What looks like a laptop but ain’t a laptop? Chinese vendor releases innovative phone docking station that gets its inspiration from long lost Asus Transformer project
The idea of a laptop powered by a smartphone isn’t new. The Asus Padfone, part of Asus’s Transformer project, launched in 2012 and allowed users to plug a phone into a tablet and connect it to a keyboard base station. In 2017, Mirabook released a laptop powered by your smartphone, and in 2021, the Nexdock 360 arrived, which took things further but only worked with phones that offered a ‘wired display’ through USB-C.
I was reminded of these past projects, and more, when I saw the UDock X 15.6 Pro Wireless Lapdock from UPERFECT. It’s designed primarily to work with Samsung DeX, but it can be used with other phones and is currently priced at $409.99, a significant saving from the usual $629.99 asking price.
The Chinese manufacturer has made several docks over the years that effectively turn a connected smartphone, tablet, or mini PC into a workstation that looks and behaves like a laptop. It’s a clever solution aimed at boosting productivity for professionals, although, as you might expect, there are some trade-offs, with latency issues being one of them.
Who moved my touchpad?
The X 15.6 Pro sports a 15.6-inch FHD (1920×1080) IPS 10-point touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports wired, wireless, and Bluetooth connections, allowing users to easily mirror a smartphone screen to the larger display, which is handy for tasks that would benefit from a larger viewing area, such as document editing. The screen’s ability to fold 360 degrees allows for adjustable viewing angles, ensuring ergonomic comfort during long periods of use.
The Lapdock offers wireless charging, so users can top up a smartphone just by placing it on the charging area above the keyboard. The dock has a 10800mAh battery, which provides enough power for up to 6 hours of high-quality video playback, or 4 to 5 hours of Samsung DeX use.
While wireless charging seems like a great feature, it does mean that the touchpad has been shifted from below the keyboard to the right of it. However, if you’re right-handed and used to using a mouse on that side, you’ll likely adapt to it soon enough.
The X 15.6 Pro includes an on-screen display (OSD) menu, allowing users to adjust settings such as brightness and color directly. It comes with two USB Type-C ports (one full function, one power only), one USB Type-A OTG for an external mouse and keyboard, mini HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. There are also dual 2W speakers.
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The idea of a laptop powered by a smartphone isn’t new. The Asus Padfone, part of Asus’s Transformer project, launched in 2012 and allowed users to plug a phone into a tablet and connect it to a keyboard base station. In 2017, Mirabook released a laptop powered by your smartphone,…
