One of the key selling points for HP’s new Elite x3 smartphone is that you can also use it like a desktop or laptop computer. Pay $799 for the phone and you also get a desk dock that lets you connect an external display, mouse, and keyboard.
Or buy an HP Lap Dock and you can use the phone on the go as if it were a laptop. That option doesn’t come cheap though. Priced at $599, the Lap Dock costs almost as much as the phone itself.
But if you’re still interested, the HP Elite x3 Lap Dock is now available for HP Elite x3 Lap Dock launches for $599 (or you could just buy a laptop) It should ship in mid-November.
While the Lap Dock looks like a compact laptop PC, it basically the shell of a computer. It relies on your phone’s processor, storage, and operating system for everything. Without a phone connected, the Lap Dock doesn’t do very much.
The device has a 12.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, a backlit, spill-resistant keyboard, a touchpad, and a 46 Whr battery.
There’s a USB Type-C port for charging and two more USB Type-C ports for data, along with a micro HDMI port and 3.5mm headset jack.
HP’s laptop dock also has built-in Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers and noise cancelling microphones.
The device measures 11.4″ x 7.9″ x 0.5″ and weighs about 2.3 pounds.
I got a chance to spend a few minutes with an HP Elite x3 smartphone and Lap Dock a few weeks ago, and I was impressed by the build quality of the notebook dock. But I’m a bit underwhelmed by the price tag.
Since the Lap Dock is designed as an accessory for the phone, you’re pretty much limited to running Windows 10 Mobile apps unless you take advantage of HP’s WorkSpace enterprise feature, which allows you to connect to a remote server to run desktop software over the internet.
In other words, while some laptop docks like the NexDock and Superbook are basically entry-level solutions aimed at consumers, the HP Lap Dock is very much a high-quality/high-cost solution for business users. For those customers, the $599 price tag might not seem so daunting. For everyone else? You’d probably be better off just buying a cheap Windows laptop.