Home windows Cellphone is by some means making a comeback in 2026

Nex Computing, the corporate behind the NexDock collection of laptop-shaped telephone docking stations, has simply unveiled a brand-new {hardware} product it calls the NexPhone. As its identify implies, the NexPhone is a smartphone-shaped cell gadget, but it surely comes with a significant twist: it is powered by a nifty NexOS multi-boot answer that runs Windows 11, Android 16, and Linux Debian all on the identical time, and all natively.

Pitched as being a “smartphone that works as a PC,” the NexPhone supplies a Samsung DeX or Home windows Continuum-esque docked mode expertise when plugged into an exterior monitor, full with a correct desktop PC computing atmosphere besides. When paired with a keyboard and a mouse, the NexPhone supplies full entry to Linux Debian, alongside the flexibility to run Android apps on this mode.

Moreover, the NexPhone is compliant with Home windows 11 PC {hardware} necessities — it provides an optionally available multi-boot configuration for Home windows 11 on ARM, which is facilitated by its PC-compatible Qualcomm QCM6490 processor.

“QCM6490 is a distinct class of processor, constructed for a brand new stage of effectivity. NexPhone is designed to run three working methods natively on the identical {hardware}, with out compromising the core expertise,” says Nex.

Other than the processor, which provides platform help from Qualcomm up by means of 2036, different key NexPhone specs embody a 6.58-inch 1080 x 2403 decision 120Hz LCD show, a 5,000 mAh battery, 18W quick charging, wi-fi charging, a microSD card slot, a fingerprint sensor, twin 5G SIM networking, a 10-megapixel selfie digicam, a 64-megapixel wide-angle rear sensor, and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide rear shooter.

Based on the corporate, the NexPhone will launch in Q3 of this 12 months at an asking worth of $550. The product is up now for reservation immediately from the corporate’s official storefront for a refundable deposit of $200. There seems to be a single, darkish grey colorway at present on provide, with a single 12GB of RAM and 256GB of inner storage {hardware} configuration obtainable.

The return of Home windows Cellphone

With a splash of Android and Linux for good measure

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Nex

Past its dockable nature, the NexPhone has one other distinctive trick up its sleeve, and it is one I am significantly intrigued by. When set as much as run Home windows 11, the gadget provides up a devoted, touch-friendly person interface known as the Home windows Cell UI to be used whereas on the go. Sure, you learn that accurately: Nex has primarily resurrected Home windows Cellphone, offering us with a peak of what Home windows 11 Cell may’ve been had Microsoft not canned Home windows for cell again in 2017.

When working Home windows 11 on the NexPhone’s display with its Home windows Cell UI, it very a lot resembles the Home windows Cellphone interface of yore. It appears rather a lot like Square Home or Launcher 7 for Android, however with full-blown Home windows under-the-hood as an alternative. Tiles dominate the primary residence display, an alphabetized all apps checklist is a swipe away always, there’s an optimized multitasking display, and there is each standing and navigation bars on the high and the underside of the display, respectively.

After all, Home windows 11 does not natively help mobile-friendly purposes, and so Nex recommends putting in your favourite web sites and providers as progressive web apps (PWAs) immediately from a browser. After all, with an unlocked bootloader and native Android 16 additionally on the helm, cell apps ought to nonetheless be available when switching off of the Home windows Cell UI expertise.

All of this has me pondering: if an organization like Nex can craft a purpose-built cell person interface for Home windows 11, why does not Microsoft itself get in on the motion? ARM chips are way more highly effective than they’ve ever been, the PRISM translation layer makes compatibility much less of a problem than up to now, and the Xbox Full Screen Experience (XFSE) proves that Home windows can function in non-traditional computing environments. If Microsoft had been to create a devoted telephone shell for Home windows 11 that nixes superfluous startup providers, it may as soon as once more try and court docket cell app builders and maybe even reinvigorate curiosity in Home windows on cell.

Telephones are getting enjoyable once more

Pocket computer systems do not must be drab slabs

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Clicks / Boox

For the longest time, smartphones have been marching in the direction of complete conformity. Most handsets look roughly the identical on the skin, and each iOS and Android have been converging when it comes to their characteristic units, navigational paradigms, and fluidity. Even foldable telephones, which had been as soon as new and thrilling, have settled right into a predictable rhythm with out a lot in the best way of pleasure.

This has all begun to vary over the previous 12 months or so: whereas it is true that Microsoft’s innovative dual-screen Duo line has kicked the can, different distinctive units within the sector are thriving, just like the Boox Palma 2 with its E Ink show, the Clicks Communicator with its BlackBerry-style bodily keyboard, the Gentle Cellphone III with its emphasis on digital minimalism, and even Nothing with its Matrix-clad Phone 3.

The NexPhone is not fairly as bodily daring as, say, the Clicks Communicator from a type issue standpoint, but it surely’s nonetheless refreshingly distinct in a world dominated by glass-and-metal-sandwich telephone flagships. The polycarbonate construct of the NexPhone is rated not just for IP68 and IP69K water and dust resistance, but additionally for MIL-STD-810H MIL-SPEC drop resistance. The gadget appears each minimalistic and utilitarian, even when its sizable bezels and teardrop notch convey mid-range standing.

For $550, the NexPhone is a novel proposition that may effectively punch above its weight class. If the corporate is ready to efficiently meld collectively the disparate worlds of Home windows, Android, and Linux right into a single, cohesive entity, then I can see different cell gadget firms taking discover and responding accordingly. Even when the idea fails to take off, I am simply glad to see newfound momentum in providing enjoyable cell gadget experiences as soon as extra.