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Superbook Turns Your Android Phone Into A Laptop
Want a low-cost laptop solution powered by your Android phone? The Superbook may be just the ticket
Paul Briden
10:35, 1 Aug 2016
Have you ever been frustrated that you can’t use all your Android smartphone’s bristling computer-like levels of power as some kind of actual, productive mini-PC or laptop on the go? We certainly have, and that’s also the experience that drove Andromium co-founder Andrew Jiang to crowdsource his “Superbook” project on Kickstarter.
The Superbook is a laptop dock designed to function with any Android smartphone (with a compatible spec); the handset just plugs right in via USB, and hey presto, your Android phone is now powering a PC-like experience. Well, we say PC-like, because let’s not forget this is Android; the dock runs an interface that looks similar in some ways to ChromeOS, but it isn’t as fully featured as a proper desktop OS experience as its features, functions, and capabilities are based off Android on your phone. You can, however, access all your handset’s files, folders, and applications – you are essentially just operating your phone through a slightly tweaked interface on a new controller, complete with a full keyboard, multi-touch trackpad, and an 11.6in 768p display.
The dock frame is nice and compact at 19.3 x 28.7 x 1.8 cm and weighing around 900g, and it features a battery which charges your smartphone, with a lifespan of approximately eight hours. Here’s the minimum spec for compatible phones:
- Android 5.0+
- Dual Core Processor and above
- 1.5 GB RAM or higher
- Type-C or Micro-B phone port (USB-OTG)
- 25 MB of free storage (100 MB+ recommended)
And the price? Backing the project on KS to the tune of $99 will secure you a Superbook, and the plan is for them to ship by by February 2017.