REVIEW – Can a desk clock improve your productivity? That’s the question I wanted to answer when I accepted the offer to review the Divoom Time Frame. Let’s set it up and see what I think.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $199.99
Where to buy: Divoom and Amazon
What is it?
The Divoom Time Frame is a digital clock that can be customised with a variety of clock faces/displays/layouts.
What’s included?
- Divoom Time Frame
- USB-C power cable
- Reflective board
- Polishing cloth
- Quick start guide
Design and features
The Divoom Time Frame is an interesting device. It features a 10.1 inch IPS transparent display. You are probably asking what the heck is a transparent display and I’ll get to that shortly.
The Time Frame is designed to stand upright on a desk so that it’s in portrait orientation.
The right edge has two buttons at the bottom. One launches into the menu/settings and the other one behaves like a back button. Above the buttons are two knobs. The larger knob brings up the clock face picker and the smaller knob adjusts the brightness of the display. You’ll also notice the handle looking thing at the top. That’s just a design element and it has no function. It adds a bit of steampunk vibe.
Then the opposite side has a cyberpunk-like neon squiggle. More about that below (also check out the See it in action section).
If you look at the back of the Divoom Time Frame, you’ll find a USB-C port. This is used to power the Time Frame since it does not have a built-in battery.
When you plug in the Time Frame, it will immediately boot up and prompt you to select your language, and then it will prompt you to download the Divoom app on your phone to complete the setup.
If you look at the image above, you might notice that there’s a light that is illuminating the desk behind the frame.
Here is a view of the back of the Time Frame. Remember that I told you that the frame features a transparent display? Well, there you go. This is the first tempered glass transparent display that I’ve ever seen. It’s an interesting concept and I was surprised that you can kind of see through it. I wasn’t able to take a photo to show that “feature”, so you’ll have to take my word for it.
If you don’t like how the light “leaks” out of the back of the frame, Divoom has you covered with a piece of cardboard that fits perfectly on the back of the frame.
You might worry that a transparent display would look washed out and not vibrant. You need not worry. The colors and crispness of the 12800 x 800 resolution display are bright and clear, even if you don’t put the cardboard blocker on the back of the frame.
Divoom app
You can choose from a huge selection of clock faces either by using the Divoom mobile app, or directly through the frame itself.
Depending on the clock face that you choose, there are settings that you can customize so that it will show the data that matters to you.
Like the clock face shown above, you can pick from different stocks.
Some faces can show your local weather.
Or even a live view of your calendar (Google). Note that you can’t add events directly from the display (it’s not touch-enabled).
The clock faces have a variety of styles, colors, etc., so there should be something for everyone.
AFAIK, you can’t actually create your own clock face from scratch with widgets, but you can get close by choosing a pixel frame and drawing your own picture using the tools in the app.
It’s not really easy to draw on a phone with your finger, but it’s not completely impossible.
And if you don’t even want a clock face, you can choose to use the Divoom Time Frame as a digital photo display, where it will cycle through images that you upload directly to the frame. The Time Frame has 64GB of internal storage which can hold up to 700,000 photos.
Remember that cyberpunk squiggle on the side of the clock? It’s sound-activated and lights up as it detects sounds and music. You can see it in action below.
See it in action
Final thoughts
Does the Divoom Time Frame make me more productive? Well, it isn’t your average desk clock. Sure, it tells the time, but it also doubles as a fun piece of desk decor, a slight productivity booster depending on the clock face that you choose to display. The transparent display looks futuristic and the huge library of clock faces means you can always keep things fresh without paying for a subscription. I especially like being able to pull in data like weather, stocks, or my calendar, so the clock feels useful instead of just decorative.
That said, there are areas where it could be smarter. I wish it had a scheduling option to automatically power down at night instead of running 24/7. I’d also like to see more flexibility for building your own layouts with widgets, rather than just picking from Divoom’s presets. For $200, those extra touches would make it feel like a complete package.
What I like about Divoom Time Frame
- Easy to use
- Bright, vivid display
- Large selection of clock faces to choose from
- No subscriptions
What needs to be improved?
- Add scheduling of the clock face display so that you can turn off the frame during the night
- Add the ability to create your own clock faces with widgets
Price: $199.99
Where to buy: Divoom and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Divoom. They did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
Check out these other smart display reviews!
- TRMNL e-ink dashboard display review – Better than onscreen widgets?
- Dragon Touch Digital Calendar review
- Dakboard smart display review – Build a DIY always on wall display
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$54.75 (as of September 21, 2025 18:31 GMT -04:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
