Mecha Comet Brings Real Modularity to Pocket-Sized Linux Computing, Hits Kickstarter

Crowdfunding campaigns for handheld gadgets appear all too frequently, but almost none of them deliver on their promises. However, the Mecha Comet intends to defy this trend. Mecha Systems launched this open and modular Linux handheld on Kickstarter, which was created from the start with customization in mind.

At first glance, the Mecha Comet resembles a compact smartphone, measuring 155 x 73 x 14mm and weighing 225 grams. The front of the device offers a 3.92-inch AMOLED display with a 1080 x 1240 pixel resolution, multitouch capabilities, and an amazing 550 nits of brightness, making it completely viewable even in direct sunlight. On top of the screen, you’ll find a typical 8-megapixel autofocus camera, a couple of microphones, a speaker, and a 3.5mm audio connector for playing music. There are also two USB-C connections for charging, transferring files, and connecting an external display, as well as Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and HDMI all on tap.

Power comes from a standard 4,100 mAh battery, which you can simply replace with a new one by snapping it into a single socket. Inside, there is an M.2 3042 slot where you may upgrade: add a mobile modem for cellular connectivity, a faster SSD for additional storage, an NPU to speed up certain activities, or even a LoRaWAN gateway if necessary. In addition, a 9-axis motion sensor monitors the object’s orientation and movement.

You can choose between a few CPU configurations, with the base model including the NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 configuration. That one comes equipped with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage. Then there’s the step-up model, which replaces the 8M Plus with the i.MX 95, a 6-core Cortex-A55 processor that should provide some more oomph but may also burn through your battery life a little faster. On higher-end models, you can increase the RAM to 8GB and the storage capacity to 128GB via SSD.

The Mecha Comet really makes its mark with its adaptability, thanks to those magnetic snap-on attachments that just click onto the device. The ones on the bottom simply pull out in seconds, and the options are pretty sweet, including a QWERTY keyboard and trackpad for tapping away, a gamepad with fancy soft-press buttons and a tactile touchpad for gaming, or, for the more adventurous, a GPIO breakout board with 40 pins for some serious hardware tinkering. That’s all for a reasonable $15-$25 per item, with savings available for volume purchases. Simply loosen one screw to gain access under the hood.

The device is actually quite adaptable, as you can switch in other Raspberry Pi HATs and the thing becomes capable of a variety of new tasks. As for the casing itself, it’s actually quite user-friendly; simply open it up and you’re free to swap in new parts or experiment with whatever. (However, it’s worth mentioning that the case isn’t the most spectacular item in the world; it does the job.)

The Mecha Comet comes with its own unique Fedora Linux distribution, Mechanix OS, based on kernel 6.12. In addition, you receive a custom Wayland launcher and a few homegrown apps built in Rust and Flutter that look great on the hardware. If you enjoy coding, you may browse all of the source code on GitHub. If you’re curious about the hardware, the manufacturers have committed to provide all of the details under CERN-OHL-S-2.0 once production is complete, which should keep everything open and accessible for the foreseeable future. As for software support, they promise a 7-year shelf life, with the SoC itself usable until 2036. You can snag one of these clever devices as an early bird deal on Kickstarter for $189, with shipment scheduled to begin in mid-2026.
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