Dubbed the Paperang Q1, this portable ‘vocabulary card’ works better than Duolingo, allowing you to take quizzes, access flash cards, and quickly pick up new phrases. It’s smaller than a Kindle, and does a much better job of teaching you a new language than those translator apps that only focus on short-term gains. And unlike other e-ink readers, this comes with a speaker too, enabling audio-based learning.
Designer: Zuoyebang Education Technology (Beijing) Limited
The Paperang Q1 comes with a 3.9-inch e-ink display with touch input, along with a home button on the side and a record button on the top. Its staggered design gives it a distinct aesthetic that makes it instantly recognizable, with its quadrilateral forms intersecting each other to give you an overall rectangle that still feels different. Except, what you’d expect to be a camera bump is, in fact, the speaker unit that pumps out rich audio. The bump also gives your fingers a place to rest as you’re holding the device.
The Paperang Q1’s simplistic design opens it up to a lot of visual exploration. The two forms can be paired in distinct colors, creating a fun and funky palette. The device itself comes in black and white variants, although it does feature replaceable metal backplates that add a touch of color to the overall gadget, allowing users to choose between classic or vibrant color schemes.
