There are plenty of portable displays designed to plug into a laptop to give you a dual-screen experience on the go. But Mobile Pixels is one of the only companies offering triple-screen solutions designed to attach to a laptop and give you extra displays on the left and right sides.
Four years after launching a crowdfunding campaign for its Trio and Trio Pro display kits, Mobile Pixels is back with a new Kickstarter campaign for upgrades Trio and Trio Max displays. Backers can save up to 40% off the retail price and the Trio and Trio Max should begin shipping in May.
The new Mobile Pixels Trio is a pair of 13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD displays that connect to the back of a laptop and slide out from the sides when you need them. Mobile Pixels says the 13.3 inch Trio works well with laptops featuring 13 to 14.5 inch primary displays.
Have a bigger laptop? Then you might want to pay a little extra for the new Trio Max, which includes two 14.1 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS displays.
Here are some key specs for each of the new models:
| Trio | Trio Max | |
| Screen size | 13.3 inches | 14.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels | |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | |
| Input | 2 x USB-C | |
| Size | 13.3″ x 9.1″ x 0.9″ | 14.1″ x 9.5″ x 1″ |
| Weight | 3.44 pounds | 3.9 pounds |
| Best for | 13″ – 14.5″ laptops | 15 – 17.3″ laptops |
There’s a built-in kickstand to help the laptop stay steady with the Trio attached (because otherwise it’s likely to get a bit top heavy). You can also place a set of optional magnets on the lid of your laptop if you’d like to try using the kit without the kickstand though.
Mobile Pixels says the new Trio and Trio Max are more compact than their predecessors, featuring a design that’s 20 percent thinner and a pound lighter than the previous-generation. The new models also have an upgraded sliding mechanism that allows the screens to slide further in and out of the case, so they take up less space than the original model.
While the displays are designed for use with laptops, they’re also compatible with mobile devices thanks to support for video input over USB-C. Instead of attaching the displays to the lid of a laptop, you can just stand them up on a flat surface for use as two side-by-side displays or lie the base flat on a table and fold one screen upward for use in portrait orientation.
Retail prices are expected to be $599 for the 13.3 inch Trio and $649 for the Trio Max, but crowdfunding prices start at $359 and $399, respectively if you get in on the “Launch Day” special pricing. After that ends, crowdfunding prices rise to $419 and $459.
The price includes the Trio or Trio Max itself plus four magnets and two USB-C cables, one for connecting each display.
Call me pessimistic, but I don’t see the magnet-mount idea being very stable. Maybe I’m not understanding it correctly, but it sounds like it would be hanging onto the lid of the laptop? I’m not confident that my laptop lid would hold that.
I wonder how stable these panels are. I’m imagining them wobbling around with the slightest bump of the table.
Also, it seems kinda silly to require separate USB-C connectors for each panel. Many laptops don’t have 2x USB-C connectors. My laptop does, but I need one of them for charging. Seems like lazy design. One USB-C cable could easily handle both panels if they gave this product an internal controller to handle it. Would probably be like $3 of components.