Home windows Telephone is in some way making a comeback in 2026

Nex Computing, the corporate behind the NexDock sequence of laptop-shaped telephone docking stations, has simply unveiled a brand-new {hardware} product it calls the NexPhone. As its identify implies, the NexPhone is a smartphone-shaped cell gadget, nevertheless it comes with a significant twist: it is powered by a nifty NexOS multi-boot resolution that runs Windows 11, Android 16, and Linux Debian all on the identical time, and all natively.

Pitched as being a “smartphone that works as a PC,” the NexPhone offers a Samsung DeX or Home windows Continuum-esque docked mode expertise when plugged into an exterior monitor, full with a correct desktop PC computing setting in addition. When paired with a keyboard and a mouse, the NexPhone offers full entry to Linux Debian, alongside the power to run Android apps on this mode.

Moreover, the NexPhone is compliant with Home windows 11 PC {hardware} necessities — it gives an non-obligatory multi-boot configuration for Home windows 11 on ARM, which is facilitated by its PC-compatible Qualcomm QCM6490 processor.

“QCM6490 is a special class of processor, constructed for a brand new stage of effectivity. NexPhone is designed to run three working methods natively on the identical {hardware}, with out compromising the core expertise,” says Nex.

Other than the processor, which gives platform assist from Qualcomm up by 2036, different key NexPhone specs embody a 6.58-inch 1080 x 2403 decision 120Hz LCD show, a 5,000 mAh battery, 18W quick charging, wi-fi charging, a microSD card slot, a fingerprint sensor, twin 5G SIM networking, a 10-megapixel selfie digital camera, a 64-megapixel wide-angle rear sensor, and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide rear shooter.

In response to the corporate, the NexPhone will launch in Q3 of this yr at an asking worth of $550. The product is up now for reservation instantly from the corporate’s official storefront for a refundable deposit of $200. There seems to be a single, darkish grey colorway at the moment on provide, with a single 12GB of RAM and 256GB of inner storage {hardware} configuration accessible.

The return of Home windows Telephone

With a splash of Android and Linux for good measure

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Nex

Past its dockable nature, the NexPhone has one other distinctive trick up its sleeve, and it is one I am notably intrigued by. When set as much as run Home windows 11, the gadget gives up a devoted, touch-friendly consumer interface referred to as the Home windows Cellular UI to be used whereas on the go. Sure, you learn that appropriately: Nex has primarily resurrected Home windows Telephone, offering us with a peak of what Home windows 11 Cellular may’ve been had Microsoft not canned Home windows for cell again in 2017.

When operating Home windows 11 on the NexPhone’s display with its Home windows Cellular UI, it very a lot resembles the Home windows Telephone interface of yore. It seems quite a bit like Square Home or Launcher 7 for Android, however with full-blown Home windows under-the-hood as an alternative. Tiles dominate the primary house display, an alphabetized all apps record is a swipe away always, there’s an optimized multitasking display, and there is each standing and navigation bars on the high and the underside of the display, respectively.

In fact, Home windows 11 does not natively assist mobile-friendly functions, and so Nex recommends putting in your favourite web sites and companies as progressive web apps (PWAs) instantly from a browser. In fact, with an unlocked bootloader and native Android 16 additionally on the helm, cell apps ought to nonetheless be available when switching off of the Home windows Cellular UI expertise.

All of this has me considering: if an organization like Nex can craft a purpose-built cell consumer interface for Home windows 11, why does not Microsoft itself get in on the motion? ARM chips are rather more highly effective than they’ve ever been, the PRISM translation layer makes compatibility much less of a difficulty than prior to now, and the Xbox Full Screen Experience (XFSE) proves that Home windows can function in non-traditional computing environments. If Microsoft have been to create a devoted telephone shell for Home windows 11 that nixes superfluous startup companies, it may as soon as once more try to courtroom cell app builders and even perhaps reinvigorate curiosity in Home windows on cell.

Telephones are getting enjoyable once more

Pocket computer systems do not must be drab slabs

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Clicks / Boox

For the longest time, smartphones have been marching in direction of complete conformity. Most handsets look roughly the identical on the skin, and each iOS and Android have been converging by way of their function units, navigational paradigms, and fluidity. Even foldable telephones, which have been as soon as new and thrilling, have settled right into a predictable rhythm with out a lot in the best way of pleasure.

This has all begun to vary over the previous yr or so: whereas it is true that Microsoft’s innovative dual-screen Duo line has kicked the can, different distinctive units within the sector are thriving, just like the Boox Palma 2 with its E Ink show, the Clicks Communicator with its BlackBerry-style bodily keyboard, the Gentle Telephone III with its emphasis on digital minimalism, and even Nothing with its Matrix-clad Phone 3.

The NexPhone is not fairly as bodily daring as, say, the Clicks Communicator from a type issue standpoint, nevertheless it’s nonetheless refreshingly distinct in a world dominated by glass-and-metal-sandwich telephone flagships. The polycarbonate construct of the NexPhone is rated not just for IP68 and IP69K water and dust resistance, but in addition for MIL-STD-810H MIL-SPEC drop resistance. The gadget seems each minimalistic and utilitarian, even when its sizable bezels and teardrop notch convey mid-range standing.

For $550, the NexPhone is a singular proposition which may properly punch above its weight class. If the corporate is ready to efficiently meld collectively the disparate worlds of Home windows, Android, and Linux right into a single, cohesive entity, then I can see different cell gadget firms taking discover and responding accordingly. Even when the idea fails to take off, I am simply glad to see newfound momentum in providing enjoyable cell gadget experiences as soon as extra.