Pomera DM250US is portable, but its keyboard is too cramped

At 10.3 inches wide, 4.7 inches deep and 0.7 inches thick, the matte-black clamshell fits easily into a small crossbody bag. Its 7-inch LCD looks undersized against the chassis, but the device feels sturdier and more premium than the similarly priced Freewrite Traveler. Pomera rates its battery for 24 hours of continuous use; after sporadic use for a little over three months, the reviewer had charged it once and reported about 50 percent remaining.

The DM250US, Pomera’s first model designed for US writers, has an English keyboard layout and native English software. Its writing tools include spell check, a calendar with a text file for each date, file outlines and markers, timestamps, templates, find-and-replace, and side-by-side document comparison. Users can adjust the display, including inverting its black-on-white default, and hide the status bar in full-screen mode.

Getting text off the device is less polished. Emailing requires connecting a Gmail account or entering SMTP details, and messages arrive with the text in the email body. Pomera Link imports text through a QR code, but users must then copy and paste it into another app to save it. A USB-C connection offers a simpler route: the device has a little over 1GB of built-in storage and an SD card slot.

The keyboard was the deal-breaker in the review. Pomera fits function and cursor keys into less space than the Traveler, leaving its keys painfully small. The reviewer reported hand cramps and wrist pain, more typos than usual, and a need to stop about every 300 words while writing this review. People with smaller hands may find it less troublesome, but the reviewer concluded that discomfort undercuts the device’s appeal for long writing sessions. The DM250US received a score of 6.