ish.
I know, but honestly the old one wasn't great. It was totally fine for even daily transactions for sure, but just saying I do appreciate the upgrade! Definitely looking forward to that glass screen, let's see how it will be in real life.
Best option for me would be using something like e-ink display like one used in ebook readers.
You don't really need bright colors and bling for bitcoin wallet, and it would spend much less power than other alternatives.
I am honestly surprised no hardware wallet used eInk display so far, except maybe some M5Stack Esp32 devices.
E-Ink isn't perfect (who would've thought
), and that's the reason why we don't see it on lots of consumer devices. The really good, quickly refreshing ones, with little to no artifacts, cost a lot of money and are used in high-end eBook readers. The small form-factor ones are mostly for tinkering, so even if you got the budget, it's hard to get your hands on a high-quality one in the size that Foundation would need.
Interestingly, there was a phone that popped up recently which uses an eInk and it seems like it's very very bad (
Mudita) from the first reviews.
You're right, that 'bright colours and bling' aren't needed, which is why the v1 Passport had a monochrome screen. One thing to consider with Foundation is that they always try to get components without closed-source microprocessors embedded within them. It's easily possible that eInk screen modules just only come with such chips inside them, but that's now just speculation on my part. Maybe just ask them on Twitter; they seem to be very interactive and open there.
Great thing about Foundation Passport is they release everything as open source including software and hardware, so you could ask them for .stl files and make your own custom design.
That's a good point! Maybe it will also be in their GitHub; then the chassis could be 3D printed with resin with any (single) colour one likes. It would give a basically perfectly smooth finish.
exact model is BL-5C 1200mAh Rechargeable Battery.
You can buy one of this batteries everywhere online or in local electronics shop for around $10
Yeah, I'm a big fan of this choice; I'll probably get two or three probably to leave in the backpack and car so to always have one handy when needed on the go.
Is it possible to buy only Passport batch2 on their website?
What happened to the previous version? Removed from production?
Yes, it's not produced anymore, it was a one-time run of 1000 units. However resellers such as
BTCdirect still have the v1 in stock if you prefer that. It is usually recommended to buy this sort of stuff directly from manufacturers though.
As I noticed, this model is not with e-ink. Foundation refused to use e-ink?
For my thoughts on this see above; if there's more interest in the topic, contact Foundation directly.
Isn't the SD slot a weak link that allows to download malware? Can attackers use it?
Try it!
No honestly; it shouldn't. You can update the device via SD card, so there's a chance of trying to update it with a malicious firmware. However, it won't pass the cryptographic checks that the wallet performs on that firmware file, so you'd need to find an exploitable bug in the verification function (or maybe glitch the hardware during the process) to either skip the verification completely or to trick it into accepting an unsigned firmware file.
