In 2014 I spent a week with my Samsung Galaxy S4 as my only computer. (My laptop was damaged and it took a while to repair. IT asked if I wanted a loaner and I said I'd get back to them if the phone proved inadequate.)
I was testing embedded hardware, so my main tasks involved a UART port into a dev board. One Bluetooth serial interface later, I was in business; there were some Arduino IDE ports or something similar that had a respectable serial terminal, and that's all I needed to see log messages.
Monitor plugged in over Samsung's weird MHL-HDMI thing; knockoff cable was only a few bucks. It had a power passthrough, so I used the otherwise-useless Cisco VoIP phone on my desk (I was a contractor and the phone wasn't active) as a USB power source to charge the S4.
Bluetooth keyboard, Alt-Tab works for switching apps, and having real keys makes composing email a breeze. Bluetooth mouse, pops up a cursor on the screen and works just like touch with better ergonomics. Bluetooth headphones, for taking conference calls and listening to music.
I wanted for nothing, and the whole mess fit into my coat pockets, I didn't bother carrying a backpack that week.
It's a decade later and this is still a fringe activity?
Depends, it works pretty well with tablets and bluethooth devices, to the point that it killed the netbook market.
Nowadays any 14 laptop that is as useful as those Asus used to be, including technical specifications, are no longer 300 euros, rather more like 1000 euros, as the 300 euros crowd is rather happy with tablet + keyboard cover combo.
I own a Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 smartphone that I don't use anymore because the tactile functionnality gets unresponsive every few minutes and can stay so for a few seconds up to hours.
The screen is working because it reacts to power and volume up/down buttons.
I realized recently that the mounting a usb-c to female usb-a adapter I could use the wireless dongle of my Microsoft wireless all in one keyboard/trackpad and control the smartphone that way. Sadly its usb-c port doesn't support external monitors so I haven't found any practical use for it. I guess I should look for a miracast dongle if such thing exists but that would limit the usage to home wlan I guess and not be as portable as I think it could.
I was testing embedded hardware, so my main tasks involved a UART port into a dev board. One Bluetooth serial interface later, I was in business; there were some Arduino IDE ports or something similar that had a respectable serial terminal, and that's all I needed to see log messages.
Monitor plugged in over Samsung's weird MHL-HDMI thing; knockoff cable was only a few bucks. It had a power passthrough, so I used the otherwise-useless Cisco VoIP phone on my desk (I was a contractor and the phone wasn't active) as a USB power source to charge the S4.
Bluetooth keyboard, Alt-Tab works for switching apps, and having real keys makes composing email a breeze. Bluetooth mouse, pops up a cursor on the screen and works just like touch with better ergonomics. Bluetooth headphones, for taking conference calls and listening to music.
I wanted for nothing, and the whole mess fit into my coat pockets, I didn't bother carrying a backpack that week.
It's a decade later and this is still a fringe activity?