The perfect laptop is your phone.
It’s been five years since Razer announced Project Linda at CES 2018 and what could have been the future of converged computing has become little more than a wilted dream. As someone who has spent an unhealthy amount of time diving headfirst into different tech ecosystems over the years rather than just using things like any normal person would, I’ve tasted just a hint of what true euphoria would be. And for one short moment in time, Razer provided the light I’ve been looking for; a phone which is also your laptop.
I know, I know… A phone sounds like a ridiculous replacement for a computer. No one wants that. But on the contrary, I propose that most people actually want that, they just have no idea what it should actually be. The closest solution we have to converged computing right now is Samsung DeX. On a software level, it's pretty much fine. Software is only half of the problem though, and its fatal flaw is that there are no truly good hardware components to pair your Samsung phone with to create this complete system. Some might suggest a NexDock, but it's still just not quite there.
Imagine for a moment, you're on your phone and you need to write up something pretty long, or maybe do some research on a project. What's the best course of action? Keep another device around which has your other documents or apps on it, making you manage two systems instead of one? Why not just have that device augment the capabilities of your phone instead. Simplify the entire process and make sure nothing you need is ever in a place you don't want it to be. So you take out your laptop, a beautiful, thin, high quality device with almost everything a laptop needs… but there's no trackpad! This… this is where Project Linda had everything right. The hole in your laptop where the trackpad should be is the exact dimensions you need to slot your Galaxy into and dock. It connects instantly, charging the phone, giving you access to additional USB ports or a headphone jack, a larger screen, and a keyboard!
This is the setup I so desperately want but fear I may never have. Maybe I could spend an uncomfortable amount of money getting a small team of people to make something like this for me personally… but what I'd really love is for something like this to truly be accessible to everyone. The benefits are plenty. A unified system lets you have all your apps and notifications you'd normally get on your phone immediately accessible on the laptop, even apps which don't have a respective desktop application. Because your laptop is your phone. And when you don't need the big screen or keyboard, you just pop it out and keep going without any of your open tasks being lost or isolated.
The ultimate goal is simply that everything you do, not just the raw content itself, but your actual workflow, is consistent for you no matter how you want to work.
I would use nothing other than Samsung products in my tech life if this kind of solution existed. We're so close with DeX mode and a NexDock, but it's just not quite there. It's still relying on a cable to be dongled in. I want uniformity, cleanliness, and a damn good build. I want it to feel like a Pixelbook Go and its ridiculously solid but incredibly light build. We're so close. The future looked so bright… Bring Linda back!
