Mobile Pixels has been making portable displays including models designed to give your laptop a second (or third) screen for a few years. Now the company is taking aim at the desktop display market.
The new Geminos dual-screen display is a set of two 24 inch screens stacked one atop the other, with a hinge in the middle that allows you to adjust the position of the screens both vertically and horizontally (the bottom screen slides forward). Geminos is up for pre-order through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and the company hopes to begin shipping units to backers in October, 2022.
Super Early Bird pricing starts at just $499, but after those rewards sell out backers will have to spend $699 to reserve a Geminos system. That’s still $300 off the eventual retail price of $999 though.
What you get for that money is an adjustable dual-screen display that features two stacked displays designed so that the bottom screen pushes forward toward you as you slide the top monitor downward along the display stand arm. Or you can push the top screen upward, the bottom display slides back so that the two displays sit flush with one another.
Each of the two screens is a 24 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display with a 60 Hz refresh rate and support for up to 250 nits brightness. The whole thing measures 20″ x 22″ and weighs 20 pounds, so while you can also fold the Geminos flat for storage or transportation, it’s probably a bit too bulky to consider mobile.
In addition to the displays, Geminos includes an angle-adjustable 1080p webcam integrated with the top display, stereo speakers, and a USB hub in the base with HDMI, Ethernet, and USB ports, SD and microSD card readers, a 3.5mm audio, jack, and support for 100W USB-C passthrough power, meaning you can plug in your laptop to expand your selection of ports while charging the computer at the same time.
Not one, but two crappy FHD displays with low brightness and refresh rate.
Seriously, it’s not because it doesn’t exist on the market that it automatically makes it a good idea.
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The previous poster is correct about cost… Considering what they should be able to get from mainland china manufacturers at cost for parts (2 LCDs, 100w plus GAN USBC pd charging hub, stand, webcam, speakers), I’m on the fence based on both the buy-in prices AND their proposed retail prices. I can build something very close to that from Walmart higher end components (even if they are not on sale) for closer to their $500 buy-in which is almost sold out. Their next level at $700? I can’t justify it. Their proposed retail price of $1,000? There’s no way I can justify that with those low monitor specs. I’m on the fence at $499 thinking that should be closer to their retail cost than $1k. When you look at all that, it is hard to justify the cost, no matter how cool it looks. I’d like to hear how they justify their price levels all around for this kickstarter campaign. Btw, I’ve backed over 15 kickstarters up to and one over $500, with 10 or so if then being successful, so I’m not against kickstart! Just this one’s backer and proposed retail prices making me really wonder about the viability of this one…
Their kickstarter is manipulating us. A few days ago the $499 package had 3 left of 1099. It has gone up a few times so now it is 7 left of 1236. No one is buying the next pledge level at $699, so they are doing minor increments to make you think they are almost out of this level. Then hours later when it is almost none left again they extend it a small amount to pull in people having trouble deciding but who give in because this “deal” is almost always about to be gone. That’s pretty deceptive. I was interested and kept going back every day almost ready to buy in until I noticed this trick tactic.
I really like the concept of this layout, but I have to ask the obvious question: why don’t I just buy two monitors, and arrange them in this orientation using a dual-monitor arm mount? 2x 75hz 24″ IPS monitors and a mount would cost about $200 less than this thing. It would be far more flexible.
If it was portable, I could totally see the appeal, but the stand looks too hefty for that to be possible. This is just 2 monitors that are stuck in that orientation on your desk.
Make it 17″, foldable into a portable package, and give it mounting hardware for a Mini PC on the back, and I’d be interested.
My current setup is 2 monitors side by side on 2 arms, and I attached them to each other with a piano hinge. They move on their arms as a single unit, always stay level with each other and can angle inwards, towards me. That hinge is my favorite part of the office. Sorry, off topic, but this product brought it to mind.
There’s a potentially important detail at 1:08 in the kickstarter video: the whole thing actually folds flat, like a laptop. Bolting a mini PC on the back (it kind of looks like it has a hole pattern for that) would make for a strangely portable setup.
Even so I feel like they’d sell more of these if the bottom screen was a touchscreen with stylus support, but maybe they’d have to go for a higher pixel density to satisfy the people who’d use that.
Yeah, I had actually written a line about the fact that you could fold it flat like a laptop, but removed it after realizing the Geminos weighs 20 pounds. It’s clearly meant to be stationed semi-permanently on your desk, not moved about like a portable display.
But you’re right, it is interesting that it can be folded flat, so I’ve updated the article to reflect that. Thanks!