Life is an Eazeye radiant beach
The idea behind transflective LCDs is brilliant, and it’s a solution for anyone who wants to work or watch videos outdoors. You can sit in a position with full sun exposure without having to squint at your laptop screen while trying to block direct sunlight to prevent the image from being washed out. You do need to be careful with reflections, otherwise you’ll end up with painful glimpses of the sun’s reflection. However, putting a matte coating on the display interferes with sunlight reflecting from the inside, so the shiny screen is by design.
On the other hand, the contrast ratio simply doesn’t compare to a fully backlit display, so if you’re considering using it to edit pictures or create art, you might be disappointed. The same goes for watching movies, and while the overall picture is certainly sharper than on a laptop and larger than on a phone, the lack of contrast will hamper your enjoyment. You don’t have to carry a power supply with you, and as you can see in the picture, the maximum 30% brightness of the backlight is compensated for by the extra brightness provided by the surrounding ambient light.
If you really want to use an external screen to watch content on your phone while relaxing at the beach, you won’t find anything else that matches the Eazeye Radiant. If you’re not used to camping, this lets you watch YouTube videos to help you set up camp, and with a solar panel or battery, it can charge your phone while you figure it all out. The $700 asking price is a bit of a barrier, but the price does reflect its unique features and the fact that it doesn’t benefit from the cost-effectiveness of mass production.
It will be interesting to see what comes next from Louis Huang, who started designing, producing and selling unique products early on. Hopefully he will come up with more interesting projects in the future.