I thought smart calendars were a gimmick, until I put this 15-inch tablet on my wall

Skylight Calendar astute show (15-inch)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The 15-inch Skylight Calendar is simply a astute show for $320, with a 10-inch mentation for $160.
• It's a touchscreen calendar for engaged lifestyles that allows for shared usage wrong a household oregon team.
• Though it's proven indispensable for my family, I privation the chores were disposable successful the calendar view, and the 15-inch mentation is costly astatine $320.

Getting organized is simply a never-ending conflict for me. As a self-proclaimed "organized person," I similar controlling my schedule, surroundings, and everything successful between. But each clip I win successful getting my things successful order, thing throws maine off, whether it's a caller kid, a caller house, oregon a cross-country move.

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I've ever preferred pen and paper, truthful I emotion my slug diary and partition calendar. But I don't ever person them with me, and I tin ne'er find a pen erstwhile I request one. This is wherefore the Skylight Calendar has made specified an interaction connected my life. 

With 3 young kids and a canine moving astir the house, I often hide who needs to spell wherever and bash what astatine what time. This results successful missed doc appointments, which travel with missed assignment fees. You've besides got a assortment of blistery messiness household staples: missed extracurricular classes, being the lone kid astatine schoolhouse without a artifact during stock day, double-booking activities, etc.

I've ever relied connected my partition calendar, a trusty accepted insubstantial calendar I'd get each twelvemonth from Walmart, to support maine connected track. But aft moving crossed the state and buying a caller house, starting caller jobs, caller schools, caller doctors, and caller everything, the paper-made decor couldn't support up. I'd hide to adhd events oregon things I needed to get done, and the aged 'out of sight, retired of mind' couldn't beryllium much accurate. 

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While looking for an alternate to my insubstantial calendar, I started investigating the Skylight Calendar past autumn and realized I could ne'er spell back.

The Skylight Calendar is simply a 15-inch astute show that looks similar a high-end tablet. It runs an Android-based OS and displays a calendar astatine each times. The Calendar tin beryllium placed connected a array oregon shelf, oregon mounted to the wall. I chose the second installation method to regenerate my aged partition calendar. 

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Using the Skylight app connected my phone, I tin adhd events, chores, and meal plans and make lists for everyone to spot connected the partition calendar wrong seconds. Each relationship besides gets a customized Skylight email code that you tin springiness to others who don't person the app. They tin past nonstop events to that email, which volition beryllium added to the calendar astir immediately. 

The Skylight Calendar features antithetic options speech from adding events, similar a chore illustration and meal plans.

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

This means that nary substance wherever I am, whether connected the telephone with the doctor, connected the mode to schoolhouse pickup, oregon astatine home, I tin ever instantly nonstop events to my calendar connected my partition from my phone.

You whitethorn think, wherefore don't you usage your phone's calendar app? The astir important quality betwixt utilizing the Skylight Calendar and a calendar connected your smartphone is that it is ever visible, wherever you enactment it. So the surface displays the calendar astatine each times, but erstwhile you docket it to spell to sleep, which I bash astatine 9 p.m. each night. This makes it into a household hub wherever everyone, adjacent younger kids who don't person a phone, tin spot what is going connected and when. 

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You whitethorn beryllium gladsome to perceive that the Skylight Calendar besides auto-syncs with different fashionable integer calendars, similar Google, Outlook, Apple, Cozi, and Yahoo. 

When you're not actively utilizing the Skylight Calendar, the surface remains connected unless scheduled to slumber successful whichever calendar presumption you choose. Skylight besides allows you to show photos connected your calendar erstwhile idle, similar a integer representation frame, which requires a Skylight Plus program astatine $39 a year. I decided to skip the subscription for now. Still, it's worthy noting that this enactment besides lets you import emails oregon PDFs to automatically person into events connected your Calendar, which sounds beauteous convenient.

The Skylight Calendar turned retired to beryllium the cleanable summation to our driblet zone.

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Now, onto the elephant successful the country -- oregon connected the wall. I can't gloss implicit the Skylight Calendar's terms -- not astatine $320 for the 15-inch model. 

The terms was the biggest happening that kept maine from buying the Skylight Calendar. Since Skylight isn't the astir wide renowned brand, I was acrophobic I'd walk truthful overmuch for a tablet that would extremity up bricked successful a twelvemonth oregon 2 erstwhile the institution stopped providing enactment for it oregon thing happened to it. It's not similar buying a tablet from Apple, Samsung, oregon Amazon, wherever you'll cognize you'll get a fewer years' worthy of usage retired of it. 

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I've had my Skylight Calendar for a twelvemonth and a half, and the institution continues to grow. The calendar has seen respective updates since then, and the institution released a new, larger version. 

ZDNET's buying advice

In the end, I was fortunate capable to get a reappraisal portion from Skylight, and aft utilizing it for a fewer months, I'm definite I would bargain 1 for myself, adjacent if it's $320. Skylight besides sells a 10-inch Calendar astatine $160, an fantabulous enactment for smaller families, couples, oregon individuals.

The astir important selling constituent for the Skylight Calendar is that it provides a ocular and interactive mode to show your calendar and assistance you get organized. It auto-syncs with your phone's calendar and allows you to adhd events from wherever you are, truthful everyone astatine location tin spot them. It's gotten a batch of attraction from visitors successful my home, and 1 of my guests adjacent bought 1 for themselves arsenic soon arsenic they saw it successful action.