I built a smart home that handles everything from lighting and streaming to climate control and security, but it’s split between two platforms: Apple Home and Google Home. At my desk, I had a Nest Hub display for controlling my Google Home and Nest gear, plus a HomePod Mini speaker for controlling my Apple gadgets. That was before I replaced the Nest Hub with a 14.5-inch touchscreen that connects directly to my desktop PC, which can do everything a smart display could and then some.
It’s the Corsair Xenon Edge, a rectangular touchscreen monitor that’s fascinated me since it debuted last year. The price tag and limited macOS support held me back, but once I realized I could use it as a cross-platform smart home dashboard, I was sold. Now, it’s easy for me to interact with multiple smart home ecosystems using only my fingers, keeping my mouse cursor where it belongs — on my work.
This rectangular touchscreen controls my smart home
Apple Home and Google Home dashboards live taps away
I use an Apple Studio Display as my primary monitor, a Wokyis M5 Retro Dock Station with a 5-inch display, and the 14.5-inch Xenon Edge touchscreen. I’ve personally dubbed this “the most useless triple monitor setup,” because the tiny screens are more for glanceable information and quick controls than real productivity gains. The Corsair Xenon Edge’s screen size looks normal on paper, until you account for its short-and-long aspect ratio. The entire thing is under five inches tall, which makes it ideal for placement under a traditional monitor.
An M4 Mac Mini serves as my primary computer, so controlling Apple Home accessories is easy via the native macOS app. I keep the Apple Home app open on its own desktop space on the Xenon Edge display, and I can use my Magic Trackpad to swipe between spaces. Another space houses the Google Home web client, which I’ve turned into a standalone progressive web app (PWA). On a Mac, you can open a site in Safari, click the Share button in the toolbar, and select Add to Dock to turn any webpage into a PWA.
Google Home doesn’t have a native macOS app, and Google doesn’t let you run the iPhone or iPad version on a Mac. As such, running the Google Home web client as a PWA is crucial to controlling my smart home from my Mac on the Xenon Edge screen. The good news is that the web client still sports large controls with buttons that are easy to touch with a finger, but the bad news is that not every device type is supported by the Google Home site just yet.
All the essentials are covered, though. I can control lights, plugs, and thermostats via the Google Home web app on my Xenon Edge dashboard. I’m also able to stream live video from my Nest doorbell and security cameras, and view past events on a digital timeline. It’s incredibly convenient to be able to control my Nest thermostat from the same screen I use to control my Apple TV and HomePod speakers.
Change the music without disrupting your flow
I can tap the on-screen playback controls without skipping a beat
The Corsair Xenon Edge is just a monitor, connecting to your PC over USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode or HDMI. It works like any other, and it isn’t constrained by artificial software limits like dedicated smart displays. I can use the full power of my Mac Mini to drive just about anything on the Xenon Edge, as long as it plays nice with the rectangular display’s ultrawide 32:9 aspect ratio. The extra horizontal space can do more than simply display smart home dashboards.
As an audiophile, I’ve enjoyed using the Xenon Edge for Apple Music streaming and managing my digital iTunes library. Apple Music scales brilliantly on the ultrawide display, showing the album art, title, and playback controls on one side and live lyrics on the other. iTunes isn’t as fancy, but I can leave a library window on the Xenon Edge during bulk CD imports while continuing my work on the primary monitor. A second display isn’t about adding distractions, it’s about streamlining quick actions to keep you focused on what matters.
In the case of music streaming, a simple tap lets me control playback without switching apps or reaching for my Stream Deck. It’s useful for other things, like keeping tabs on chat windows. You can leave a Slack or Discord window open on the Xenon Edge to see what needs your attention. Since this is treated by macOS like any other display, I can have up to 16 desktop spaces on the Xenon Edge and cycle between them.
The possibilities are endless with a tiny desktop dashboard
Vibe-code your own apps, 3D-print custom accessories, or connect with Home Assistant
Vibe coding has completely changed the game when it comes to custom digital dashboards like the Xenon Edge. I’ve kept the Xenon Edge experience mostly stock, using “normal” apps like Apple Home, Apple Music, iTunes, Slack, and the Google Home web app. However, you can use an app like Google’s Antigravity to build your own dashboards from scratch — the possibilities are endless.
Now that I’ve used the Corsair Xenon Edge under my monitor, I can’t go back to using a locked-down smart home display.
- Screen Size
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14.5 inches
- Display Technology
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LCD, touch-enabled
- Resolution
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2560×720
- Refresh Rate
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60Hz
The Corsair Xenon Edge is a 14.5-inch LCD touchscreen with a detachable magnetic stand. It can be used as a desktop dashboard or as a screen that lives inside your PC case. The monitor supports USB-C and HDMI connections, and maxes out at a 2560×720 at 60Hz.