How I waited for the MNT Pocket Reform and it fully paid off

This year, as I moved to Berlin and gained the ability to order a much wider spectrum of electronic devices (compared to Georgia, where I lived before), I finally ordered the MNT Pocket Reform directly from MNT's official store. My previous attempt was last year when I ordered from CrowdSupply. However, they were hesitant to send it to Georgia due to sanctions.

So, this February, I made a second attempt. I knew I had to wait for a while, but I didn't know how long. I received my beautiful Pocket Reform only in the middle of August. During the entire wait, MNT support patiently answered my anxious questions about the expected shipping date, so there were no issues there.

However, the situation has improved significantly—MNT Research even has order fulfillment date information in their FAQ, so there’s no need to bother support anymore.

So, I finally received it. Now I had to assemble it (because I ordered a so-called DIY kit). It doesn't require any soldering, and the only tool needed is a Phillips screwdriver.

Everything is sorted into enumerated packages, and the manual is very clear about the assembly steps. It was a fun experience overall, except for the 20 minutes I spent searching for the lost screw that accidentally fell on the floor.

From a technical point of view, the Pocket Reform is very modular; nearly all parts are easily swappable. Hopefully (long live MNT), it will receive further upgrades (I already bought and easily installed the one adding support for Intel AX210 wireless chip, which was not present in my revision). The laptop itself is quite bulky and heavy, but the chassis is very well-built, and the overall impression is that it is built to last.

Oh, and that trackball. It is so good and makes this small laptop so easy to use that I even decided to buy a trackball to use with my desktop. Often, pointing devices on such small laptops are not very convenient to use, but not in this case. The trackball is small, but as soon as you get used to it, you will have no issues pointing the cursor where you want. Precision is fine, and ergonomics are pleasant.

Talking further about ergonomics: the keyboard. I was a little unsure how easy it would be to get used to the ortholinear keyboard, especially with small keys. In reality, of course, it requires some effort. And yes, after three months, I am still not a very speedy typist. It can also be challenging to use with my native Cyrillic alphabet because of the unusual layout. However, for me, it is not as annoying as I thought it would be, especially considering the compact size of the laptop. As a bonus, it also has a configurable RGB backlight that looks marvelous. In the case of the keyboard, the main downside for me is that I chose the clicky option, which annoys my wife a lot (and probably my neighbors on trains and aircraft). Beware of this possibility and choose wisely! Otherwise, you will have to convince the MNT to sell you another keyboard with non-clicky switches, as I had to do to save my marriage. Thank God the keyboard is easily swappable.

Beware that some symbols require pressing buttons with the HYPER key. You can easily check this in the Operator's handbook keyboard section.

The display is fine. It has a decent resolution of 1920x1200, which for me is enough for a display of this size. However, it is not without its downsides. As far as I know, MNT previously had some problems with display sourcing due to quality issues. My display, for example, does not have very even backlighting. It is not critical, but you have to be aware of possible small issues. It might even be a warranty case, but I didn't bother to ask support about it.

Performance is adequate. The RK3588 may not be particularly powerful, but it is more than sufficient for daily usage. Personally, I can browse the web, use Emacs, and write Rust and Guile code without any issues. It is even adequate for computing derivations and building software when using GNU Guix, though it may require some waiting.

Battery life is not fantastic, and combined with the current state of suspend and hibernate (which do not work), the laptop is not as enjoyable to use as it could be. There are some community efforts to fix at least hibernation, but I am not sure they will be 100% successful (good luck to the team in any case). For my usual workflow, which includes WiFi, web browsing, and some coding, I currently get around 3 hours of battery life. Furthermore, each time I want to stop working, I have to shut down the laptop and boot it again to continue. For me, this is the main downside of the MNT Pocket Reform.

If you're interested, there is a very informative comparison of Pocket Reform battery life with different SoCs.

Enough consumerist nonsense for now; let's get to the ethical side of things, which really matters here. MNT is a small company with no venture funding, headquartered in Berlin. They are very committed to open-source and open hardware (as also stated in the MNT Difference article), so you can basically download all the source code for their in-house hardware, which is impressive. They have already issued a couple of SoC options and upgrades for Reform and Pocket Reform devices, making them sustainable. I also want to point out the incredible engineering effort of Lucie Hartmann. Their ability to create functional engineering products on tight budgets and deliver them is particularly impressive.

Yes, the SoC (at least RK3588) requires some proprietary blobs to run, but it is what it is in the industry.

The device is marvelously designed, well built, and the customer support, although not very speedy (which is predictable for a company of that size), is always eager to help. I was so impressed with the product and experience that I also bought a MNT Keyboard for my desktop.

Yes, Pocket Reform is rather pricey and not a state-of-the-art device. But it is built by good people who don't try to deceive you by selling you surveillance features or making your laptop obsolete, unrepairable, or unupgradeable. So if you have the means to spend this sum of money, it is definitely worth a try. Oh, and MNT Reform Next is coming!

P.S. This blogpost was fully prepared and deployed with the MNT Pocket Reform.