Amazon has spent nearly two decades perfecting the Kindle, turning it into the default eReader for millions of people, and in all that time they’ve steadfastly refused to shrink it down to pocket size or open it up to the broader Android ecosystem. They had every opportunity to merge the best parts of their Kindle line with the form factor of a smartphone, creating a distraction-free reading and productivity device that could actually fit in your jeans pocket and run the apps you already use. Instead, they kept the Kindle locked into its walled garden, kept it at 6 inches or larger, and left a gaping hole in the market for anyone willing to build what they wouldn’t. DuRoBo took that opportunity and ran with it, launching the Krono, a 6.13-inch E Ink tablet running full Android 15 that costs $279.99 and does exactly what Amazon has spent years pretending nobody wants.

The Krono packs an E Ink Carta 1200 display at 300 PPI (matching the sharpness of a Kindle Paperwhite), an octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 3,950 mAh battery, and a unique side-mounted Smart Dial that controls screen refresh, frontlight adjustment, voice recording, and web browsing through a single rotary knob. It weighs just 173 grams, measures 154 x 80 x 9 mm, and is available in black or white from DuRoBo’s site or Amazon US. The pitch is straightforward: it’s an eReader, a voice note-taker, a podcast player, and a music device all in one, built on an open platform that lets you install whatever reading app, productivity tool, or communication software you actually want to use. It launched in August 2025 and started shipping in September, quietly carving out space in the niche that BOOX’s Palma lineup has been dominating for the past year.

Designer: DuRoBo

Six gigs of RAM in an E Ink device is borderline excessive in the best possible way, especially when most eReaders ship with 2GB or less and struggle the moment you try to run anything beyond the stock reading app. The 128GB of storage means you can load an absurd library of ebooks, PDFs, audiobooks, and whatever else without ever worrying about running out of room. Running Android 15 (not some ancient fork, but the actual current OS) gives the Krono access to the full Play Store ecosystem, which is exactly what Amazon has been allergic to for years. You want Kindle, Libby, Moon+ Reader, Pocket, Instapaper, Obsidian, and Spotify all on one device? The Krono lets you do that. A Kindle will let you read Kindle books and maybe listen to Audible if you’re lucky. That’s the entire difference.

The Smart Dial highlights DuRoBo’s industrial design philosophy most clearly – instead of burying every interaction behind capacitive touch menus (which E Ink refresh rates make tedious), they mounted a physical rotary dial on the side of the device that you can press and rotate to trigger different actions depending on context. It’s a design choice borrowed more from cameras and audio gear than from tablets, and it gives the Krono a tactile, mechanical quality that most E Ink slabs completely lack. The back of the device features what DuRoBo calls the Axis, a strip housing six small breathing lights that glow softly on a schedule to gently nudge you back toward focused reading or work. It’s a wellness-adjacent UX detail that could easily feel gimmicky, but in the context of a device explicitly marketed as a “focus hub,” it at least makes thematic sense. The whole package is clearly designed to feel intentional and calm, a deliberate counterpoint to the dopamine-optimized chaos of a smartphone.

DuRoBo is positioning the Krono hard into the distraction-free productivity and mindfulness lane, framing it as the device you reach for when you want to read long-form content, capture ideas through voice notes, or listen to podcasts without getting dragged into Instagram or TikTok. The dual-tone frontlight (warm and cool adjustment) and the paper-like texture of the Carta 1200 display are meant to make extended reading sessions comfortable in a way that backlit screens never quite manage. The built-in speaker and Bluetooth support let it double as a surprisingly capable audio player for music, audiobooks, and podcasts, which gives it utility beyond just being a reading slab. The open Android platform means you can customize it to fit whatever workflow you actually need, whether that’s Notion for notes, Pocket for saved articles, or Spotify for background music while you write. Amazon would never build this, because opening the Kindle platform would undermine their entire content ecosystem lock-in strategy.

The Krono is available now for $279.99; with a fitted TPU case is sold separately, designed to accommodate both the Smart Dial and the Axis breathing lights without blocking either. At that price point, it’s competing directly with the BOOX Palma (which runs around $280 depending on configuration) and sits well above Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite but below their Kindle Scribe. Whether the Smart Dial, the breathing lights, and DuRoBo’s focus-first branding are enough to justify choosing it over a Palma or just installing a launcher on a Kindle will depend entirely on how much you value that design identity over raw software polish.

The post Someone Made The E-Ink Kindle Smartphone That Amazon Refused To Make first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple’s first foldable phone, the Apple’s first foldable phone, iPhone Fold (if that’s how it will be called) is one of the most anticipated smartphones in recent memory. While Apple remains tight-lipped about anything concerning the awaited device, rumors, leaks, and concepts have flooded our memories over the years with what the iPhone Fold is and what it will be like.

2026 is suggestively the magical year when Apple is expected to launch the foldable iPhone. It has been an unperturbed timeline in almost all the reports we have seen. In the same loop – but without a timeline – a recognized Apple leaker, Majin Bu has shown “actual design of the iPhone Fold” in the latest leaked pictures.

Designer: Apple

It’s “more beautiful than the previous one,” Bu notes in his update on X, stating that he believes this is “the final design of the future iPhone Fold.” How much context there is in the claim, only time will tell, but Bu has had some correct Apple-related predictions in the past, which suggests he could have some substance to back his claim.

From the leaked pictures, one can visually notice that the camera bump on the back of the foldable device is significantly smaller than that seen in previously rumored designs. The images appear more than renders and supposedly of a prototype, showing the iPhone in a book-style foldable form factor. Appearing to open horizontally to reveal a tablet-like display on the inside.

If the 2026 timeline is to go by – it’s Apple’s golden jubilee year as well – the iPhone Fold should ship alongside the iPhone 18 Pro slated for release in fall this year. But according to a new report from Nikkei Asia, the launch could be delayed. Nikkei reports that Apple has encountered a major setback in the engineering test phase of the foldable iPhone. There have been previously report concerning the foldable display’s crease, but this time, the report notes that the Cupertino giant is facing “more complex engineering challenges than anticipated.” If the issues persist, they could, “in a worst-case scenario,” delay the iPhone Fold launch schedule by some months. It could even mean a postponement until 2027.

Earlier this year, it was rumored that Apple had entered into the manufacturing phase of its first foldable device at Foxconn. New revelations, however, suggest Apple is “notifying” its component suppliers about the possibility of a delay in the “component production schedule for the new foldable iPhone.”

Despite the reports and unauthorized leaks, one thing is definite now. Foldable iPhone – by whatever moniker it comes – is clearly on the horizon. Apple will soon have a competitor for the Samsung Fold and other foldable smartphones on the market. If it is anything like the iPhones that rocked the smartphone world in the late 2000s, the iPhone Fold could repeat that in the late 2020s.

The post Pictures of iPhone Fold appear online, just before Apple’s supposed foldable hits engineering challenges first appeared on Yanko Design.

Budget smartphones have always played the same game of compromises. You get 5G connectivity but lose camera quality, or you get a fast screen but sacrifice battery life. As affordable phones adopt faster network speeds, keeping up with 5G’s energy demands has become one of the biggest challenges for manufacturers trying to keep costs down without leaving users hunting for an outlet before noon.

Realme’s answer to that is the C100 5G, a phone that doesn’t shy away from its budget origins but tries to get the fundamentals right. Built around the energy demands of a full-time 5G device, it leads with a 7,000mAh battery, backed by 45W SuperVOOC fast charging, a capable processor, and a 6.8-inch display that refreshes faster than most phones twice its price.

Designer: realme

Imagine the kind of day that drains most smartphones by mid-afternoon. You’re streaming music during your commute, navigating with GPS through unfamiliar streets, and then spending the evening on video calls or catching up on a show. Realme claims the C100 5G can handle nearly 20 hours of continuous video playback and over 18 hours of GPS navigation before needing a recharge.

When you do eventually need to plug in, the 45W fast charging takes care of the battery fairly quickly. There’s also 6.5W reverse wired charging built in, meaning the phone can act as a power bank for other devices when you’re away from an outlet. It also supports bypass charging, which helps reduce battery strain during extended gaming or heavy usage sessions.

Under the hood is MediaTek’s Dimensity 6300, a 6nm chip that handles 5G connectivity and everyday multitasking without much fuss. The display runs at up to 144Hz, which is genuinely rare at this price point, making scrolling and casual gaming feel noticeably smoother. It peaks at 900 nits of brightness and covers 83% of the NTSC color gamut, holding up decently outdoors.

The rear camera centers on a 50MP main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and autofocus, capable of solid daylight photography, while the 5MP front camera handles selfies and video calls without complaint. The phone comes in two colors, Blooming Purple with a floral-patterned back and Sprouting Green, both with a matte frame and a squared-off silhouette measuring about 8.88mm thick.

Durability is also factored in, with an IP64 rating for dust and water splash resistance and a claim of 360-degree drop protection with military-grade certification. Running Realme UI 7.0 based on Android 16, the phone also supports external memory cards for additional storage. In Thailand, pricing starts at THB 6,999 (around $215) for 4GB/128GB and THB 7,499 (around $230) for 6GB/128GB.

For a budget phone, the C100 5G makes an interesting case by not competing on camera specs or premium materials, but on the one thing most users are tired of compromising on. Not everyone needs the sharpest sensor or the fastest chipset, but nearly everyone has panicked at a single-digit battery percentage at some point, and Realme clearly knows exactly who it’s building this for.

The post This $215 Phone Has a 7,000mAh Battery and Lasts 20 Hours on Video first appeared on Yanko Design.