~snip
Looking good to me! I like how from the side and back it keeps the same black-gold-white 'sandwich' design aesthetic. Being a little larger is also welcome, since v1 is really really small. With the reduced thickness it may be possible to put in a small purse, pocket or similar without it sticking out. That's something I will test out in the real world when I get it.
Still not a fan of the golden buttons on the front; I consider taking them out and spray-painting them..
If you are patient, then you can wait for the gold paint to rub off and come off on its own. Then you don't have to spray-paint.
Actually, yes; removing the paint is better than adding on top. Polish may do the trick. I hope these devices are easy to disassemble.. Fortunately, we will get open-source drawings which should help determining how to open it up without damage!
Color display wasn't really needed for me and the UI looks more cluttered; but I'm by far most curious to see what battery life it will have. It's a little funny 'anecdote' that the v1's batteries are actually almost empty when they took that picture. Really the biggest issue with v1.
It seems to me that a monochrome display would be quite enough. Does v.1 have a backlight? And is there a difference in battery life in v.1 and v.2? Does the color display consume more power?
Yes, v1 has sufficient backlight (not in the bright sun, though). Version 2 has a totally new battery concept. Lithium-ion rechargeable battery instead of single-use Lithium AA. It's supposed to last longer and even if it won't, you can always just recharge, right. But nobody wants to sit around a pile of (fresh and used - since they need to be recycled) double-A's. As long as you stick to (very expensive) Lithium AA's, they will hold for a couple hours, too, but they're expensive and not as available to buy locally. Using Alkalines will result in the aforementioned pile.
I would also like to know how long it takes to turn passport on and off, if anyone has tested this? How fast does it happen? It makes no sense to keep the device constantly on, which means that most of the time it will be turned off and will be used only when necessary. I was always annoyed in some models of phones for a long turn on.
Just tested:
Boot: 7 seconds to PIN screen, 6 seconds after that.Shutdown: under 1 second (basically instant).You're right: you won't run this for long periods of time. When I use it to sign a transaction, the time from turning it on to turning it back off is often under 1 minute including PIN entry and address verification. Large screen and nice handling (e.g. no cable sticking out, sits in hand well) makes it very easy and comfortable to do so quickly.
Looking good to me! I like how from the side and back it keeps the same black-gold-white 'sandwich' design aesthetic. Being a little larger is also welcome, since v1 is really really small. With the reduced thickness it may be possible to put in a small purse, pocket or similar without it sticking out. That's something I will test out in the real world when I get it.
I like that it's slightly wider and taller, and even though it's not much thinner it makes the thickness more proportional over all. The form factor makes it look like a small, cheap phone, which camouflages it from the uninitiated. That's a good thing.
True; making it look less conspicuous would also be one of the reasons for me to remove the gold paint on the front buttons. I also expected v1 to be a lot larger than it really is, which means it quickly reveals that it's not a phone (too small), so larger size will be appreciated for 'rough opsec', as well.
Color display wasn't really needed for me and the UI looks more cluttered; but I'm by far most curious to see what battery life it will have. It's a little funny 'anecdote' that the v1's batteries are actually almost empty when they took that picture. Really the biggest issue with v1.
The display looks much brighter in the photos, but I wonder how much of that is due to the battery level on V1. Anyway, my aging eyes are likely to appreciate the colors, sometimes it's easier to see contrasting colors other than black and white.
It's important to note that the display brightness on v1 doesn't fade with dying battery. It stays on whatever you set it to, until the battery runs dry. It's possible that in the picture it wasn't set to max. brightness, but honestly the screen is not super bright, so I'm fairly confident v2 will be brighter. To be pedantic; colors actually have less contrast than pure black and white. But I need to see both side-by-side in person to really evaluate any screen improvements.