NexDock Turns Your Smartphone Into a Laptop or Tablet
Nowadays, you are going to be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn’t have a smartphone. Whether you’re a massively lover of the Apple ecosystem or you’re a fan of the myriad of Android-based phones on the market, it’s extremely likely that you’ve got your phone in your pocket wherever you are.
The only problem with it is that the screen and keyboard aren’t big enough to do any kind of real, in-depth work on. Now there are a series of devices that are looking to completely change the way we think about our smartphones, allowing us to effectively turn them into laptops when we’re out and about to work our way.
It’s Basically a Portable Screen
In essence, the way these devices work is by offering you a screen to plug your phone into and use your phone on said screen. With the screen in question being 13-inches, it offers significantly more real estate then the phone itself is able to provide.
The NexDock is a really good example of what I’m talking about, offering you the ability to turn your phone into a laptop but without having to pay the sort of price that you would need to to buy a laptop. Not only that, but in opting for something like the NexDock, you will remove the need to worry about having two devices with you that thieves could look to target.
This “laptop” has no other function but to turn your phone into a laptop pic.twitter.com/kHDWoYws8Q
— Lumumba 🇰🇪 (@e_lumumba) May 7, 2023
You can do all of the things that you’d be able to do with your phone, only on a much bigger screen. You can browse the internet, send emails or create and edit documents. The NexDock also allows you to add a headphone jack that a lot of phones no longer have. You can connect your phone to your screen using a cable or opt to go wireless, making it much more user-friendly.
Even if you’re the sort of person that just likes to play games or watch videos on your phone, you can opt to so but on a larger screen, which is obviously significantly more comfortable. You will use the data plan from your phone, without the need to hotspot it.
Which Phones is it For?
As you might imagine, the closed nature of Apple’s iOS ecosystem means that your iPhone won’t be useable with most of these devices. Instead, they are aimed at making your Android phones as useable as possible, with the NexDock, as an example, working with smartphones that boast a ‘desktop mode’.
The majority of flagship phones by companies such as Motorola, Samsung and Huawei are compatible, whilst the future will see other models able to use the Dock and turn them into laptops. If you want to use your phone wired to the device then it will also charge the phone at the same time, meaning you’ll keep on having plenty of juice.
In 2017, Apple filed a patent for a way to turn your iPhone into a Macbook.
How? There’s a laptop casing and you dock your iPhone in the trackpad section (and the phone provides the processor, memory and storage). We need this. pic.twitter.com/8uAG345SgF
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) March 2, 2023
The way that the phone connects to the screen, regardless of whether it is in wireless mode or it is wired, means that you don’t need to install a driver or have a specific app. That means that it will have no lag and will respond immediately to what you’re asking it to do.
The device has a built-in keyboard and trackpad that you can use to control your Android device, provided it boasts a ‘desktop mode’. You can then use the HD screen that is either 13-inches or 15.6-inches, depending on whether you’ve opted for the standard or XL model should you be looking to pickup a NexDock version of the device that I’m talking about.
There are Different Model Types
It isn’t just NexDock that offer this new way of being able to use your phone as a laptop. As you might imagine, there are numerous models that do a similar job, with each offering the ability to make you more productive when you’ve only got your smartphone with you.
Given the fact that most smartphones nowadays are even more powerful than laptops, it isn’t outrageous to suggest you might be better off using such a laptop convertor anyway. There are different types of monitor depending on what it is that you’re likely to use it for, so you can shop around and see which one is the one that you’ll get the most out of.
@ntftw I can’t believe we’ve made it to a point where you can run a PS5 off of a Laptop display 🤯#samsunggalaxy #ps5 #samsungdex #ios #android #steamdeck #phone #tech #technology ♬ original sound – Michael
Whilst extending your smartphone to make it into a laptop when you’re out and about is the obvious way of making the most of it, it is worth pointing out that you can also use it for something like an extra monitor alongside your home computer or laptop, if you wish to. How you’re planning on using it will dictate which of the various models you’re best-placed looking to buy, with only iPhone users likely to be disappointed about what is out there right now.
The good news is, though, that this sort of thing is only likely to improve and develop as more and more companies realise the benefits of turning your smartphone into your everything.