Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
TL;DR For smartphone users looking for a desktop replacement, the NexPhone wants to offer a choice of three popular operating systems.
In addition to desktop support for Android, Linux Debian, and Windows 11, there’s full mobile compatibility, including a custom Windows UI.
Shipments are expected to get started in Q3 2026, with the hardware going for a reasonably affordable $549.
Ever since smartphones started getting really powerful, some of us have been wondering why we need so many other computers in our lives. Instead of a smartphone, plus a laptop, and maybe even a desktop computer at home, couldn’t we have this one convenient, portable handset just act as our primary computing device, and connect it to larger screens, keyboards, and mice as we liked? Companies have been trying to offer just that sort of experience for well over a decade now — to varying degrees of success — and now we’re checking out the latest attempt from Nex Computer: the NexPhone.
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Software support for some of the biggest platforms around Players like Samsung, Motorola, and Microsoft have all offered their own software solutions for connecting phones to PC peripherals in order to offer a desktop experience, with DeX, Ready For, and Link to Windows, respectively. And now with Android’s own Desktop Mode, this sort of experience is more accessible than ever. While Desktop Mode is one part of what the NexPhone plans to offer, it is far from the whole package.
The big idea with the NexPhone is its platform flexibility: In addition to Android 16, the phone offers users access to Debian Linux, as well as Windows 11. You’ll probably run Android most of the time while on the go, but can launch Debian as an app for quickly pivoting to a new OS. And if you need to, you can reboot the phone into Windows 11 — Nex has designed a custom tile-based UI that should feel right at home to old Windows 10 Mobile users.
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
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