Acer’s eKinekt BD 3 allows users to work, exercise and recharge devices all at once
(Picture: Acer)Laptop master Acer has come up with a cunning if slightly expensive way to reduce your electricity bill – an exercise bike desk that can charge your gadgets, including your laptop.
The Acer eKinekt BD 3 was announced at CES 2023 and is a familiar concept with a neat twist. It’s a bike desk, an exercise bike with a flat desk surface where you’d typically see a larger screen that lets you choose a workout type. It may not fit in the average London flat but there’s plenty of those with a Peloton inside gathering dust.
These kind of bike desks are well suited to light exertion while you work and the eKinekt is more built-up and advanced than most. It can charge your devices, using electrical energy generated by your legs. The eKinekt BD 3 has three USB sockets, one in the smaller USB-C shape and two of the classic rectangular USB-A style.
“One hour of constant cycling at 60 RPM on the bike desk can generate 75 watts of self-generated power,” says Acer.
This doesn’t tell the full story as we don’t know the resistance or how hard you would have to pedal. And “75 watts” is a rate of energy not an amount. However, if it’s possible to get close to 75W charging, or its 75Wh energy capacity equivalent, that’s impressive stuff as 75W is a higher rate than is used by many laptops – slim and light lifestyle laptops often come with 45-65W chargers.
We asked Acer for a little more detail on how the eKinekt BD 3 works, but have not got our hands on any more information as yet.
eKinekt bike features
We do know the eKinekt BD 3 has a cup holder, a desk essential, and that both the desk surface and plastic housing of the bike are made of recycled plastic (PCR). Acer has made fairly extensive use of this less environmentally damaging type of plastic in its laptops over the last year.
The eKinekt BD 3 desk part can slide forwards and backwards to let you sit at a more work or exercise-like angle. And there will be multiple resistance settings, selectable through a row of buttons and a small screen that sit towards the front of the desk section. It will also connect to a phone app to record your exercise stats over time.
An Acer eKinekt BD 3 might take a small chunk out of your energy bills and may be all the gym some need but the outlay is not insignificant. The bike will be available in Europe from June, and, with official pricing at $999 or €999, we’re likely to pay £999 if it is sold in the UK this year.
