Skip to main content

This portable touchscreen perches on your laptop’s display

A unique, portable monitor made by Nex perches on your MacBook or USB-C laptop screen to provide a second display for more workspace, to keep an eye on important news and social media feeds, or to watch a video while tweeting or clearing your inbox.

Called, the NexPad, it’s a thin, light, external monitor that’s can be positioned so it sits above your laptop’s built-in display. Priced at $249, the 12-inch, 1080p touchscreen looks like an interesting way to expand your desktop vertically.

Related Videos
The NexPad perches on your laptop's screen.

Beyond just adding another screen, the height provides a better ergonomic angle for using your laptop on a desk or table. Ideally, a monitor should be placed at eye level. Portable external monitors that stand even with a laptop’s screen don’t provide the same benefit.

You might be wondering how your laptop hinge will be able to support the added 1.6-pound weight. Nex designed a clever magnetic kickstand that supports your laptop’s angle while raising the NexPad display closer to eye level. In theory, this sounds like a good solution but we haven’t had hands-on experience with it yet.

The NexPad comes with a magnetic kickstand to help support the screen.

The NexPad is powered by your laptop’s USB-C plug so it will affect battery life. The monitor includes one mini-HDMI 2.0 port, two USB-C ports that use the USB 3.1 standard, and one USB-C port that uses the older 2.0 standard. The magnetic mount and kickstand are bundled at the $250 price, providing extra value.

The NexPad is also compatible with some smartphones that allow a desktop mode. Samsung is the most notable with its Dex software. For the full list, see Nex’s website.

Editors' Recommendations

iFixit teardown shows Studio Display is full of surprises
iFixit's Apple Studio Dislpay teardown, showing the Mac Studio next to a 24-inch iMac, both with their fronts removed.

Last week, repair experts iFixit put Apple’s Mac Studio under the knife with a full teardown video. At the time, the team also briefly examined the Studio Display, and now they’re back with a full-scale shredding of Apple’s latest monitor. And what they found inside was surprising, to say the least.

From the outside, you’d be forgiven for confusing the Studio Display with Apple’s 24-inch iMac. Yet in iFixit’s teardown video, as soon as the display’s front panel was removed, the differences became immediately apparent. For one thing, the Studio Display is far more densely packed on the inside than the largely empty 24-inch iMac.

Read more
Apple Studio Display may soon get an even better follow-up
A person works at a station equipped with the all new Mac Studio and Studio Display.

Apple has only just announced the Studio Display during its Peek Performance spring event, but it seems that the company may have another external display coming up soon.

According to a reliable source, a Studio Display Pro may be in the works, and could potentially already launch in June.

Read more
Apple Studio Display vs. Pro Display XDR
A person works at a station equipped with the all new Mac Studio and Studio Display.

Apple has unleashed a flurry of new products during the Peek Performance event, and among them was its second-ever external display: The Studio Display. The monitor arrives as a successor to the Pro Display XDR.

With a 5K Retina display, the new Apple screen comes with a host of impressive specifications, but how does it compare to its predecessor? Let's analyze the two Apple displays in a Studio Display vs. Pro Display XDR battle.

Read more