When I first stumbled across the Ulanzi TC001 on Mastodon, I knew I had to have one. A sleek pixel display that costs a quarter of what you’d pay for a LaMetric Time? Sold.

Building the Perfect Notification Display

Getting this thing integrated into my smart home setup was a blast. I spun up an Awtrix2 server in Docker, wired it into my Node-Red flows via MQTT, and suddenly had the power to push custom notifications with pixel-perfect icons to my desk. Weather updates, build statuses, package deliveries—all at a glance.

The real magic happens when you combine it with Home Assistant. You can trigger notifications based on any sensor or automation in your system. Front door opens? Pixel animation. CI/CD pipeline fails? You’ll know immediately.

The Reality Check

Look, nothing’s perfect. The Awtrix Server’s timeclock has a tendency to drift—sometimes by hours. And every once in a while, animations just… stop. A quick restart fixes it, but it’s worth knowing going in.

That said, for $50, this thing punches way above its weight class. If you’re into home automation and want a hackable notification display that doesn’t break the bank, the Ulanzi TC001 is absolutely worth it.