A weekend project of mine, I really like the trend of distraction free, digital typewriters, however most of them will set you back between 150-300$.

The etyper is probably the cheapest in its class, costing about 15$ for a WeActStudio 4.2" eink screen and 23$ for an Orange Pi Zero 2W running armbian, plus about 2$ for printing cost.

If you're looking for a raspberry pi Zero 2W version a fork of this project exists here: 

https://github.com/T-KONES/rpi-etyper

It's a bring your own keyboard device, for now it only works with wired usb-c keyboards.

The case is designed to be printed in place and does not require any supports.

You will need 8 × M2x12mm screws and nuts. For mounting the Pi, either cut 4 of the screws down to 6mm using pliers, or use 4 × M2x6mm screws instead. The remaining longer screws are used to secure the screen

That's pretty much it, the case is foldable and height adjustable, I will have an animation for it coming up in the future.

The full armbian image for you to flash via dd or etcher can be found here. There's also the the codebase that can be found here, as a normal user you won't need that though. It has been created with Claude/Cursor but is fairly stable.

For now the commands are as follows at boot:

• Ctrl + S – Save document
• Ctrl + N – Save current document and create new document
• Ctrl + Left – Switch to previous document
• Ctrl + Right – Switch to next document
• Ctrl + K – Select keyboard
• Ctrl + F – Toggle file server via Bluetooth (download docs in browser)
• Ctrl + R – Force full display refresh (cleans ghosting)
• Ctrl + Q – Sleep / wake toggle (saves power during sleep)

Here's the pin layout you'll need for connecting the display cable to the GPIO of the pi:

If soldering isn't your thing it occured to me later on that you could also just get a so called "Right Angle 2x20 40 Pin Male Header" and cut the straight pins to make it fit together with the gpio openings and the case. With this you don't need to cut the female connectors on the display cable and can just plug them in there instead.

Current version of the bluetooth file server site:

File Transfer (Ctrl+F)

Download your documents wirelessly via Bluetooth PAN (Personal Area Network). No WiFi required — the etyper creates its own network over Bluetooth.

How it works:

1. Press Ctrl+F — Bluetooth powers on, the file server starts, and instructions appear on screen
2. On your computer, open Bluetooth settings and pair with "etyper" (auto-accepts, no PIN needed)
3. Once paired, open a browser and go to https://10.44.0.1 (accept the certificate warning)
4. Download individual documents or all at once as a .zip file
5. Press Ctrl+F again to stop — all paired devices are disconnected and Bluetooth powers off

Notes:

• Bluetooth is off by default and only activates during file transfer
• Auto-shuts down after 5 minutes if you forget to stop it
• Works best with desktop/laptop browsers — phone Bluetooth PAN support varies by device
• If your browser forces HTTPS errors, try http://10.44.0.1:8080 as a fallback

Update 18.02.2026

I've created a more robust design that covers the nuts on the back so nothing scratches in your pocket. The mechanism for the hinge has also been improved and is more firm now, opening only when you want it to. Enjoy!

Update 21.02.2026

Keyboard selector is now fully working, it's both in the codebase as well as the finished armbian image you can find above.

Feel free to fork this build and make your own, lets make these devices cheap!