E Ink displays have expanded beyond e-readers. They’re now used in digital photo frames, smartphones, and even the price tags found on grocery store shelves. VidaBay’s Classic Plus NFC E-Ink Fridge Magnet — which looks like a Polaroid photo — features the same low power color E Ink screens used in those electronic price tags, but to display photos from your phone without the need for a battery.
The small digital photo frames are now available globally in white, red, or yellow through VidaBay’s online store for $35.99 each (currently discounted to $29.99), or as a three-pack for $99.99 (now discounted to $86.99).
One of the many unique benefits of E Ink’s e-paper display technology is that it only uses power when changing the text or image on screen. These small displays take advantage of that and don’t include a battery. Instead, all the power needed to update their E Ink screens comes from the NFC chip on your smartphone when you’re wirelessly transferring images using VidaBay’s mobile app. Once a new image is displayed, it will be there indefinitely.
There is one definite downside to VidaBay’s E Ink Fridge Magnets. As Good E-Reader points out, the color screen they use, the E Ink Spectra 3100, is specifically designed for retail use and features just four colored particles: black, yellow, red, and white. So when compared to products like the Aura Ink digital photo frame, which uses an E Ink Spectra 6 panel capable of reproducing thousands of shades, the accuracy of the color reproduction on VidaBay’s smaller alternative will be lacking.