castAway is a tiny Chromebook in a case that acts as a second screen for your phone

If you’re not yet convinced by foldable phones, but fancy a more productive blower, check out castAway (from £100). A tiny Chromebook in a case, castAway snaps to your existing device by magnets, and connects digitally over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Once the folio-like contraption’s fired up, you can put exercise videos alongside health stats, and calendars next to conference calls; and via an alternate boot mode, you can have a virtual keyboard fill the castAway display when you need to smash out some words. The presence of a custom bridging app, MultiTask, for document sync suggests the dual-screen experience won’t be entirely seamless. Still, with castAway able to work as a standalone unit and/or with your existing device, and it being priced at a hundred quid, it won’t give your bank account a heart attack should you want to get in on some dual-screen action.

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.