Keeping a family organised is no joke. My own bundle of chaos currently involves two adults, a 9 year-old and 6 year-old twins navigating six dance classes each, basketball, soccer, Scouts and whatever else lands on our plate that week, so the appeal of a digital wall organizer like the Cozyla Calendar+ 2 is real.
There have been a few of these family planners to be released recently and none of them come cheap, but Cozyla is looking to stand out from the pack by offering access to more apps and not needing an ongoing subscription to unlock premium features.
Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: Price and availability
The Cozyla Calendar+ 2 is available in a range of sizes, resolutions and with a portable battery stand at Cozyla. Prices range from $349.99 for the 15.6” version up to $1,299.99 for the 32” 4K version with the rolling stand.
In the UK, the Cozyla Calendar+ 2 is available to buy in the 32″ size for £649.99 at Amazon.
Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: design and build quality
I tested the 32” 1080p version of the Cozyla Calendar+ 2 with the rolling battery stand. It’s a very nicely designed and well built product. The calendar itself has a solid frame with a 0.7” bezel around the edges and as it is white it would work well mounted in pretty much any setting.
The display is matte and doesn’t feel as refined as some others such as the Skylight which, with its glass front, gives off a more premium finish. Comparing the two reminds me of comparing early iPads (Skylight) and Android tablets (Cozyla) which isn’t to say that it’s badly made, it just suffers from the comparison.
The rolling stand feels very stable, although the wheels are fairly small so it rolls a lot better on hard floors than on even low pile carpet. Magnetic frame add-ons are available for the 24” version in charcoal or rose gold but these cost an additional $129.99.
(Image credit: Tim Gee)
Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: performance
At its core, the Cozyla is a family calendar and it works well, giving immediate visibility of the calendars you set up, with views for the day, week or month and events colour-coded according to which calendar they are in.
Where I ran into some issues was with the syncing, with a couple of events not automatically pulling through and displaying. It seemed to be isolated to invitations sent to by a single third party, but it did make me a little nervous that things were missing and the only way I could resolve it was by opening the dedicated Cozyla app, which then immediately synced everything perfectly.
While this was an easy fix, especially if you switch to using it as your primary calendar app, it added a step to my day and reduced my certainty that everything was listed which, frankly, is the core point of the product. I reached out to Cozyla about this and it said the team is actively working on improving the sync experience to make it more reliable.
The tasks functionality works well, allowing you to add things as part of a routine (like get dressed, brush your teeth etc) or chores and schedule them for every morning or night and assign them to specific profiles. You can also assign stars to either type of task and set up rewards that will require a set amount of stars.
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Trying this on my own family, it did seem to spark some newfound interest in making their beds but also sparked fights about who could feed the cat first or bring in the mail to claim those stars.
I’d defer to a child psychologist on whether this is likely to provide a long term positive impact –especially when coupled with rewards which is something we didn’t experiment with – but gamifying the more mundane tasks is a nice way to encourage cooperation. The calendar does provide a satisfying animation when tasks are ticked off, especially if you complete the full day’s list and are treated to some digital confetti and balloons.
The meal planning elements are also impressive with a wide range of pre-loaded recipes included and the ability to import your own. When you select specific recipes, you can then add all the ingredients to grocery lists which you can share.
One thing that makes the Cozyla stand out over rivals like Skylight is that it is essentially a large Android tablet and so you can download apps from the Google Play store. This means it can also work as a streaming device by downloading apps like Netflix or Disney+, play mobile games and do pretty much anything else you can do on a tablet.
This gives it an incredible amount of flexibility, especially when combined with the battery stand. If you want to roll it into the kitchen to play a video recipe as you cook you can, plus the stand version comes with a camera you can attach so you can use it for video calls which is definitely better than using a mobile if you have the whole family on a call.
(Image credit: Tim Gee)
Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: app
The app for phones and on the calendar itself are both well made, mercifully simple and easy to use. While it is easy to adjust the tasks and meal options from your phone it doesn’t try to do too much and is fully focused on its function.
The calendar uses a version of the Android operating system so you can download additional apps, but is still well focused on its core functions so you’re not having to dig around to get back to the calendar itself.
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Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: battery life
If you do opt for the rolling stand, this adds a 7500mA battery so you can use it when its not plugged in. Battery life is impressive, I managed to get just under 4 hours of video playback (without battery saving features enabled) before it ran down so there’s nothing to stop you using it as a portable screen to watch a movie.
(Image credit: Tim Gee)
Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: verdict
The Cozyla Calendar+ 2 is a versatile family planner helping you organize everyone’s life but also capable of running Android apps allowing it to switch to a browser or streaming device. The Go version’s battery stand makes it even more flexible, capable of wheeling around your home.
While it’s very impressive and the added features it includes over rivals like Skylight are tempting, I could only get it to sync my calendar by opening the app on my phone which is a major issue, especially when other people are using it to check your calendar without knowing if it has been synced recently.
Cozyla Calendar+ 2 review: alternatives to consider
The other big names in digital wall calendars are Skylight and Hearth, both of which come in cheaper than the Cozyla but also include subscriptions to unlock premium features like meal planning that’s already included in the Cozyla, making it pretty much the same price if you pay for a year’s membership.
I have found Skylight Smart Calendar to be more reliable for syncing calendars, and generally feels like a more premium and refined product. But you are giving up the ability to download apps for other functions and add the ongoing cost of a subscription if you even want to continue to use photos as a screensaver.
