Hands-on: This 3.5-inch smart display makes my digital calendars more digestible

My preferred methods of organizing my schedule could be considered dated, so when I got a chance to try out a gadget meant to streamline my various digital calendars, I took it. While I do use digital calendars and to-do lists, my go-to method for organizing my day’s tasks, goals, and upcoming events is pen and paper. I use paper calendars in agendas for a visual layout of events, including those as far away as next month. They give me a sense of control, as I'm able to highlight, circle, draw arrows, underline, erase, and so on. I also write more to-do lists than might be considered efficient (as evidenced by “make to-do list” being a frequent line on my to-do lists). But there are many benefits to using tech for staying organized, too. With digital options, I can easily check my availability on the go with my phone and get alerts to remind me of events. But it’s hard to find a simple, stripped-down tech solution to put my work calendar, work goals, personal calendar, and personal to-do lists in one place while minimizing distraction. When checking what time I set aside to work out, for example, I typically don't want to think about whether the event is recurring, who else knows about it, what "type" of event it is, or how many minutes before, during, and after the event I'll get phone alerts about it. Those details are often valuable for creating a highly informative digital calendar, but they can also be distracting and result in information overload. Enter a smart display called DeskBuddy. The 3.5-inch touchscreen device has essentially one capability: showing today's events from your synced digital calendars. Blueberry Consultants, a custom software development firm headquartered in Birmingham, England, crowdfunded the desktop accessory via Kickstarter in December 2023 and currently sells it online, including on Etsy. After connecting to a power source via the included USB-C to USB-A cable and a Wi-Fi network, DeskBuddy can show the day’s events from your iCloud, Gmail, and Office 365 calendars. You sync the calendars by using a portal that requires a PIN, provided by the powered-on DeskBuddy, that's accessible via any browser. For $100, this is a pretty diminutive piece of technology. Per the product’s Kickstarter page, the device uses a WT32-SC01 Plus, which is an EP32 development board with a 3.5-inch IPS touchscreen. The creators said they used WS2812B LED chips for color and brightness control, as well as a custom-made PCB. The display is in a plastic case with parallel lines surrounding the USB-C port that give away its 3D-printed origin.

The chassis has an integrated speaker that sounds an alert one to 90 minutes before and at the start of an event, depending on user configuration.

Keeping it (very) simple

The DeskBuddy sounded like the type of calendar tech I was looking for: a simple way to see my digital calendars that doesn’t require checking multiple apps and that quickly and clearly conveys necessary information. What could be simpler than a list of the day’s events with time stamps that are color-coded by digital calendar source? Well, as I learned, when it comes to organization tech, sometimes more is, in fact, more. And that “more” comes in the form of control. Simple gadgets can streamline things, but oversimplifying your work and social calendars can result in overlooked appointments and mismanaged time. For example, I thought I wanted fewer customization options. With DeskBuddy, all I had to do was put an event in one of my calendars, and it would show up on the device. But DeskBuddy doesn’t show how long each event is. It doesn’t even show event bars of different thicknesses to demonstrate how long an event is compared to another appointment. Each event is color-coded based on the calendar it represents (in this article's pictures, the yellow-looking bars are work appointments, while the green ones are personal). But especially with more than two calendars synced, it could be hard to quickly understand which color means what.

Also, my DeskBuddy didn’t pick up “tasks” from Google Calendar, only “events.” That’s not necessarily a big loss, but it could be if I accidentally listed an important chore as a “task” on Google Calendar. With digital and paper calendars, I don't have to double-check that something I added and saved is showing. DeskBuddy's succinct list of today's events means having a clear overview of the next few hours, but there’s no way to see what’s going on beyond today. Sometimes being organized today means knowing how much time is available tomorrow, throughout the week, or even over the next few weeks. Still, there's something relaxing about having a small screen dedicated to today and today only. It's much less distracting to glance at my DeskBuddy than to open an online calendar and get lured by an email, text message, or the general temptations of the vast web. So yes, the DeskBuddy can help declutter the digital calendar experience. And it fits in with other increasingly popular sole-purpose gadgets aimed at simplifying tech, like dumbphones or FreeWrite devices. But for serious time management, the DeskBuddy fails to provide the type of control I need to truly seize control of my day. Without the portability or detailed orientation of calendars viewed on a phone, computer, or on my tried-and-true agenda, this one-trick pony needs another incentive or two to make a case for itself.