I’ve been using Samsung DeX as a PC replacement for much of the last two years. In the process, I learned a lot about how to love and not love Samsung’s Android-based desktop. These are some of the most interesting aspects that I wish I had known about sooner.
Wireless DeX is surprisingly usable
A wired connection is better, but wireless is not garbage
To be clear, the best way to use Samsung DeX is to connect your phone directly to an external display. As with everything, a wired connection is more stable and reliable than a wireless one. That said, I was surprised to find that wireless DeX is not a waste of time. In fact, I often preferred it as a way of doing Using my wireless portable dock is more like using a laptop.
A wired connection is inconvenient. It’s fine on a desk or table, but having a phone hanging from my laptop is barely manageable on my lap. I found the wireless DeX to be usable enough for typing or web browsing in those situations. There was even a period where I relied on wireless DeX for entire workdays instead of physically connecting to a monitor.
The experience varies depending on the age of your phone. I found that wireless DeX works much better on my Galaxy Z Fold 6 than the previous year Galaxy Z Fold 5. I haven’t had a chance to test the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the newer Galaxy S26 Ultra, but there’s a chance the wireless dock connection could be even better.
- Brand
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Samsung
- SoC
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Generation 5
- Show
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6.9-inch Super AMOLED 2X dynamic display
- RAM
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12 or 16GB
- Storage
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256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB
- Battery
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5,000 mAh
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I could still use most of the external accessories.
All I needed was a USB-C hub
Our smartphones, for better or worse, have a USB-C port. It stands to reason that if that USB-C port is connected to an external display, you will have no remaining ports.
But phones are not the only devices in this situation. There’s actually a good chance that you have a laptop that only has a couple of USB-C ports and you need to rely on a certain USB-C accessory every time you want to connect things to your computer.
It turns out that a Samsung phone is almost as capable of connecting to external devices. This is the reason why a USB-C hub is the best budget phone upgrade. With one, you can connect flash drives, HDMI cables, Ethernet, and full-size SD cards. Just don’t try to use a DVD drive. That’s not going to work.
Wireless streaming is a great replacement for a tablet
The convenience of a phone, but with a bigger screen
We typically talk about DeX as a desktop replacement. After all, it looks like a Windows PC or a Chromebook. However, when you pair the DeX with a wireless laptop dock, it starts to feel much more like a tablet replacement.
I like to place a tablet on a tablet stand and watch YouTube videos while I do the dishes. This exact same exercise is available when using DeX with a lapdock. I can place the laptop in tent mode on my kitchen counter and play any video I want wirelessly. The advantage of this is that I can have my phone nearby and use it as a remote control. A laptop can also be used for other tablet tasks, such as reading comics and large PDF files.
Dex is a superior gaming experience
It’s better than playing directly on your phone
I knew there was nothing stopping me from playing mobile games with DeX. What I didn’t know was how big of an improvement this experience would be.
You see, our phones have internal screens with very high resolutions. Many of us have external monitors that have a lower screen resolution than our phones. Laptops, in particular, tend to have 1080p displays. The same can be said for many of the old flat screen televisions that we have kept or Full HD desktop monitors that some still prefer more than 4K.
The phones are designed to play mobile games with a smooth refresh rate and very high resolution. When connected to an external display, these games run as smoothly as they do on our phones. But that’s not all. Cloud gaming effectively turns a DeX-equipped phone into a gaming console.
DeX is an affordable way to experience AR
Try before deciding whether to invest in virtual reality
I played much of game developer Don’t Nod’s library of games through NVIDIA GeForce Now and a virtual screen. I didn’t need an expensive XR headset. All I used was a Samsung phone connected to AR glasses.
If you’re not sure if virtual reality is for you, you can buy a significantly cheaper pair of AR glasses and connect them to your Samsung phone. You can then use the desktop as you would otherwise or sit back and enjoy streaming video on a large virtual screen. If you like this flavor, then you can consider where you want to invest more money for an even better experience, such as the Samsung Galaxy XR.
7/10
- Connective Technology
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DisplayPort over USB-C
- Speakers
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Yeah
The RayNeo Air 3s Pro are a solid pair of video glasses with a limited set of AR/XR features at a fair price.
Samsung DeX is great, but it’s not perfect.
I no longer use a Samsung or DeX phone as my primary computer. I finally ended the experiment for the same reason I finally stopped using Chrome OS: Google made changes to the experience that I didn’t like, and there was no way to undo them. Samsung DeX too lost quite a few features in its One UI 8 updatewhich incorporated aspects of Google’s new Android-based desktop (although it is still not as basic as the Google version). Am I’m not particularly excited about the changes introduced to Googlebooks.any. Fortunately, you don’t have to go 100% on DeX like I did to enjoy its benefits.
