I Replaced My Smartphone Screen With a Fleet of E-Ink Devices. Here’s How My Wild Daily Workflow Actually Works.
If you’re reading this, there's a good chance your eyes are tired. We stare at glaring OLED and LCD screens all day, inviting eye strain, screen fatigue, and for some of us, debilitating migraines. For tech creator Stefan Svartling, standard smartphone screens became such a headache—literally—that he decided to fundamentally change how he interacts with the digital world.
The solution wasn't a digital detox; it was an e-ink revolution. Armed with a collection of over 20 electronic ink devices, he has meticulously engineered a multi-device workflow that hands off tasks from morning to midnight. It sounds like an intricate juggling act, but a closer look reveals a masterclass in intentional, distraction-free computing.
Here is how he navigates a typical day using a fleet of purpose-built e-ink readers, an Apple Watch Ultra 2, and an iPhone that has been permanently demoted to a mobile router.
The Morning Commute: Pocket-Sized Companions
When Svartling packs his bag for the office, two e-ink devices are absolute mainstays: the Viwoods AiPaper Reader (in classic black and white) and the XTEINK X4 Pro. The XTEINK is a dedicated micro-reader—strictly no Android distractions—that slides perfectly into a jeans pocket for a quick paragraph on the go.
But what about the smartphone? Svartling carries an iPhone Air, but you won't catch him staring at it. Slapped with a MagSafe battery pack, the iPhone is tossed in his bag and left on personal hotspot mode from dawn to dusk. "My iPhone is just a router," he explains. He relies on its powerful bandwidth to blanket his e-ink devices in Wi-Fi, leaving the actual screen time to the glare-free panels.
On the drive to work, he streams audiobooks via Storytel via Apple CarPlay. When he arrives, the beauty of ecosystem syncing takes over. The exact spot where the audiobook paused in the car is queued up on the Viwoods AiPaper Reader. Because the Viwoods boasts an ultra-fast refresh rate, he can utilize immersive reading—listening to the narrator through his AirPods while following the text simultaneously without any screen ghosting. For English titles, he relies on KOReader, seamlessly syncing his reading progress between the Viwoods and the tiny XTEINK X4 Pro.
The AI-Powered E-Ink Research Hub
E-ink is historically for consumption, but Svartling uses it as a dynamic research engine. During the day, he scrolls Reddit using the Sidekeys app, which maps scrolling to physical buttons for a flawlessly smooth, ghost-free experience.
When he finds an interesting news piece or a dense Reddit debate, he doesn't read it in the browser. Instead, he shares the link directly to Google Gemini. He prompts Gemini to analyze the text, summarize the key points, and translate it into Swedish. These AI-generated insights are then saved into dedicated Gemini notebooks.
When it's time to actually digest this research, he turns to his larger devices. He pushes the Gemini documents to the Viwoods AiPaper Mini—his absolute favorite form factor—or the expansive 10-inch Viwoods AiPaper for deep, distraction-free reading, highlighting, and stylus note-taking using the PARA (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) organization method.
The Evening Wind Down: Swapping for Warmth
As the sun sets, the device rotation shifts based on lighting. The 10-inch Viwoods AiPaper has a gorgeous screen for writing, but lacks a frontlight, making it strictly a dining table device. For the couch, the Viwoods AiPaper Mini takes over. Occasionally, he’ll reach for the Bigme B7 Color tablet, though its awkward side-button placement restricts it to seated reading only.
When it's finally time for bed, the Viwoods AiPaper Reader C (the color edition) comes out. This isn't just about seeing book covers in color; the black-and-white AiPaper Reader only features a cold frontlight, which is harsh in pitch-black rooms. The color edition features a soothing warm light, making it the ultimate bedside companion to finish the day's chapters.
Why Keep the iPhone?
If e-ink handles reading, journaling, Reddit, and AI research, why keep the iPhone Air around at all? Simply put: trust and utility. E-ink operating systems aren't yet secure enough for sensitive banking apps. Plus, the iPhone provides a high-quality camera and the backbone for CarPlay navigation.
For actual communication, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 does the heavy lifting. Equipped with its own eSIM, the watch handles phone calls, text messages, and streams Storytel during power walks. Svartling even uses it to record voice memos on the go, which are beamed to the iPhone and transcribed later by Gemini. Sometimes, the Bigme HiBreak Pro Color tags in as a primary phone, but the iPhone-as-a-router system remains supreme.
It is an intricate web of syncing, Wi-Fi handoffs, and highly specialized hardware. But in a world designed to burn our retinas with endless notifications and blue light, Svartling’s e-ink ecosystem is a brilliant, eye-saving escape.
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