Smartphones have become the most popular device on the planet, there is no doubt about that, and in most cases it has replaced other devices we had in the past. At first, it was normal to have a desktop computer, a Nokia-style mobile phone, and a PDA. The latter were the closest we had to a smartphone, but there was no app store and no connection to the mobile network to make calls. These devices looked great and this has sparked quite a bit of nostalgia today. Now they wanted to recover these devices, no doubt to the delight of many, at the hands of a new device. We are talking about the new MNT Pocket Reform, which could be a modern version of these Psion or Nokia Communicator.

A mini laptop

That’s what this device offers us, thanks to a single 7-inch screen that is very small in size. This 7-inch screen has a Full HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a density of 310 pixels. On the other hand, it has a micro HDMI output that allows you to view your screen on 4K resolution monitors or TVs. It has a full and compact mechanical keyboard that allows us to enjoy comfortable and fast typing, with the distinctive sound of the keyboards of yesteryear. This comes with a white switch, and can also be ordered with a Spanish keyboard, including “ñ”, so it’s quite customizable when purchased.

In terms of performance, it is based on a quad-core processor clocked at 1.8 GHz on the NXP i.MX8M Plus. There are versions with 8GB or 16GB of DDR4 RAM, although it can also be ordered inside with a Raspberry Pi CM4, making it versatile and with which you can do many more projects. The sound provides a DAC with a single speaker, as well as a microphone and headphone output via a USB Type C adapter connector. It has dual-band Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth 5.0. The storage offers a capacity of 128 GB on a solid state drive. It can be expanded with a microSD card slot.

The battery, on the other hand, offers a capacity of 8000mAh and is charged via a USB Type C connector; so it should give us power and autonomy to use it for at least a full day. Although it comes with Linux, it is a computer designed for extreme customization, including initial software. It is available in black, silver, gold and white. And it has another detail, a 90s cleaner style trackball to control the cursor. It has no price at the moment, but it would move between 700 and 1,000 euros.

Definitely a tribute to a time, but one that brings back many fond memories, of those who dream of having the power of a computer in their pocket, which we have on our mobile today.

Available soon

The modular MNT Pocket Reform mininotebook will soon be available with ARM-based processor options and a 7-inch screen.

The Pocket Reform mininotebook is also ready to integrate some processor options like the NXP I.MX8M Plus or Raspberry Pi CM4 with ARM cores or the AMD / Xilinx RISC-V based model. It also has a 7-inch 1080p screen and a mechanical keyboard with optical trackball.

Mini-laptops that are becoming portable game consoles are becoming more popular thanks to Chinese manufacturers like GPD and One-Netbook, but most of the mini-laptops released so far use Intel or AMD processors, which are sometimes not very cheap. MNT Research, the team behind Reform Modular Laptop, is introducing a cheaper solution that combines innovation capability and reuse. Named Pocket Reform, MNT’s next 7-inch mininotebook offers a modular design along with an ARM upgrade processor along with open source hardware and software components.

The standard configuration of the Pocket Reform includes an NXP I.MX8M Plus processor with a 4 ARM Cortex-A53 core, 1.8 GHz speed, and a Vivante GC7000UL, which can be complemented by 4 or 8 GB DDR4 RAM. MNT also offers stronger options:

• NXP Layerscape LS1028A (2_ ARM Cortex-A728 or 16GB DDR4, Vivante GC7000UL GPU).
• Raspberry Pi CM4 (via an adapter, 4_ ARM Cortex-A72, 8GB DDR4, VideoCore GPU).
• Pine SOQuartz RK3566 (via an adapter, 4_ ARM Cortex-A55, 8GB DDR4, Mali G52 GPU).
• FPGA AMD / Xilinx Kintex-7 (for industrial use, RISC-V SoC possible).

A small drawback of this model is that the chassis is not completely compact, with a profile of 4.5 cm, but it is at least recyclable and also has a keyboard with a mechanical switch, as well as a 10 mm optical trackball with 4 buttons. In terms of display, the Pocket Reform integrates a 7-inch panel with 1080p and 310ppi resolution, as well as a micro HDMI video output that supports 4K power. The port selection has 2 USB-C (one of which supports power supply) and an industrial GbE plug. For storage, the MNT offers a 128 GB eMMC, a microSD card reader and an empty NVMe SSD slot to upgrade the capacity to 2TB.

Other features include a mono speaker, headphone support via USB-C or Bluetooth, Wi-Fi + BT 5.0 module with an optional 5G modem + micro SIM card and an 8,000 mAh battery.