Beautiful minimalist Apple accessories inspired by architecture and art

The accessory market for phones and computers is a wide and varied one, with designs that are all over the place and cover almost the entire range of the spectrum. Some try to offer everything, almost including the kitchen sink, resulting in a cornucopia of features and attachments, while others aim for the bare basics to keep things simple yet elegant. Minimalism continues to dominate the design world, and it has also started to grip the tech industry, particularly when it comes to gadgets and accessories. Minimalist design, though sometimes plain-looking, doesn’t exactly mean “boring,” especially when they take inspiration from some of mankind’s creative achievements to give these products an interesting visual and functional spin.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Stand

Some say good things come in threes, and iPhone owners tend to own an Apple Watch and AirPods to complete a functional set. Keeping all three charged has become somewhat of a logistics problem, though thankfully it’s less of a mess now that none of them require charging cables all the time. Apple’s MagSafe technology has opened up a new world of designs, free from the tangles of wires, and it has given birth to a variety of charging docks and stations, including some pretty minimalist ones.

Designer: Belkin

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro really takes minimalism almost to an extreme, being nothing more than a metal post that branches in two, standing on a plain round disc. While there are quite a number of 3-in-1 MagSafe chargers that support a similar combination, Belkin’s design emphasizes keeping a tidy appearance, whether there are devices charging on it or not. The base holds the AirPods case, keeping your desk or shelf clean, while both the iPhone and Apple Watch are held up high for easier visibility.

The charger’s clean and minimalist appearance takes its cue from modern architecture, with well-defined lines and shapes and a simple yet functional design. It distills the whole structure down to its essentials, providing support and a place for your gadgets to call home, without overpowering Apple’s already elegant and stylish aesthetic.

MagSafe Origami Grip Stand

The ancient Japanese art of paper folding has inspired many designs across history, from simple children’s toys to mind-blowing structures even to complex robots. The main pull of origami has always been its ability to change shape from a flat sheet of material like paper to something three-dimensional any moving parts or without removing or adding any part at all. Because of that, something that takes up space can be made to collapse down to almost nothing, like this grip and stand that adds almost no thickness to your iPhone.

Designer: Marcy Arimoto

Click Here to Buy Now: MagSafe Origami Grip Stand ($45)

Thanks to its creative origami-inspired design, the MagSafe attachment transforms from a flat pad into a triangular shape that can do more than just prop up your phone on a table. It gives your fingers something stable to latch onto, making it perfect for taking selfies with confidence. It can even stick to metal posts, walls, and surfaces thanks to that strong magnetic power.

The best thing about its design is that it doesn’t get in the way when you don’t need it. It simply collapses back down to a flat shape that’s no thicker than the iPhone’s own camera bump. Nothing to snag when you slip it into your pocket and nothing to make it wiggle when placed on a table. It’s beautiful, functional, and as simple as it needs to be, nothing more.

Twelve South BookArc Flex Vertical MacBook Stand

A laptop stand is, more often than not, a horizontal plane meant to hold your laptop while it lies down. Of course, that’s the most common way to use a laptop, but it’s definitely not the only way, especially when you’re using it as a makeshift desktop computer. With the lid always closed and the laptop simply connected to a monitor and other peripherals, having a laptop lying flat or even on a horizontal stand is already a poor use of precious desk space. That’s where a vertical laptop stand comes in hand, and Twelve South just launched what is probably the most minimalist design in that category.

Designer: Twelve South

It might look like two simple metal arcs, but that ultra-minimalist design is what makes the BookArc Flex a work of genius. Designed to hold your closed MacBook vertically, it can save you precious desk space when all you really want to do is connect the MacBook to an external screen and some peripherals while it’s running. It keeps all the mess away without sacrificing any functionality, and you can still easily plug in other USB devices because the MacBook is still within reach.

The design is both simple yet elegant, perfectly complementing Apple’s design language with its bent all-metal rods in matte black, matte white, or premium chrome finishes. It is inspired by modern architecture, particularly the Noisette Creek Pedestrian Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina, in more ways than one. While it does owe its form to that bridge, it also takes a few lessons from a bridge’s structure and use of physics, particularly in how the stand uses the MacBook’s own weight to pull in the arcs and secure the laptop. That means that this simple design is also future-proof, supporting any MacBook or even any laptop that’s only an inch thick, making it a beautiful example of how good, simple design can be universal and timeless as well.

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This Beautiful Brazilian Home Is The Sleek, Contemporary & Practical Home You’ve Been Searching For

Nestled in Nova Lima in Minas Gerais is Tetro Arquictectura’s Laguna House. The four-bedroom Brazilian house is amped with a stunning view of a lake, with mountains in the backdrop. It is a sleek and modern abode that perfectly utilizes the views and contours of the property it is located on.

Designer: Tetro Arquitectura

The beautiful Brazilian home is designed by architects Carlos Maia, Débora Mendes, and Igor Macedo, and is elevated on a rectangular core, and supported by a group of tall slender pillars. The lower level is sunken and it holds the three ensuite guest bedrooms, a covered terrace, an outdoor kitchen, and a dining area. While the main living spaces are located above it, with a rectangular concrete slab roof towering over them. The main living spaces correspond with a big square courtyard, and the master bedroom subtly cantilevers over the garden. It also holds a massive and impressive walk-in wardrobe. The kitchen, utility room, and staff accommodation are located in the same row as the bedrooms below. An external covered walkway provides access to them.

The minimalist home includes the main entrance which is built of a series of concrete steps that smoothly follow the contour of the land, leading you up to a covered porch, positioned along a courtyard garden. As you enter through the main entrance, you are welcomed into the main living space, which has an area for seating and dining as well as a kitchen. The home also includes a covered balcony with sliding glass doors that lead to it.

The entire home has a raw yet contemporary feel to it. Raw concrete is teamed up with natural stone and vertical hardwood slats for privacy and sun screening to create an inviting and warm space. Aluminum framed floor-to-ceiling windows mark the entirety of the space. The concrete roof is projecting and helps not only to reduce solar gain but also ensures that the sunlight reaches the interiors only during late afternoon. The home is simple but thoughtfully designed with the private spaces located on the main floor, while the guest bedrooms are kept on the lower level.

Karim Rashid, Beeple, and more artists collaborate to create the world’s most beautiful ‘digital analog clock’

Imagine if an NFT could tell time – that’s pretty much what Klydoclock feels like. The vintage pendulum-clock-inspired device comes with two circular display areas that showcase the time in unique ways. With an upper screen displaying the clock’s face and a lower one showing a swinging pendulum, Klydoclock relies on bizarrely beautiful visual styles that make reading the time an entrancing and contemplative experience. The clock’s visuals are the result of a collaboration between Klydo and some of the top animators and visual artists from around the world including the likes of Karim Rashid and Beeple.

Designer: Boaz Mendel

Click Here to Buy Now: $229 $350 ($121 off). Hurry, only 38/550 left! Raised over $320,000.

Klydoclock plays on the idea of uplifting and reimagining the mundane. Most antique clocks (especially those grandfather clocks) were designed for reliability and precision, and to let you see the time at a glance. They weren’t made to captivate you or grab your attention, but modern art works rather differently. Created as a quirky bridge between those two approaches, Klydoclock is a clock you could spend your day watching. Klydoclock’s screens showcase creative visuals that depict the passage of time, but in unique animations.

Analog Clock with Infinite Animated Faces – Transform your time-reading experience into an infinitely variable one.

Own a Piece of Decor Everyone Will Talk About – Klydoclock brightens up your space and serves as conversation piece.

The clock’s outer appearance remains strictly traditional – a rounded box made from birchwood veneer. However, the magic is what happens inside the box. The two displays show time in a variety of styles, letting you not just choose from a roster of artists and their motion graphics, but even design your own. Through the Klydo Artist Collective, users can contribute to the expanding collection of clock faces from industry elites like Karim, Beeple, Simona Alunni, Matt Semke, and many more.

Each Klydoclock is equipped with two 60Hz displays that show the clock face and moving pendulum respectively. A knurled tactile knob lets you preview the different ‘Klydos’ (that’s what the art experiences/themes are called) as well as adjust the time on your clock. Each Klydoclock also comes with a remote that lets you cycle through audio and visual themes in the clock settings, displayed in a circular UI that’s as beautiful as the clock itself. Sticking to the ethos of displaying great art, the Klydoclock doesn’t come with any fancy smartphone app, and doesn’t have a built-in camera or microphone to snoop in on you. Its only motive is to enrich your life and tell you the time while doing so!

Ultimately, the Klydoclock is also a global movement to bring art into every home. The team at Klydo partnered with more than 150 artists from 30 countries, creating as many as 1500 Klydos (art themes) that you can choose from in the initial collection. The movement also aims at supporting artists – not just by sharing a portion of the revenue from the Klydoclock sales, but also through the Klydo Artist Collective, which will offer events, workshops, promotions, and other opportunities to participants. Each Klydoclock starts at $229, with global shipping starting as early as December 2023.

Click Here to Buy Now: $229 $350 ($121 off). Hurry, only 38/550 left! Raised over $320,000.

Vivo X Fold 2 Foldable Phone Review: Beautiful, Big, and Bewildering

PROS:

  • Stylish design with a thin profile
  • In-display fingerprint sensor on both screens
  • Largest screens among foldables
  • High-performance hardware with fast-charging battery
  • Rare mute switch

CONS:

  • Limited market availability
  • Downgrade in camera and USB technology
  • No dust and water resistance rating

RATINGS:

SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY

EDITOR’S QUOTE:

The Vivo X Fold 2 takes the foldable game up a notch but strangely takes two steps back as well.

As foldable phones start to become a little bit more common, it will also become harder for brands to stand out from the growing crowd. There’s definitely still a lot of room for improvement, of course, but many of the features have started to become more standard these days, especially those surrounding the all-important foldable screen. The challenge is even higher when trying to put out a successor to a successful first attempt, with the stakes now higher and the competition even tighter. That’s the difficult task that Vivo had to face in coming up with a successor to its notable first foldable phone, and so we take the Vivo X Fold 2 for a good run to see if it manages to overcome the odds or if it is a victim of the brand’s own success.

Designer: Vivo

Aesthetics

At first glance, the Vivo X Fold 2 immediately sets itself apart with its distinctive and elegant looks. Circular camera bumps seem to be the new trend, but not all styles are as pleasant to look at. Normally, one that isn’t centered would look a bit awkward and unbalanced, but Vivo manages to pull this one off thanks to a neat visual trick.

The non-screen backside of the phone is made from two materials. There’s a vertical strip on the side of the hinge that’s made of glossy glass, serving as an accent to the rest of the surface, which uses that oh-so-familiar faux leather material. Beyond giving the phone a unique visual, it also gives the illusion that the camera enclosure is sitting in the middle rather than off-center. That said, that camera design is a bit of a mixed bag. Its stepped design and textured ring make it stand out a bit less despite its height, but that small LED flash ring sticks out like a sore thumb and breaks the visual flow of the design, not to mention the necessary ZEISS branding that sits like a blue wart below the camera.

The Vivo X Fold 2 is definitely quite a looker, especially in the eye-catching red unit we were given for this review. Compared to its predecessor, it’s supposed to be thinner and lighter, though you won’t be able to easily tell even if you have both devices at hand. It’s definitely on the thin and light side compared to other foldables, but it’s certainly not the top of the pack in that aspect. What it is, however, is large, and it is possibly one of the largest in the foldable market, especially when it comes to screen size.

Like many other foldable phones outside of Samsung, Vivo uses a well-known water drop hinge to help make the crease less visible while also allowing the phone to fold shut completely. In both cases, the Vivo X Fold 2 doesn’t disappoint, but it’s not exactly a groundbreaking feat either. It would be more shocking if it actually did worse since it’s a more or less established technology at this point. Fortunately, you really don’t notice the crease that much unless you intentionally look for it, and the bright and large 8.03-inch inner display will be enough to distract you with the way it shows your content in vibrant and crisp colors, even outdoors under the sun.

Ergonomics

Now that the once ridiculed “phablet” has become the standard smartphone size, even for Apple, it is nearly impossible to use smartphones these days with a single hand. That is especially true for foldable phones, which transform into small tablets that you really need two hands for. When folded closed, however, the phone’s doubled thickness makes it even less comfortable to use with a single hand, no matter how large your hands might be.

This is probably truer for the Vivo X Fold 2 simply because it is larger than any other foldable phone. When folded, the 6.53-inch external display makes the surface area even less unwieldy. Fortunately, the phone’s textured back gives it a better grip than others of its kind. If you’re the type to still worry, though, Vivo includes a protective back case in the same color and, amusingly, the same vegan leather material as the phone itself.

The one thing that’s a bit easy to do with one hand is to unlock the phone. Thanks to housing an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor in the middle of the screen, you don’t have to fiddle with power buttons located on just one side of the phone. This is already a rare sight on foldable phones, but even more impressive is the fact that the Vivo X Fold 2 also has a similar in-display sensor on the inner display.

Performance

The Vivo X Fold 2 is equipped with top-of-the-line hardware you’d expect from a premium flagship this time of the year. That means a beefy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB or 512GB of storage. What all these figures mean in practice is that it won’t be lacking in power, handling anything you throw at it with aplomb. There is, however, one caveat where the phone gets quite warm when playing graphics-intensive titles. It’s not hot enough to burn your skin, but it might make you want to pause the game a bit, especially since it would eventually affect frame rates.

The phone is equipped with a dual battery that totals 4,800mAh, quite a generous capacity as far as foldables go. Given the power and the two displays, however, you are going to see a shorter uptime compared to normal slabs with the same battery size. Vivo makes up for it with a 120W ultra-fast charging capability that’s one of the fastest in the industry, foldable or otherwise. Unfortunately, that may have come at the price of Vivo downgrading the USB-C port from version 3.2 of its predecessor to an older 2.0 technology. Not only does this mean it has a slower data transfer rate, it also loses the ability to output video through that part. The latter is probably less important to most people compared to faster charging times, but it’s still an unfortunate downgrade nonetheless.

The crowning glory of the Vivo X Fold 2 is, of course, its foldable screen, which is currently the biggest in its category. It has quite an impressive performance, especially when it comes to brightness, but its size does come with a price. It has an overall lower pixel density, and while you won’t be able to make out individual pixels, more discerning eyes might notice the step down in quality compared to other foldables. Fortunately, that doesn’t take away from the enjoyable viewing experience, whether you’re watching videos or reading documents.

Foldable phones haven’t exactly been at the height of mobile photography, mostly because of the sacrifices that have to be made in terms of design and price. Vivo, however, is quite known for its smartphone cameras, especially with its flagship X family, so you’d expect that the X Fold 2 would rise above the rest in this regard as well. Just like the rest of the phone so far, however, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It definitely takes impressive photos and videos, but they won’t sweep you off your feet, especially when it comes to close-up shots.

The main 50MP camera might not sound like the greatest, but it gets the job done without breaking a sweat. Images have plenty of details, and colors are bright, perhaps even too vibrant for some tastes. Vivo has again partnered with ZEISS for the optics as well as some special camera modes, and those turn out to be more color accurate. The main camera delivers plenty of detail, even in low light, to the point that the dedicated Night Mode might look redundant as long as there is enough illumination from the surroundings.

Left: Regular Shot; Right: ZEISS

Regular (1x)

Night Mode

ZEISS

Unfortunately, the other cameras are less impressive. The 12MP ultra-wide is so-so, and it’s no better nor worse compared to other 12MP ultra-wide cameras you’d find on most smartphones these days. Things take a rather sad turn with the telephoto camera, though. Where there were once two, there is now only one, and Vivo removed the one that was actually more interesting. There is no longer a periscope telephoto camera, leaving only a 12MP shooter in its stead that is capable of doing a measly 2x optical zoom. Many “main” cameras are capable of that much, which makes this camera feel redundant. As for output, it’s decent enough to be usable, but it’s a few steps short of what fans have come to expect from Vivo.

Ultra-Wide

1x

2x (Telephoto)

As for software, the Vivo X Fold 2 comes with Origin OS based on Android 13, which is the China-exclusive flavor that Vivo ships on its phones. This means that there is no Google Play Store pre-installed, though you can definitely install it through other means and get access to your favorite apps. Alas, Origin OS is also filled to the brim with other pre-installed apps, but that, too, is the norm for phones coming from that market. The even bigger concern, however, is how the custom Android experience feels a little rough around the edges as far as support for foldable features is concerned. Given it’s just the company’s second stab at the form factor, it’s a bit understandable, and it will hopefully push out improvements quickly while the phone is still actively supported.

Sustainability

While the Vivo X Fold 2 is able to set itself apart from the others in terms of design, it isn’t that different when it comes to its effects on the environment. The choice of vegan or eco-leather is definitely a good one, but its positive effects are quite minimal compared to the other materials that make up the phone and its packaging. Vivo’s super-fast charging requires a proprietary charger, so it’s unavoidable to ship one in the box.

Sustainability wouldn’t be so bad if the product is made to last, but even then, this foldable might raise some concerns. There is no formal IP dust and water resistance rating, not even a formal assurance of its durability under the most common accidents. Granted, there are few foldable phones aside from Samsung and Huawei that can make such promises, but it is also an opportunity for brands like Vivo to step up their game and prove that they’re no small fry when it comes to providing their customers with peace of mind.

Value

The Vivo X Fold 2 is a bit of a mixed bag. It has a striking design that makes it memorable and attractive, and it also has the power to support all your mobile needs, from browsing to photography to gaming. The larger screens leave plenty of room for your content, or even two of them for the inner foldable screen. There are special features you won’t find in other foldable phones, like an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner and a physical switch to silence notifications, ala the iPhone. We have a few complaints, of course, but nothing so glaring as to make the phone something to avoid.

That said, the biggest deal breaker for this stylish foldable is the fact that only a select number of people will be able to buy one in the first place. Never mind the roughly $1,300 price tag, the Vivo X Fold 2 isn’t even available in markets outside of China. Whether that situation will change, Vivo isn’t saying, but it will definitely need a more polished Funtouch OS experience to improve its reception in international markets.

Verdict

At this point, almost all the major smartphone players except Apple have entered the foldable smartphone market. The competition will soon be just as fierce as it is in the “normal” smartphone arena. With many of them having nearly the same hinges and almost crease-free displays, manufacturers will have to find ways to differentiate their products in other ways that create better value for their customers. That doesn’t always have to be new hardware or gimmicky features. Sometimes, just having a powerful and beautiful device is enough to get people to buy. Just ask Apple!

The Vivo X Fold 2 clearly tries to reach those goalposts. Its elegant design actually makes the off-center circular camera bump work in a simple yet memorable way. In addition to its powerful hardware, the foldable phone offers unique features as well, like larger screens and in-display fingerprint sensors that even industry leaders failed to offer. Unfortunately, Vivo seems to also have cut a few corners in the process, and while they’re not deal-breakers on their own, they make the experience less than ideal altogether. As a successor, the Vivo X Fold 2 definitely rises to the challenge, but Vivo will need to step up its game to really leave a lasting mark in this growing market.

Aki Ukita and JC Torres contributed to this review.