MNT Vector

MNT Vector is a 7 Inch Open Source Hardware Tablet Computer.

Status

MNT Vector was originally called MNT Reform Touch and is a descendant of the MNT Reform series of OSHW laptops. It shares the same 200-pin Processor Module slot that we introduced in 2019, and is designed with the MNT Quasar Processor Modules in mind which feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 7/8 SoC variants (QCS6490/QCS8550). These are required for first-class suspend/resume and power/thermal management as well as.

Greta and Lucie designed and manufactured a first low-fi prototype in Nov/Dec 2025 for demoing at the Chaos Communication Congress at the end of Dec 2025 in Hamburg.

Goals

• Fit a fully capable Linux (and BSD) computer in your pocket.
  • (Lucie's personal goal: use an open device for most tasks that I normally use a smartphone for)
• Escape the Apple/Google walled gardens
• Easy to understand, robust architecture
• Reproducible (open-source KiCAD/FreeCAD design files) and repairable
• Fits in with other MNT Reform series devices (same base OS, file/data sharing support)
• Support Modal/Gnome Mobile stack
• Support postmarketOS

Low-Fi Prototype, User Study at 39C3

In late 2025, we did multiple physical studies to confirm the rough form factor, especially the 7 inch screen size. A main motivation was to be able to work with more classical document formats like letters, spreadsheets and presentations versus with a traditional smartphone aspect ratio, which requires a lot of horizontal scrolling.

After an initial cardboard prototype, Greta went to work at the end of 2025 to get a more high-fidelity 3D modeled+printed prototype ready for showing it at 39C3 in Hamburg. She modeled it fully in FreeCAD as 6 3D-printed parts that can house the MNT Pocket Reform mainboard, charger, batteries, speaker (with custom enclosure) and Wi-Fi card.

The result was a boxy but workable device with touch screen booting to a customized GNOME desktop on Debian. The electronics were based on a MNT Pocket Reform mainboard with a hand-soldered button panel to power the device on and off. We gave the device to many people who dropped by our assembly at the congress, and also installed Phosh on the second day as an alternative UI. Phosh worked significantly better than the desktop version of GNOME, which was to be expected. But still, the out-of-the-box multitouch capability of GNOME and the responsive libadwaita apps worked satisfyingly well and gave us confidence about being on the right track.

Surprisingly, a number of people said that they actually liked the unusual thickness of the prototype device and shared stories of thin phones slipping out of the hands easily, not offering a lot of "grip". A number of people also confirmed our goal of hitting a sweet spot between compactness and being able to work with real documents on the 7 inch display, and some even got excited because it isn't a common size anymore since the discontinued Nexus 7.

The main encountered problems were what we expected: the Rockchip RK3588 gets too hot for a component-dense mobile device, making prolonged use uncomfortable. And from my own use when walking around with it on the congress, the biggest issue was the missing standby/resume, because it's important to be able to lock and unlock (wake) a device quickly for putting it in your pocket.

Because we predicted these major issues, we developed and rleased the MNT Quasar processor module based on Qualcomm SoCs over the last year, which solves exactly these two problems. The next step is integration and testing of Quasar in Vector's beta version.

In case you want to play with a compact case conversion of the MNT Pocket Reform resulting from this study, you can explore the FreeCAD files in this repo, licensed under CERN OHL-S 2.0.

Beta Version (Case and Mainboard)

Greta and Lucie iterated on a more customized design of the tablet for the beta version. This included negotiating the minimum space required for the mainboard, the battery size and then the other components. The result can be seen in the block design above.

We found a dimensioning solution of 109x87mm for the mainboard which can accomodate the CPU/RAM module, charger/battery system with 2x battery connectors (JST-SH), M.2 5G Modem card and M.2 Wi-Fi 6E card, as well as two USB-C ports and a traditional headset jack, which is an often requested feature that disappeared from contemporary touch devices. The 2x camera FPC connectors are located on the processor module.

Display Selection

After evaluating many options and testing 3 displays in practice, we found a supplier that was able to provide us with a variant of the "Display V2" we used in later versions of MNT Pocket Reform, but with a capacitive touch sensor and glass overlay with a relatively small bezel bonded to it. This 7 inch panel has a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels and works with our existing MIPI-DSI drivers that we developed for Pocket Reform. It also features a USB touch digitizer chip on its flex cable that is recognized by Linux as a multitouch HID device.

This video shows the multitouch performance incl. pinch-to-zoom. The strobing in the video is a sync problem of the camera I used to record it, there is no such strobing in real life: images/mnt-vector-proto3-touch.mp4.

Case and Buttons

The case for the beta version is currently being designed by Greta. It will be made from 2 CNC milled aluminum parts, so that the back can be opened to access the batteries and the mainboard.

The tablet will have a total of 4 remappable physical buttons, 2 on each side so that it can be used equally by left- and right-handed people.

Batteries

We're integrating 2x 4000mAh 805080 form factor 3.7V LiPo batteries by Croatian OSHW company Soldered.com for a total capacity of 29.6Wh.

Ports

• 2x USB-C
• 1x Headset jack
• MicroSD
• NanoSIM (internal)

Cameras

• TODO describe camera form factor

Sensors / Microphone

• TODO select sensors

Speaker

• TODO select speaker

System Controller Architecture

Credits (So Far)

• Greta Melnik: Industrial Design
• Lucie "minute" Hartmann: Concept, Mainboard, Quasar Module, Software

Copyright

All hardware design work in this repository is © 2026 MNT Research GmbH, Berlin, Germany, and contributors (see Credits).

License

All hardware sources are licensed under the CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 - Strongly Reciprocal.

Funding

This project receives donations by NLNet under the name "MNT Reform Touch" (since rebranded "MNT Vector").