Extremely good EVF, similar to that in the X-T1 but smaller, large for a compact camera
Film simulations (but requires fiddling compared to later cameras)
Range-focussing guide
I paid £400 for used with 6-month warranty in 2025, good condition
Popup flash
Review
The Fujifilm X30 is an excellent compact camera that's been my trusty travel camera on multiple trips around the world. It has a unique vintage-futuristic look, and a 'metal where it matters' construction that makes it satisfying to handle. Its bright variable lens makes it extremely versatile, and it packs an entire shooting setup in a camera that fits in my small camera bag with plenty of room left for my kindle.
The sensor is approximately the size of a modern smartphone and is the camera's biggest quirk. With custom film simulations from Fuji X Weekly, I consistently get pleasing muted filmic shots that look good printed postcard-sized. However, the sensor struggles in low light and has low dynamic range; thus getting a good shot requires working with the light, keeping an eye on your settings (or embracing auto mode), or using flash.
The camera's EVF is exceptional for a camera of its size and age, and is almost exclusively how I shoot. With the LCD disabled, the battery life is pretty good. That said, when I'm out shooting I switch the camera off if I haven't shot for a few minutes. The camera turns on and off by manually zooming the lens. This quirk is an exceptionally well-thought-out design choice — it means there's no flimsy electronic zoom motor that's slow and can break, and I always want to set the zoom when I turn the camera on anyway, so it's really intuitive. The camera also has all the settings you would want from an enthusiast/pro camera, including a range focusing guide.
I briefly owned a Ricoh GR III, which I replaced with this camera, and I'm much happier with the X30, though they're very different beasts. I don't think the X30 is for everyone, but if you want a good cheap(ish) enthusiast travel camera with film simulations, a pop-up flash, and you like the X30's sensor, then this is hard to beat.
Tips
Hold the preview button to view photos without switching on the camera.
I shoot RAW + jpeg in case the recipe gives a weird result, plus sometimes the RAW helps with dynamic range issues.
Switch to manual focus mode using the toggle on the front of the camera to range focus.
The photo transfer app on iPhone does work, but requires patience and repeatedly restarting the app, turning Wifi transfer off and on, etc., in order to connect. After finding the knack, I found I can do this in around 10 seconds, but it took some practice to figure out.
After a year of shooting with the X30 I've bought my second Fujifilm camera, the X-T2. It has an APS-C sensor that does much better in low light, significantly higher dynamic range, as well as a water resistant body which I can take outside on rainy English days. It's a relatively small camera but much larger than the X30, which will take some getting used to. The main reason I bought it is to shoot with a more capable sensor. It's often said that shooting with constraints improves your creativity, and I think that's probably true. However, I'm looking forward to increasing the amount of situations I can shoot in.
The AlphaSmart Neo is a digital typewriter that was manufactured between 2004 and 2013. Along with the Neo 2, it's the last in a line of products that started with the original AlphaSmart in 1993, with the aim to "deliver affordable, lightweight, rugged portable computing devices that are expandable, easy to use and manage, and provide exceptional battery life" for classrooms. Over three decades later, the Neo still delivers on that promise and offers something newly compelling for most users, myself included: a minimalist, distraction-free writing experience.
Specs:
33 MHz DragonBall VZ processor
2 MB of RAM
0 storage (all text saved to RAM, but can be exported to a computer via USB)
Battery lasts months depending on usage (~700 hours of use).
Requires _ x AA batteries and 1 x CR2032 battery (used to keep data in RAM when main batteries removed).
Up to 8 documents simultaneously, up to 50,000 words each.
The AlphaSmart has a full sized keyboard which is satisfying to type on, and even supports a few shortcuts for navigating between, selecting and deleting words and lines at a time.1 The device turns on almost instantly, can be locked with a password2 (though I suspect there's nothing preventing the files being accessed via usb), and the battery lasts for months - I haven't had to change batteries since I got it at the start of the year. It's features are minimal, providing nothing beyond writing txt files, and sending them to your computer.
I've been using the AlphaSmart to write a daily journal. I've started the habit of beginning each day by brain dumping 750 words on it. In the past I've journaled on paper about what happened at the end of each day, partly with the intention of keeping a permanent record of my life. With the AlphaSmart I'm doing the opposite, I'm using it as a tool for self-reflection and try to focus on writing about how I'm feeling, with no intention of looking back on what I wrote. In fact, each morning when I write the next one I overwrite the previous file. I find that because I can type much faster on the Neo than I can write by hand, and because its sole focus is on output, I'm able to get into a kind of flow state where I get down whatever is on my mind. I've found it to be quite therapeutic and a good way to start the day, by becoming intentional about the day ahead. The screen is tiny but that's actually helpful in focussing on writing rather than editing your work, and while the functions are basic you can perform a word count (press CTRL + w) and spellcheck.
In addition to finding brain dump journaling cathartic, it also addresses a pain point I have with regular journaling. When I'm journaling normally, not only do I find myself drawn to writing about factual events in chronological order rather than what I'm feeling, or more open ended trains of thought, I find writing about those things embarrassing when I look back on the journal with other people around and I don't usually let people just leaf through my journals, nor do I write anything I would be really embarrassed for others to see. That's a bit of a shame because the journals are full of good memories involving my friends and family. The brain dump lets me decouple the stuff I want to keep private and get down as an exercise separate from what I want to remember and share. I'm actually planning on trying a different form of documentation this year where I scrapbook with printed photographs I've taken, quotes, stories etc. and maybe print written excerpts from the AlphaSmart.
I highly recommend the AlphaSmart to anyone looking for a distraction-free digital typewriter. I bought mine for £70 in good second-hand condition on eBay, which is much cheaper and in my opinion better than the modern alternatives.
1
Pressing option + left or right arrow will move the cursor one word at a time, command + left or right will move to the beginning or end of the line, and holding down the shift key while doing either of those will select the text as well, which can then be deleted by pressing the backspace key.
2
You may be asked for the system password, for my device that was "tommy" which is apparently the default, you can then set your own file password.
Today I powered on my iPhone for the first time in just under a month. Since the start of the year I've been using my dumbdroid as my full time phone. I've set up the phone pretty much as it comes out of the box, apart from the addition of WhatsApp, and I have disabled the app store and browser. It came with an open source maps application called Organic Maps, which I have been using just fine to get around London. I plan on making a more thorough review, but here are my thoughts for now:
Why?
People find the phone extremely interesting and almost everyone who sees it during a conversation will bring it up. While most people think it's a crazy idea at first, around half of everyone I've spoken to has been very curious and ends up saying they will think about getting one. It's been eye opening to me to see how many people want to improve their 'digital health' and instantly resonate with a desire to get some space from their phone.
In almost every conversation about my phone I am asked "why am I doing it?". My reasons are varied, and I'm finding that 'the point' is revealing itself to me through time, but here are a few reasons:
It's an experiment. Getting a smartphone was an experiment, getting rid of one is another. It's already been interesting to see how life changes when you reshape your digital life. That alone is worth exploring for me.
My iPhone is too powerful. Pocket technology is a wonder, and at times it is indispensable, but at other times it weighs me down. I have that found simply going for a walk with and without my phone feels significantly different. It's hard to explain, but I recommend you try it and see if you agree.
Why not just leave your phone at home then? Phones are essential for some things like navigation and calls/messaging + I do not want to miss urgent calls e.g. in a family emergency.
It has lots of buttons. My measly iPhone only has like 3 buttons. The dumbdroid has like 20! Huge upgrade.
I have negative feelings towards big American tech and the attention economy.
I grew up through the digital revolution of the 2000s, and while I am a digital native, I also remember what life was like before this global transition. Lots of people in my generation miss what we left behind and are curious about whether it's even possible to go back.
The creators of the phone seem like awesome people. It's a tiny European company run by two chaps who quickly replied to my emails when I had a question about the phone.
App controls
The creators of the phone point out that given how small the screen is, and the relatively awkward keyboard, you might not need to put any additional restrictions on the phone to improve your screen time etc. I wanted to go a step further and actually lock the phone down so it's a true brick phone. Currently the only way that seems to be supported is by typing in a pin code, but if you know the pin code then that kind of defeats the point. You could have a friend do it, but instead, I pasted in a sequence of numbers I had not memorised and now the phone requires reinstallation in order to change the app controls.
My current setup:
No browser
WhatsApp installed
No app store
Default maps app
I like that this is super minimalist but if I were to do it again I would consider installing:
Google maps.
Banking (this is the only reason I occasionally use my iPhone now).
ChatGPT. It's quite a good way to get some access to the internet without the full monty. Currently if I really need to know something e.g. opening times of a museum, then I use WhatsApp's AI.
Paying for stuff
I used to almost exclusively use Apple Pay, but have gone back to using bank cards and cash. I have had zero problems with that so far.
Some more thoughts
My right pocket used to be for my iPhone, it's now for my dumbdroid and a tiny ereader called the xteink x4. If I reach for something to pass the time when I'm out and about I now only have the options of contacting friends or reading a book. I really like that choice. I find these devices go very well together.
I have also been experimenting with keeping my laptop in a locker in my office, which means when I go home I have zero internet connected devices. This has introduced some challenges, including an extremely tedious weekend in which I wanted to do some admin but was locked out of the office, leading to unplanned mini digital detox. Overall I find this a really nice way to check out after work and make doom scrolling of any kind impossible. It happens to work well at the moment because I have this separate working space, such that I do not need to do any work at home, and I'm not sure how one could achieve this otherwise.
I will absolutely be keeping my iPhone 11, despite rarely using it. Until I reinstall my dumbdroid and add my banking apps, it's my only way of doing internet banking. I will also certainly use my iPhone in certain situations like managing digital forms at airports, and might even start using it in the office as a 'mini-iPad' but not putting it in my pocket or bringing it away from my desk.
Tips
Even though the phone has a USB-C port, my version of the phone only charges using a USB-A to USB-C cable, so if you have problems charging it try using a cable like that.
Get a screen protector. I have not used a screen protector and the screen has picked up lots of little scratches in my pocket, despite me being pretty careful with it. You can buy custom cut-to-size screen protectors that should do the trick.
To lock down the phone without relying on a friend to type in the PIN code: type a sequence of numbers into e.g. the browser or settings search bar without memorising them, copy the sequence to the clipboard, and then paste that into the PIN code settings in order to lock down the phone.
You can find authentic vintage gifs like this by browsing archives of geocities (which was shut down in 2009), or the awesome reboot project: neocities.org.
There is also gifcities.org, a purpose built search engine for archived geocities gifs run by the Internet Archive. It's great!
There are a bunch of websites that offer YouTube channel to RSS conversion but require a login. RSS links used to be very visible on YouTube. That's since changed, but the links still exist.
I vibe coded a tiny API to convert YouTube channel links to RSS links, which you can interact with using the HTML form below.
Enter a YouTube channel URL in the box above e.g. https://www.youtube.com/@PewDiePie
I've also used it successfully on sites other than YouTube, as it just looks for an RSS link in the page HTML. It seems that a lot of websites have RSS feeds, but don't advertise them. I wouldn't be surprised if lots a lot of website maintainers have harmlessly forgotten that they are still publishing to these feeds, which are quietly being generated by the back end.
I've recently gone down a rabbit hole of what I'm calling retro digital
pragmatism, inspired by jvsholz, it's a superposition of digital minimalism and
digital maximalism which aims to develop a positive intentional relationship
with technology through customisation, single-use devices, and DIY solutions.
I'm intending on documenting this journey on this blog.
As part of this experiment I'm currently waiting for the following in the post:
a dumbdroid.eu to replace my iPhone 11 as my pocket
phone.
I will still keep my iPhone for iOS development and basically as a mini-iPad,
but I want to decouple what I need (WhatsApp and Maps), from possible sources of
distraction (browser, YT, etc.). Certain features of the iPhone are really
useful like having ChatGPT with me in seminars in order to quickly refresh
assumed concepts, and I plan to use the device for specific things like this,
with intention.
I heard about this bad boy from
jvsholz and was very surprised
at how capable these tiny ereaders are for the price, but what made me order
one was the really active community surrounding the device. Already multiple
people have developed custom firmware for the device, extending the already
good enough feature set to be quite insane. My intention is to carry this on me
so I have a productive way to kill time on the tube, or when collapsed on the
sofa. I intend to put some silly fiction on it, as I typically read non-fiction
but I want this to be a fun relaxing thing that I will do instead of reaching
for something else.
Ok I definitely did not need to order this, but hear me out. Not only are these
single-use audio players still good at what they were designed for, custom mods
extend the storage capacity and battery life to ridiculous levels, and a custom
firmware makes the iPod fully customisable. I intend to use this thing to
listen to music, and I've already cancelled my Spotify subscription. I get a
lot from my Spotify subscription, and it's quite crazy to think about the
lengths my parents' generation went to in order to get the music they wanted,
compared with the ease with which I can access almost any song I want. My
biggest problems with Spotify are the following:
My music and my phone are coupled, I can't take a walk and listen to tunes
without being a tap away from everything else.
Music has become low value and I never know what I'm listening to. I don't
pay attention to albums, or often even artist names because of the
frictionless experience and my dependence on the recommender system to bring
me new music.
More often I find new music by recommendations external to Spotify e.g. from
friends or elsewhere online.
And of course classic iPods are cool! They are really nice devices, from a time
before planned obsolescence. I've seen some crazy
mods
that push these things to new heights, and give you a fun project to work on
and learn from. Jakob Burrows has a great essay on why people are buying iPods
again, and
he points out that people tend to assign much more value to things they have
put physical effort into. He gives the example of people valuing their flat
pack iKea furniture more if they assembled it themselves, and apparently
brownie kits ask you to add a fresh egg instead of containing powdered egg,
even though they could, for the same reason: if you on something you value it more.
I think this comes back to this idea of intention. It doesn't have to be
about doing less or having less, and I don't think that buying more off the
shelfcorporate
tech is the solution. I think developing
intention, and taking ownership of my devices is the way to go. I also think
nostalgia is a powerful emotion and it can be harnessed to bring a simpler time
to the present day.
But let's see how it goes! Thanks for dropping by.
