The upcoming GPD Pocket 3 is will be a tiny laptop computer with a small screen, a touch-typeable keyboard, and a brand new design.

Concept drawings released by GPD show a compact computer that has a few features the original GPD Pocket and the Pocket 2 lacked, including a touchpad and webcam. There’s also a modular section that will let users customize one of the ports on the back of the little computer.

GPD hasn’t announced pricing or availability details yet, and the fact that the company is only showing off line drawings rather than real-world or rendered images suggest it could be a while before the Pocket 3 is available for purchase.

But from the concept images, we can see that GPD’s current design would include a full-sided HDMI port, one USB-C port, two USB-A ports, a headset jack, and an Ethernet port plus that customizable, modular section that will support at least a few different modules.

The only one shown is a third USB-A port, but given the design of the Pocket 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if GPD, for example, decided to offer a serial port option for customers who need one. That would effectively make the Pocket 3 both a follow-up to the 2018 GPD Pocket 2 mini-laptop and the 2019 GPD MicroPC, which is a handheld designed for IT professionals.

That said, part of the appeal of the MicroPC was also its price. With an Intel Celeron Gemini Lake processor, it was less powerful and substantially more affordable than the GPD Pocket 2, which had an Intel Core m3 chip.

GPD hasn’t announced what processor or processors it will use for the Pocket 3, so I’m not even going to speculate about pricing.

We should find out more about the next member of the GPD Pocket family closer to launch… whenever that is.

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21 replies on “GPD Pocket 3 will be a tiny laptop with a modular design”

  1. Really wish Fujitsu got back into the UMPC space. Would really love to buy a modern pocketable Windows PC, but from a mainstream manufacturer with a solid reputation.

    It’s a shame that Toshiba/Dynabook and Sony/VAIO aren’t around anymore (at least in the same capacity). Would be nice if Panasonic, Fujitsu or even Lenovo would join this niche with a device or two.

  2. I’ll add myself to the disappointed customers who will not buy from GPD ever again. The battery on my pocket 1 failed after 1 year. They use very low quality cells for their batteries so they are bound to fail, and an ultraportable device with no battery is not of much use….

    1. I have a i7 tablet that is now garbage because I cant replace the poor quality battery it came with.

      Thx..
      I will not likely buy this product.

  3. You know what GPD should make modular? The battery. I mean make them truely replaceable like older notebooks without needing to take the device apart and mess with wires.

    I say this because the batteries dying on GPD devices has been an issue for years. Since they never plan on resolving the underlying problem, why not make them “modular” instead of this gimmicky port thing?

  4. I’m confused. I have this device:

    GPD P2 Max Mini Laptop Ultrabook Computer Slim PC Netbook 16GB + 512GB 8.9 Inch IPS Touch Screen Intel Core m3-8100Y Windows 10

    It has a touchpad and webcam. What am I missing?

    Device came with faulty battery. They sent me a new one pretty fast though which I replaced on my kitchen table with a steak knife to poke in those little tiny screws since I didn’t have a teeny-tiny screwdriver small enough.

    The new battery worked great and I still use the machine at least twice a week for video conferencing.

    1. GPD has 2 Pocket variants (regular size and “Max” size):
      1. Pocket 1, Pocket 2 and this new Pocket 3.
      – A bit smaller than the “Max” variant.

      Pocket 2 Max (or P2 Max since it’s definitely not pocketable even though the smaller Pocket line isn’t really either).

      – Same CPU as the Pocket 2 but a bit larger.

      Sounds like the P2 Max suffers from dying batteries like the rest of GPD’s devices. As expected of GPD.

  5. Adding to the list of “wow I totally want this oh wait nevermind never GPD ever again” comments, I have had 3 battery failures out of 2 GPD devices (i.e. once replacement which then failed shortly after too) and will never buy from them again, even though this looks like something I would back in a heartbeat from a more reliable vendor! 🙂

    1. They really need to start designing these with swappable batteries.
      The batteries are what fail the most.

  6. part of the appeal of the MicroPC was also its price.

    Yeah, that’s why I took the risk of getting the MicroPC (the hinge and battery eventually broke/died within a year).

    GPD’s bad device reliability and customer support is what I’d expect from a $150 CAD device. But for the form factor, I’ll throw them an additional $250 CAD. Risking more than that would be too much for me.

    1. And your sacrificing what? Because that’s not going to happen unless you give up some things. Here are some options:
      1. Really big battery + normal components, sacrifice: it’s really heavy.
      2. Normal battery with really weak processing, sacrifice: you’ll need custom software that runs well on the low-power parts.
      3. Low-power everything for balance, sacrifice: you still need software that doesn’t use much resource, but you now also need to deal with things like the low-power screen, likely e-paper which means longer refresh times, poorer color, and more expensive.
      4. Normal laptop and something external for power. Probably easiest. If you need endurance for a week, you may do better with an external power option.

  7. This is absolutely the kind of device I want and would buy. Just not from GPD.

    They have more than a dozen devices under their belt, and they still have horrible QC problems with every model. They rush early untested products out to their crowdfunding backers, and then laugh at them when they ask for warranty coverage.

    I also don’t agree with their insistence on using crowdfunding platforms to sell their products. Their crowdfunding goals are extremely low, so its obvious that they aren’t doing it to ensure interest. They’re using crowdfunding to avoid refunds and fraud claims through credit card providers.

    The company is shady all around. I won’t buy anything from them.

    1. Since I’m a MicroPC user and it was mentioned in the article, I wonder if GPD plans on making a thumb use oriented MicroPC 2 at the same ~$300 USD price target.

      It seems GPD’s reputation has gone downhill given they haven’t improved their QC, reliability and post-sales support at all even after so many years and devices. I’m willing to risk the very real possibility of a bad GPD experience for $300 USD. Definitely not at the ~$1000+ USD their current Win line is going for though.

      1. Sorry, this wasn’t meant to be a reply to anyone. Clicked on the wrong place.

      2. I wouldn’t bet on it. Even the Micro was at $300 for preorders but rose to $350-500 afterward. I got one on sale and it’s rather nice, but I don’t know whether they’re very interested in the low cost devices when they’re evidently able to sell the more expensive ones to somebody.

    2. I rediscovered my GPD Win 1 recently and agree that the quality control is really lacking. Mine has power problems like crashing when you plug in a HDMI cable, or crashing while streaming games on battery. That massively reduces the usability of the device and makes me unwilling to spend twice as much with them for a more recent model.

      1. The GPD Win 1 was the sweet spot for value and risk.

        Today I would risk $330 on a device with those level of specs. They bit off more than they could chew when they went into gaming laptop territory.

  8. Too bad the quality/reliability of GPD’s devices and their customer support aren’t worth the price they’re charging.

  9. This would be a deal breaker if they don’t include more thunderbolt ports…

    Gpd pocket 1 was ok, gpd pocket 2 was good. Webcam yes! Trackpad more than welcome. Lack of thunderbolt ports? Nah…

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