The iPhone accessories that let me ditch my laptop while traveling

There's something liberating about traveling without your computer. Your load is lighter, your battery needs are fewer, and you don't have to risk damaging or losing one of your most important and expensive devices. Besides, most of us are already carrying around a pretty powerful and conveniently compact computer 24/7: our smartphones.

My problem, though, is that I prefer doing most things on a laptop rather than on a phone. Whether working, writing a detailed email, or shopping around for something online, I can complete my task quicker and more accurately if sitting at a table, typing on a physical keyboard, and navigating with a mouse.

So, in the interest of having my cake and eating it, I've gathered a collection of gadgets that help me get the most out of my iPhone when traveling. With these accessories, I can use my iPhone as if it were a desktop PC, peripherals and all. See you later, laptop.

Creating a desktop-like experience

Call me old-school, but if I have to write anything longer than a Slack message or quick email, I’d prefer drafting it at a table with a physical keyboard perpendicular to the screen that I’m writing on. I’d rather take a few moments to set up a keyboard and screen than waste time clumsily fumbling with a small touchscreen. Touchscreens slow me down while increasing my chances of typos and potentially embarrassing autocorrects.

I’ve been intrigued by the Clicks keyboard as an option for tactile iPhone typing on the go. But for efficiency, nothing tops the convenience of working on a tabletop. So, in order to mimic the desktop experience while traveling without a laptop, I’ve taken to packing a dual-functioning dock, slim mechanical keyboard, and minute mouse.

Anker’s 622 Magnetic Battery is a MagSafe accessory that simultaneously serves as a power bank and stand, enabling me to quickly set up my iPhone for keyboard and mouse control.

For a truer desktop experience, a portable monitor that easily pairs with my iPhone would be ideal. Unfortunately, there are limited devices that officially support iOS. Plus, if I’m trying to travel lightly, a portable screen can be burdensome. The 622, by contrast, helps me make the most out of what I already have—my phone.

Note that there are a lot of power banks out there, and some are more powerful than Anker’s 622. However, I opt for the 622 because of the sturdy stand it delivers in a small, easily packable package.

This is a good time to point out that in September, Anker recalled three iPhone power banks over fire risk; the 622 wasn't one of them. Anker also recalled Bluetooth speakers due to fire risk and previously had a privacy problem with its Eufy brand security cameras. But there's some consolation in Anker being proactive about its recent recalls. The company also has a comparatively strong charger reputation otherwise.

If I were willing to settle for membrane switches, I could find slimmer, more portable keyboards than the Keychron K3 QMK (Version 3). Anything that can sit on a desk is instantly more accommodating to my typing-heavy workloads or incessant tab opening than a phone touchscreen. But for typing accuracy, comfort, and speed, mechanical switches are a borderline necessity for me. And that obsession preference doesn’t go away just because I’m not in my home office.

The keyboard is only 0.9 inches thick because it uses low-profile mechanical switches. Moving from full-height to low-profile switches initially makes keyboards feel shallow and a little off to me. However, after a short adjustment period, I often find myself typing more quickly due to the shorter key-travel distance needed to register inputs.

Typing doesn't feel quite as good here as it does on my typical keyboard. However, the K3's switches deliver audible and tangible feedback with each press. And the keycaps' curves help my fingertips stay on the proper keys. I can type for just about the same amount of time as I would at home on a proper keyboard. If I were using a lackluster keyboard, I'd likely wait to finish my tasks until I got to a computer.

Versatile connectivity options make the K3 stand out as a travel keyboard. It can connect (and charge) via USB-C, pair with up to three devices via Bluetooth, and supports iOS, macOS, and Windows. The keyboard is also programmable and has quality stabilizers and sound dampening layers (see here for a diagram). It's petite but still a full-featured mechanical keyboard.

But what's a desktop setup without a mouse? Enter: My tiny—but comfortable and relatively advanced—Bluetooth mouse.

Again, less is more here. Logitech’s MX Anywhere 3 is only about 4 inches long and weighs 3.5 ounces. The mouse doesn't officially support iOS, but I've had no problem using it to navigate my iPhone with Assistive Touch activated.

Despite its small stature, it packs Logitech’s most advanced scroll wheel, which relies on electromagnets to offer two different feels: a free-scrolling one, where the wheel can spin extremely fast (great for breezing through a long spreadsheet), and ratchet mode, where you feel friction with each line scrolled.

Unfortunately, the mouse’s programmability (there are four programmable buttons) and Flow feature (which enables using the mouse across multiple systems simultaneously and sharing files across connected systems) aren’t at play when paired with an iPhone because they require Logitech software that’s not available for iOS (perhaps explaining why the mouse doesn't claim iOS support). But the mouse makes clicking and scrolling through iPhones effortless. Its short height and length mean less space for resting my palm, so using it is more tiring than using my typical mouse. But this is still sufficient for a secondary travel mouse. And like the aforementioned keyboard, the MX Anywhere 3 charges via USB-C, minimizing the number of cables I need to bring with me.

I use the older MX Anywhere 3, which is still available at a lower price than the new version, the MX Anywhere 3S, as of this writing. The 3S goes up to 8,000 dots per inch (DPI) instead of 4,000 DPI and is supposed to have quieter clicks. But I’d guess that most people don’t need those things for their travel mouse. If you can save money with the very similar but older version, I’d say do it.