Xteink has a new device and it’s not an eBook reader! This is the Tong Card, which is still an e-ink display, but is a battery-less NFC device.
What’s a Tong Card?
I have to admit I had no idea why it was called a “Tong Card” and wasn’t 100% sure that it was so I turned to AI to explain it to me. I uploaded the image above and this is what it had to say:
Based on the image and the Chinese text, this is actually a Tóng Card (瞳卡). The confusion likely comes from the pronunciation, as “Tong” can refer to many different Chinese characters. In this case, 瞳 (Tóng) means “Pupil” (as in the eye).
The text in the image reads:
- 阅星瞳 (Yuè Xīng Tóng): “Reading Star Pupil” (The brand/product line).
- 瞳卡 (Tóng Kǎ): Tóng Card.
The Tong Card is a passive NFC E-ink display. Because it has no battery, it uses the tiny amount of energy emitted by your phone’s NFC field to “harvest” enough power to flip the E-ink capsules and update the image. Once the image is set, it stays there forever (or until you change it) without using any power.
How it’s typically used
I tend to buy first and ask questions later when it comes to gadgets, so I had to have a think about use cases for the card, but here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Digital Luggage Tag: Since the image doesn’t fade, people use them for contact info on bags
- Photo Keychain: Carrying a low-fi, grayscale version of a favorite memory
- To-Do Lists: Keeping a static reminder on your desk or fridge
- ID Badge: Using it as a customisable name tag for events.
Unboxing the Tong Card
Here’s a short video of me upboxing the card.
The card comes in a plain, brown box with Xteink branding and the most obvious thing is that all the writing is in Chinese. This also extends to the instruction manual 😱. Other than the device and the very small instruction guide there is nothing else in the box.
Getting it working…
In the next post I will detail how to get the Xteink Tong Card to work without the official app. And, if you want to buy one, you can get it from AliExpress here.