Taihe’s Kickstarter campaign for its Gemini portable monitor has ended, and the company plans to ship displays to backers in May. But if you didn’t place a pre-order during the first crowdfunding campaign, now you have another chance — Taihe has launched an Indiegogo InDemand page for the Gemini portable monitor.
1/31/2020 Update: Taihe has had difficulty fulfilling orders placed through its crowdfunding campaigns, with many Kickstarter and Indiegogo backers reporting they have not yet received their devices.Â
Indiegogo’s InDemand platform effectively acts as a post-crowdfunding option for companies that want to continue raising money after their initial campaign ends.
While I’m not usually a fan of double-dipping on crowdfunding platforms in this way, this is a little different. Basically Taihe is using Indiegogo as more of a pre-order storefront. And the good news for shoppers is that it means you can still score one of the company’s portable displays for a discounted, pre-order price.
Gemini 1080p touchscreen monitors are currently selling for $239 (marked down from the suggested retail price of $299), while there’s a (very) limited number of 4K/UHD monitors going for $319 (marked down from $499).
As I noted in my Taihe Gemini FHD preview, the display really does deliver on its promise in most ways. The display has a bunch of inputs that make it easy to connect a laptop, tablet, phone, or other compatible gadgets. It has a built-in battery that lets you use it on the go without the screen drawing power from your laptop battery. And if you have the right cables, you use as a touchscreen.
The monitor I tested was a little heavier than promised, and it’s not really optimized for use in portrait orientation (you can stand it sideways, but the angle isn’t adjustable and you have to manually rotate the display.
But with relatively slim bezels and weighing about 2.6 pounds, the Gemini is still pretty portable, making this a device you can take places you would never take a normal monitor.
It would be much easier to recommend the Gemini if you could still pick it up for $159. That’s what early bird backers of the Kickstarter campaign paid for a FHD model. I’m less sure I’d be willing to pay the $299 asking price, although your needs may obviously be different from mine. Still, it’s nice to have another option to pick one up at a discounted price.
On a sidenote most of the problems with the FHD model seems to have been addressed. It now has full sized HDMI input and full sized USB-A with USB-C charging by default.