NexDock just arrived

just got a NexDock and plugged my phone in, its a pleasure to use for my poor old tired eyes.
its an absolute game changer for me.
pity it doesn’t work on any of my other smart phones.

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It does all.depend on what kind of phones you have. Latest Samsung and Motorola phones should work. Also some of the Ubuntu Touch phones should work as well. Nexdock is another great company though with fantastic products. I’ve got the first generation Nexdock.

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With luck that will change over time (years) as you upgrade.

Here’s what NexDock mentions for compatible phones: https://nexdock.com/compatible-smartphones/

Disclaimer: I don’t have a NexDock.

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My NexDock360 worked with my beta PP (with some glitches on the PP software side). It did not work on my older moto Z nor moto Z4 phones as they did not support DisplayPort alt-mode which the L5 does support (based on my reading L5 specs, I have not received my L5 yet, but have received the address verification email:)

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I tried it with the L5, Pinephone Pro, Samsung and Motorola phones all of them worked.

I just can’t understand why they decided to use micro HDMI instead of a full size HDMI. The user does not win anything when he or she has to carry around micro HDMI to HDMI adapter or an additional cable.
I would understand micro HDMI on Librem 5 due to space restrictions.
But already on Raspberry Pi I hate the use of micro HDMI which just leads to unnecessary accessories (adapters and cables) that one would otherwise not need to carry around.

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Fair question and point but noone with a Librem 5 is going to be using HDMI anyway so cable / adapter is not relevant?

I think the Pi changed to micro HDMI (with the Pi 4) when they introduced dual video outputs. It really would have been squeezy to fit two full-sized HDMI connectors on the Pi 4 board. I’m using all my Pi devices in fixed locations so I don’t need to carry around the right cable but I do have to procure that specific cable.

I guess the idea is to be able to attach a second display to the NexDock.

Yes. I think they should have made it asymmetric with one full size and a secondary micro HDMI. This way 90% of the users would not need to buy adapters because I guess few people use the Pi with 2 displays.

I just hate bad industrial design decisions.
The Pi 4 has several really user unfriendly design flows:

  1. The micro HDMI which forces adapters
  2. The power supply brick that (at least in Europe) has very uncomfortable size and shape, does not fit even in some large travel cases, often wastes neighboring electric sockets and the Pi’s has low tolerance for other power supplies.
  3. The 4 USB-A that are so close to each other that they are seldom usable at the same time.

I am advocate for adding a second USB-C or a micro HDMI to the future versions of Librem 5 so that some users would be able to skip the need for a docking station.
One USB-C for charging and the USB-C/micro HDMI for the external Display.
The fewer accessories, the better. And especially as we see the choice of a docking station is not easy at all. Many either don’t deliver video or don’t provide more than 0,5 A.

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