I ditched my laptop for XR headsets, tablets, and phones - and learned an important lesson

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

If you don't privation to transportation a laptop around, determination are different options.
They scope successful size from an AR headset to your phone.
Here are immoderate ways you tin bash that, and what works champion for each situation.

I'm a mobile writer, and by that I mean I constitute astir mobile tech and I constitute portion I'm mobile. Because of that, I often extremity up without a laptop oregon successful a spot wherever I can't usage one, similar the backmost spot of a car oregon connected a plane. Sometimes, I'm conscionable sick of utilizing a laptop, truthful I privation to effort thing new. When that happens, I accommodate and usage thing else. I've recovered assorted devices that enactment good successful these situations.

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So, implicit the past fewer weeks, I've been going backmost to immoderate aged devices I've utilized successful these situations and trying retired caller ones. I thought you mightiness similar to cognize immoderate alternate ways to make content, adjacent if you're not connected a laptop.

A keyboard-less penning alternative

One specified instrumentality I recovered is called SpeakOn. It's an AI dependable transcription instrumentality astir the size of an Oreo cookie. It attaches to the backmost of your iPhone oregon Android telephone utilizing MagSafe (a magnetic ringing is included successful the packaging) and pairs via Bluetooth. There's a fastener connected the backmost to powerfulness it connected and off, and a fastener connected the beforehand to activate push-to-talk for transcription.

I was skeptical astir utilizing this instrumentality due to the fact that my encephalon doesn't usually enactment by flowing straight to the page. Normally, I request to see what I privation to accidental and past fig retired the champion mode to accidental it. From there, I tin spell up and benignant it out; this was decidedly a caller acquisition for me.

I tried utilizing this instrumentality to constitute this article, and up until now, everything has been dictated into the SpeakOn instrumentality -- and heavy edited afterward. However, I've confirmed what I've agelong suspected -- my encephalon isn't acceptable up to make this way. I besides realized that it tin beryllium beauteous frustrating erstwhile you're lying backmost connected your bed, talking into a device, and you realize, "Oh, it didn't get each of that." That happened connected a mates of occasions.

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I'm besides not a instrumentality of however this instrumentality adjusts your voice, making it dependable either much nonrecreational oregon much casual. I should notation that erstwhile I wrote "happened connected a mates of occasions," the SpeakOn translated that arsenic "happened a mates of times." I'm not a instrumentality of that.

So from present on, I'm going to constitute this nonfiction the old-fashioned mode -- fingers and keyboard, similar quality intended. Of course, which keyboard and which show is wherever things get truly weird. Let's dive in.

Samsung Galaxy XR

I'm going to commencement with arguably the coolest and astir impractical enactment -- the Samsung Galaxy XR headset, launched past October. This is beauteous overmuch Samsung's reply to the Apple Vision Pro, but for fractional the price. It's a self-contained computing instrumentality that straps to your face.

Samsung and immoderate app developers person built immoderate absorbing experiences with the Galaxy XR, including the MLB app, Google Maps, and Gemini, which tin spatialize contented and crook it into 3D contented connected the alert utilizing AI. It's beauteous cool, but if you're conscionable trying to write, browse the internet, oregon ticker content, it's a small much.

The headset itself is not small, and the virtual keyboard is, to enactment it politely, challenging to use. I brace it with a ProtoArc XK01 TP Keyboard, which works precise well. That keyboard volition beryllium a recurring taxable successful this merchandise parade.

Overall, the Galaxy XR successful its existent signifier is not a large substitute for your contented creation. Once Project Aura from XReal comes around, which volition connection fundamentally the aforesaid acquisition but successful a glasses signifier factor, this volition beryllium an wholly antithetic conversation, and I can't wait. Speaking of XReal...

XReal 1S Glasses

The XReal 1S glasses are a measurement down from Samsung's headset successful the XR space. These glasses fundamentally marque a show interval successful the aerial successful beforehand of you. You tin usage it arsenic a secondary monitor, though I similar to conscionable usage it arsenic my main monitor. I'm a bigger guy, truthful moving connected an airplane is hard and cramped. But, with the ProtoArc Keyboard and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra successful DeX mode, I tin fundamentally get a windowed interface successful immoderate abstraction I need.

The glasses person to beryllium connected to the telephone for this to work, and it's important to retrieve that the glasses volition drain the artillery of immoderate instrumentality you link them to. I tin usually get a coagulated 4-5 hours' worthy of enactment retired of the glasses and the S26 Ultra earlier things commencement getting hairy.

DeX mode is what truly makes this work, giving you a windowed interface. The XReal glasses person 2 modes -- travel mode and locked mode; I similar the latter. With travel mode, the full surface moves arsenic you crook your head, but successful locked mode, the surface stays fixed successful the aerial successful beforehand of you.

You tin crook your caput to absorption connected antithetic parts of the surface arsenic needed. Humorously, erstwhile the airplane turns, the surface starts to drift with it, but a speedy recentering fixes this.

Xiaomi Pad 7 and Pro Magnetic keyboard

One of the astir fashionable laptop alternatives you'll find is the aged tablet-and-keyboard combo, but not each tablets and keyboards are created equal. Arguably, the astir effectual solution to this benignant of contented instauration is the iPad and the Magic Keyboard -- which I bash not have. A adjacent 2nd is the Xiaomi Pad 7 and its companion keyboard.

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I'm an Android babe astatine bosom — iOS is large and all, but I similar having options -- truthful utilizing a tablet and keyboard similar the Xiaomi is next-level. The tablet has a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 8GB RAM, so it's much than up to the task of my benignant of contented creation. I could (and adjacent have) edit a video connected it if I needed to, but since Android apps are not perfect for that, I inactive similar to bash that connected a laptop.

But for a portable 'laptop' you tin transportation astir and flip into a bag, this is an fantabulous device. If you're successful the US, the Xiaomi tin beryllium pugnacious to find. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is a adjacent competitor, but I similar the surface to "float" supra the keyboard. The S10 Ultra has a keyboard that conscionable flaps down astatine the bottommost of the tablet.

Foldable and keyboard

The champion camera is the 1 you person with you, and the aforesaid goes for the champion contented instauration device. These days, I transportation the Oppo Find N6, a deliciously large foldable with a ample surface connected the inside. In a pinch, I can, and have, propped it up against thing and whipped retired the ProtoArc Keyboard to enactment connected an article. I would perfectly adore the telephone if it had a MagSafe ring. I attached a third-party one, but it tends to popular disconnected erstwhile you region the phone.

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But a foldable telephone gives you plentifulness of abstraction for work. The Find N6 has the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 processor and 16GB of RAM, truthful it's conscionable arsenic susceptible arsenic the Xiaomi tablet, and it besides has built-in net connectivity, which is an invaluable bonus.

Of course, immoderate foldable volition springiness you a akin experience. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold person likewise sized screens, but the Find N6's artillery beingness is perfectly 2nd to none.

Normal telephone and virtual keyboard

If you find yourself with immoderate downtime, but without a larger device, your telephone is an fantabulous contented instauration machine. I thin to bash astir of my creator things connected my iPhone 17 Pro Max, but immoderate telephone volition do. Arguments tin beryllium made that a telephone is excessively constrictive and a virtual keyboard doesn't enactment arsenic good -- some precise coagulated arguments. However, with immoderate practice, it's precise doable.

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We benignant connected our phones each day, truthful penning 1,000 words connected a telephone isn't each that different; it conscionable takes much time. Over the past respective weeks, I person typed respective articles of 700 words oregon much connected my telephone portion riding successful a car oregon waiting for my daughter's shot crippled to start.

Here's 1 powerfulness determination you whitethorn beryllium acquainted with: long-pressing the abstraction barroom connected astir virtual keyboards (iOS included) lets you determination the cursor if you request to reposition it. That has saved maine truthful overmuch clip and spared maine the symptom of pulling my hairsbreadth out.

In conclusion, it conscionable feels good

So that's a look astatine however I've been creating content. I don't ever privation to transportation astir a laptop, and successful fact, these past fewer weeks person inspired maine to transportation 1 astir adjacent less. That's a beauteous almighty feeling if I'm being wholly honest.

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Being capable to beryllium down, oregon adjacent basal arsenic the lawsuit whitethorn be, and get immoderate enactment done connected your telephone is simply a large feeling. It helps maine span work/life equilibrium by being incredibly flexible erstwhile I request to beryllium contiguous somewhere, without having to flip a laptop into my container truthful I tin get what needs doing done. Next clip you person the opportunity, I promote you to effort it.

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