NexDock – portable dock screen

Here’s a great concept for you on-the-goers, it’s a laptop style screen and keyboard combo dock for USB C devices like smartphones, Raspberry PIs and I guess tablets too. No doubt though that this is being marketed towards Android users though as the plug and play Desktop dockable OS is a real platform solution and even being adopted by Google themselves. But the real win with the NexDock, seems to be that it is open to being used for pretty much anything.

nexdock touchscreen with phone
nexdock touchscreen with phone

As the name suggests, this is a Dock for smart devices. The hardware and input solutions this offers makes it a dock for pretty much anything. It not only has the USB C smartphone connection, but also HDMI in and (rather surprisingly) DisplayPort via USB C. So you can even use it with devices like games consoles and Macs as a portable screen. Plus with the card reader, headphone jack and additional USB A and C ports, this can be so advantageous for geeks for an all in one computer hardware package to take with them where they go.

nexdock touchscreen with Raspberry Pi
nexdock touchscreen with Raspberry Pi

But, I guess the only drawback to this device, is that it will only be as awesome as the product you dock into it. Plug in a Samsung S10 or above, you’ll probably get a slick Chromebook experience and using your phones devices, apps, data and purchases for being productive or consuming content. Pair it up with a MacBook Pro and you’ve basically got a true extended laptop experience for being uber productive (I’d love to try this myself). But connect it to a cheap tablet, then you might find a poor output resolution or the mouse trackpad doesn’t work. Although I highly recommend this as a the right solution for Raspberry Pi owners for sure, would be perfect for diagnosing code on the fly.

Nexdock port layout
Nexdock port layout
ProsCons
Display Port too (wow)
New Touch Screen version
13” Hull HD IPS Screen
4 Speakers
Backlit Keyboard
6,800 mAh battery
Plenty of ports & SD Card reader
Expensive – you can buy a chromebook cheaper

The NexDock Touch is available to order from their web shop for $259. Which is a fair price on the assumption that the finished product is as good as it looks in the pictures. Hopefully I’ll be able to give it a try one day and do a full write up.