The premise makes sense.
Unfortunately, the Alpha’s execution leaves a lot to be desired.
The Alpha Hardware Is Big and Hollow
The Freewrite Alpha might be the epitome of distraction-free writing.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
Its just a large hunk of plastic with a full-sized keyboard.
There is nothing to do with it except write words and watch them appear on its tiny screen.
I found it strange.
Alpha is a dedicated drafting device for anyone who wants to write without the distraction—or temptation—of browsers, email, or notifications.
It almost doesn’t feel portable to hold or put in a backpack.
The Alpha weighs 1.6 pounds and comes in at over 12 inches by 8 inches.
Its 0.8 inches thick, when not using the kickstand to tilt it up.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
There’s plenty of physical space for a handle to go.
The keyboard uses Choc V2 low-profile key switches, which I found to be firm and responsive.
The travel of the keys was fine.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
Overall, though, I didn’t care for the feel of the plastic keycaps or the typing sound.
The keyboard, as a whole, felt cheap.
If that does happen, you could take the Alpha to a secluded outdoor space.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
I found its anti-glare FSTN LCD screen to be readable enough in any daylight setting.
There is no light onboard, however, so you’ll need to come back inside at nightfall.
Considering the product’s huge size and minimal functionality, the 100-hour battery life seems appropriate.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
It’s the equivalent of writing for eight hours a day for 12.5 straight days.
There’s no single point of failure with the hardware.
It’s the total package that doesnt feel like a $349 product.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
The limited functionality of the hardware also doesnt offer any further convincing arguments for potential buyers.
There’s not a hint of anything to do here other than punch in.
Even the sparse prefs section prevented me from noodling around there for more than a few seconds.
Its not a problem that there arent many options or things to do besides pop in.
That’s the point of Alpha.
It was just gone after I tried to create a second document and set up myFreewrite Postboxaccount.
To be clear, I dont think there’s any inherent problem in the saving mechanism of the gear.
However, I was apprehensive about data loss before using it.
The ambiguity of the limited interface made it hard to get the complete picture of my data.
Then something I wrote disappeared.
Maybe I did something wrong.
To navigate around the text or do tasks, you should probably use a combination of button presses.
For example, pressing new plus page down shows you a list of recent documents.
Pressing the page down button again cycles through them.
Once I pressed the page-up button and was jolted to another part of my text.
Even getting lost in my text was a concern.
One thing I did like was the quick info provided when holding down the spacebar for three seconds.
It will show the battery level, word count, and duration of the current writing session.
I connected my Google Drive account and verified that it worked.
Should You Buy the Freewrite Alpha?
Ive even heard from multiple people who enjoy using theirFreewrite Traveler.
That omission feels like a big miss.
(I would also shrink it down quite a bit or at least add a handle.)
More important than any specific feature or design choice, this product feels like a big miss on value.
But as it is, its materials and function dont justify its high, premium price.
Plus, at the end of the day, this is an accessory.
It cant be your only writing machine.
I wanted this writing product to be for mea full-time writerbut it just isnt.
I suspect it won’t be helpful for most other people as well.
