The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2023–2024
MNT Pocket Reform squeezes a full open-source laptop into 7 inches
MNT shrank its open-hardware Reform into a 7-inch clamshell — mechanical keyboard, trackball and swappable modules in a 1100g body with schematics included.
MNT Research
What it had to solve
MNT's full-size Reform proved that a completely open, user-serviceable laptop could ship as a real product, but it remained a large, costly machine. The small Berlin team wanted the same openness, repairability and typing quality in a computer that would fit into almost any bag — without compromising on a real keyboard.
How it works
MNT Research, a small German open-hardware company, built its reputation on the Reform, a full-size laptop whose schematics, mechanical parts and firmware were all open. The Pocket Reform took that same value proposition and crammed it into a 7-inch clamshell sized for a coat pocket or small bag, aimed at people who wanted an open machine they could take anywhere.
The design started from input, not from thinness: MNT sized the device around the smallest ortholinear mechanical keyboard a person could reasonably type on, equipped it with low-profile Kailh Choc switches and a micro-optical trackball, and wrapped a 7-inch 1920x1200 display in machined aluminum. The ortholinear grid let the keyboard keep full functionality and larger keycaps than a shrunken standard layout would allow.
Modularity carried over from the big Reform: owners could swap processor modules, NVMe and WWAN cards, batteries and panels, and the laptop shipped with Debian plus KiCad sources, schematics and a full operator manual. MNT described the goal as 'open-computing autonomy' — a device owners can customize, repair and improve with community contributions.
IEEE Spectrum's early hands-on found the keyboard 'bafflingly good,' beating many full-size mechanical keyboards, and judged the machine to have no peer for control-minded users. Units reached Crowd Supply backers through 2024, and owners documented upgrades and daily use, reinforcing MNT's argument that repairability and openness could survive in a pocket-sized product.
Why it lands
- Designing from the smallest usable keyboard instead of from thinness kept the device a typing tool rather than a compromised tablet.
- Reusing the big Reform's swappable processor modules and m.2 slots made the small laptop upgradeable and repairable like its full-size sibling.
- Shipping KiCad sources, schematics and an operator manual made modification a documented feature for the target audience of hackers and tinkerers.
- The ortholinear keyboard layout preserved full functionality while allowing larger keycaps in a tiny footprint.
What it did
Preorders opened on Crowd Supply in 2023 at about $900 and units reached owners through 2024. IEEE Spectrum's hands-on called the keyboard 'bafflingly good' — better than many full-size mechanical keyboards — and concluded the Pocket Reform had no peer for users who want full control of their PC. Owners such as Andy Piper reported daily use, swapping SSDs and reading schematics with a manual 'I've not had in a computer since the 8-bit machines of my youth.'
What you can take
Small need not mean thin and fragile: sizing around the smallest usable mechanical keyboard, while keeping modularity, made the 7-inch laptop a serious writing and hacking tool rather than a toy.
Since then
The Pocket Reform reached Crowd Supply backers through 2024 and kept evolving after launch: MNT released a mainboard 2.0, new processor modules and replacement parts, while iFixit published a repair guide and teardown video and IEEE Spectrum gave the device a detailed hands-on. MNT remained a small Berlin studio that hand-assembles batches, and the product page grew to showcase those independent write-ups as evidence that an open-source pocket computer could win attention beyond hobbyist forums.
Sources
- Hardcore Hands-On: This Pocket PC Is Big on Open Source
- A Miniature MNT For Every Pocket
- MNT Pocket Reform: first impressions
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