One of the most unique, and most powerful features of the Librem 5 and Librem 5 USA is that they are running the same convergent PureOS as our Librem 14 and Librem Mini. This means that they are not running applications that have been ported to a mobile platform, instead the same desktop applications as our full-sized computers, just on a smaller screen. When only using the Librem 5 in its mobile form factor, it’s easy to overlook that this is happening, as adaptive applications morph to fit the smaller screen. If you come from an Android or iOS background, you may only notice that the apps have odd names and are different from what you are used to. Even if you come from a Linux background and recognize these apps you may overlook the power of convergence, because there are other mobile platforms, including FDroid on Android devices, that have ported popular Linux desktop apps to mobile-only versions. It’s only when you dock the Librem 5 that you really experience the power of convergence.
I’ve explained convergence to people of all technical backgrounds, and it is so satisfying to see the “aha” moment when I dock my Librem 5 and drag an application like Firefox from the Librem 5 screen to my lapdock and it morphs into the full-sized desktop application they know and love. I’ve used a Librem 5 and lapdock combo as my personal laptop for a couple years now so I know first-hand what a useful and unique platform it is. We have wanted to provide a lapdock kit to customers for some time now, and I’ve personally evaluated almost all of the options available to pick which one would best showcase the Librem 5. I’m so happy to announce that today we are launching our new Lapdock Kit and in this post I will explain a bit more about what’s included and why it’s a great companion to a Librem 5 or Librem 5 USA.
Actually I haven’t used them yet. I tend to just use the phone’s speaker (it’s not that far away when docked and is plenty loud) or bluetooth headphones. I know Sebastian just recently got audio over displayport working for the Librem 5 and I imagine that would also be an important piece to get merged in first.
Note that there is a slight formatting error in the shop page on this new product
viz. Display: 13.3 inch IPS 1920x1080Battery: 44 Wh
(missing line break? space? before “Battery”, which should presumably be in bold)
I like the composition of the Lapdock Kit! Sadly the kit is not worth for European customers due to the taxes =(
For a while I followed these topics here in the forums:
In the post Purism write that charging the Librem5 is no problem and the kit can be used productive. What about the heat, power consumption nowadays? Are there some improvements in the kernel or so? Some current live posts from other users would be helpful.
One thing I am not clear on - do you need to put anything on the phone itself for it to stick to the magnetic arm? My wife has a metal circle on stuck on her phone case to get it to stay on the magnetic mount in her car. I am wondering if that is needed here, or if the magnetic arm sticks straight to the phone.
Yes, I too would love any updates on thermals, power consumption, charge times, suspend, etc. I know there’s been improvements since the last blog posts about these.
Yes the magnetic mount requires you to place a small metal circle on the back of the Librem 5 case because the back of the phone case is plastic.
As far as power consumption, we’ve certainly continued to make improvements there, however when you are docked and the Librem 5 is driving an additional display, it does use more resources than when it is sitting idle or when used undocked.
So with power consumption and heat, it really depends on what you are doing. If you are watching videos and doing other resource-intensive things, and the Librem 5 was docked with a relatively low battery, it will not only generate extra heat because it’s pulling in extra current to charge quickly, it is also using a lot of power to play videos etc. On the other hand if it is mostly fully charged and you aren’t doing anything particularly straining, it would draw less power and therefore generate less heat.
That said, I’ve experienced, and heard anecdotal reports from others that the Librem 5 seems to dissipate heat better when upright on the magnetic mount, compared to sitting flat.
All that said, it’s possibly been long enough since our last battery life blog post that we should consider doing a new one, possibly featuring the Lapdock Kit as well.
Thank your for the great explanation about heat transfer and battery charge. =)
At this point, I am thinking about these two topics:
Do you think it is possible to supply the Librem5 by the lapdock’s battery directly like a docking station or external power supply will do? So the idea is to use the lapdock’s battery only instead of the phone’s battery.
Not without removing the battery. Otherwise the battery charge controller is going to want to charge the internal battery if it is present (and needs charging). However, when you are docked, you are in essence relying on the lapdock’s battery. It is what drains while it maintains the charge (or increases the charge depending) of the L5 battery. If you don’t plug in the lapdock to its own charger, ultimately its battery will drain and it will shut off, but if you docked with a fully-charged L5, it will still be fully charged when the lapdock battery runs out.
Okay, so if I did get it right the current sitution is:
An external power supply charges the lapdock’s battery --> the lapdock’s battery charges the phone’s battery --> the phone’s battery is discharged because of useage
isn’t it a bad situation for both batteries? Wouldn’t it be better to have the ability to supply both, the phone and the lapdock, simultanious by the external power supply without charging? Or charging the phone to a threshold lower than 100%?
I am not an electrical engineer, so I don’t know much about the ability of hard- and software
Just some thoughts for the future =)
You could do this and connect to the Nexdock with an hdmi cable instead but then you’re dealing with more and more cables and devices to rig up to keep it going. If the Nexdock had a higher output than 500 mA it wouldn’t be as big a deal, mind you then the dock’s batter would get sucked down faster as well. I just manage my usage on the phone to keep it in a situation where the Librem 5 get’s to 100% charge and then it’s just maintaining at that level so it should allow more juice to go into the Nexdock’s battery.
You can disable power delivery over USB-C from the Nexdock to the Librem 5 if you want (it’s a menu option you can access on its touchscreen), but whether the Librem 5 is docked or just plugged into a wall charger the charging/discharging scenario would be the same. From the electrical engineer side I don’t exactly know the power flows in a circumstance when the Librem 5 is on (requiring power) but also charged and plugged into a power source.
I personally would just rather sacrifice the Nexdock’s current battery life in favor of my Librem 5 being fully charged when I unplug it, regardless.
I have two questions about the NexDock:
Is it possible to connect it to a wired network (RJ45/Ethernet)?
Is the battery replaceable and if so can it be done by the customer?
Yes if you attach a USB-C Ethernet adapter to the open USB-C input port on the front right.
I’m not sure. They don’t market it as such and don’t sell replacement batteries on their site. There are screws on the bottom of the case so it seems to be removable, but I haven’t tried to take mine apart.
isn’t it a bad situation for both batteries? Wouldn’t it be better to have the ability to supply both, the phone and the lapdock, simultanious by the external power supply without charging? Or charging the phone to a threshold lower than 100%?