What do you think of Samsung Dex?

[EMGSM]

I think that Samsung Dex is a pretty cool idea but is it really practical? Anyone looking forward to this?

 

[meattray]

I could absolutely see myself using one at home. Getting a late work email and just tossing it into a dock as opposed to having a full desktop there is advantageous for me. I don't know. Maybe it would lose its luster but sounds interesting to start at least.

 

[davidofmidnight]

I don't have cable or wifi at home - the cable companies wont run lines down my dirt road #RuralAmericaProblems - but I have unlimited data on my phone, so I find some value in this. (I'm currently using one phone as a mobile hotspot.)

Of course, it'll depend on just how well it works. If it's responsive and remembers what I have opened and where I had them on the 'desktop' after I undock, and the ability to use speakers, will factor in. So I'm waiting for some real people reviews of this before making any kind of decision.

(I picked up the Microsoft Lumia 950xl with its dock and that was just a horrible experience. At least that phone makes a pretty good mobile hotspot.)

 

[KSY77]

here is a setup with separate audio

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=ly1BCLVqQjE

 

[StreamlineWatch]

This is more a gimmick for now but I see a lot of potential in the future as phones will get more and more power.

 

[theelite1x87]

I think it's pretty cool. But not cool enough for me to drop 150 bucks on it. Under 100 would make it a possible buy. Under 60 and I'd buy it.

 

[Jon44]

DeX is amazing. I use it to have a second PC like device in my house and it's incredibly useful for that purpose.

 

[tonylmiller]

I have a setup at work and at home and I love it. The whole setup is not very portable, but if you want to use the same device in two places like a laptop, it works great. I have a GS9 and a cheapo USB hub.

 

[JoeInCT]

I use it now almost exclusively at my office. The Dex software however is so unpolished, you get the feeling it is "beta". If Steve Jobs was alive and it was an Apple product, he wouldn't have let this level of code leave the building and the project manager would probably pay the price. It's great in concept. Just not a polished alternative to a Windows PC. Shocking that it was released as is. Clearly the project manager doesn't love the technology or use it. If they did, they'd tie the programmers to their desks until this was polished. It seems like a half-hearted effort who's plug could be pulled any minute. I think you get the picture.

 

[tonylmiller]

I use it now almost exclusively at my office. The Dex software however is so unpolished, you get the feeling it is "beta". If Steve Jobs was alive and it was an Apple product, he wouldn't have let this level of code leave the building and the project manager would probably pay the price. It's great in concept. Just not a polished alternative to a Windows PC. Shocking that it was released as is. Clearly the project manager doesn't love the technology or use it. If they did, they'd tie the programmers to their desks until this was polished. It seems like a half-hearted effort who's plug could be pulled any minute. I think you get the picture.

How so? It is working great for me. What is unpolished for you?

 

[Dan Beery]

I have been intregued by this idea for a long time. I just got a 9+ and thought I would give it a try. I moved all of my business documents to a google drives and OneDrive.

I am able to put many of my critical apps on my phone and computer, so there is a compatibility there.

For the most part, it is super fast, as fast as my Surface for most office tasks.

I can actually work for a full day without missing my laptop. I can open multiple apps, multiple windows, do email, web etc. I am currently doing this on my Dex.

• 
  In general, it works really well. Android apps are not as consistent in their support of keyboard and mouse, so there is a little wierdness sometimes, but it generally works fine.
  Many of the Android apps are less full featured, so that is a little annoying.
  Many of the Android apps don't leverage the larger screen size as well as they should, but it is ok.

My take away is that DEX itself is really well concieved, and works great. The apps have a little catching up to do.

Can you use it for productivity tasks such as email, google docs etc? Yes! It is basically the same as a PC. Kinda awesome.

Where you get into trouble is doing specialized tasks like web development, photo editing etc.

I could almost do an expense report, but I couldn't get all of the receipt scans concatenated into a single PDFfile without using acrobat on the PC. I will give it a try next time, but I was able to most of the work without a PC.

One con: I can't get it to work with a high-res monitor. I have a 34 inch display, and I would rather see 4k.

 

[bill-e]

Hmm, I don't know. It seems to work well enough for what I need but I already have a desktop PC which runs pretty much 24/7. I cant see myself switching to DeX. My Samsung device is a Tab S4 and it provides great sound so I don't need any external audio setup.

I am a hobby photographer and haven't tried serious photo editing on my tablet but with the HDMI to a monitor I may try that.

 

[tube517]

How is Dex w/the texting.

I need texting for work and would rather use the Samsung Messages app rather than Android Messages.

 

[bill-e]

How is Dex w/the texting.

I need texting for work and would rather use the Samsung Messages app rather than Android Messages.

texting works fine on my wifi only using Message+

 

[tube517]

texting works fine on my wifi only using Message+

Still debating on if I should get this. Only $37 now

 

[BrianF75]

Greetings and apologies if this is not the proper place for my queries, but I have been going in circles for a few days and am hoping for a nudge in the right direction. Any help is appreciated.

I am new to Dex and think it is a great concept. I went with the multi-port adapter and have been impressed in general while at the same time experiencing some difficulties that appear to me to say 'this feature was not properly worked out' .. I fully admit I may just not know how to use that feature ... but chat support from Samsung and on the phone has been very frustrating .. almost like they are not that aware of the product or really don't care too much about it. Which does not make much sense to me.

I am hoping to use Dex more as a travel/vacation platform than as a business user. I can see that there would be situations in business where one might go to a satellite office and tap into a setup with monitor,keyboard and mouse .. same if you were using it at home (which I have been and works fine) .. but for me I want to get to a travel setup that requires as little hardware as possible .. phone, adapter, short wires, small BT mouse and leave the keyboard home ... problem is the onscreen keyboard is tiny .. it is the same size as the keyboard on a screen mirror .. going thru settings (including dex settings ) I cannot find any keyboard resize available .. I found Dex labs and with it forced resize of Netflix and some other apps no problem but no help for resize keyboard. A number of chats with Samsung was big waste of lots of time with reps who seemed very unsure about Dex and no help other than a recommendation to abandon the $89 adapter and get the 'Dex cord'.

Does anyone know any way to resize the onscreen keyboard using the multi-port adapter or does anyone know of any alternative way to have a larger onscreen keyboard or any other idea for minimal input approach? I tried a half dozen keyboard apps from play store and all do not operate in Dex mode. Samsung store carries no Dex keyboard app .. actually a surprisingly few apps there listed as optimized for Dex.

- Brian

This has been moved to a standalone question

 

[Kevin Kowal]

i have tried to resize the keyboard but found it as frustraiting as many others have, I ended up buying a portable foldable keyboard/track pad combo on Amazon and it works great. it's small enuf to be easaly portable has great battery life and typing is much easyer then on the screen. I have the Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard, Jelly Comb only $30. since getting it I have become a heavy Dex user and now find myself barly using my laptop

 

[erikpritchard]

I love it. It's the main reason I still use a Galaxy instead of a Pixel. I have a nice big screen and it does everything a Chromebook will do and maybe more. In my life it's replaced the budget home computer I would normally purchase every two years or so.

If I were to buy a basic home computer, it would probably be a Chromebase or maybe a Windows All-In-One. For me using my phone as the brains of my "home computer" is at least a four-hundred-dollar savings.

I've gone back and forth between using Chrome and using Samsung's browser. Chrome is the most familiar to me but often requires me to "request desktop site". Samsung Internet just works.

Just like a Chromebook, it does have some limitations that I wouldn't have on my work PC, but in my day-to-day use these limitations are far and few in between.

One of my main motives for owning a smartphone has always been the camera quality, so I am a natural Pixel buyer, but the value Samsung is bringing by saving me a home computer purchase is keeping me with them.

 

[Paul E B1]

I think that Samsung Dex is a pretty cool idea but is it really practical? Anyone looking forward to this?

I have 2 devices, an Note 9 and a Tab S5e, the former being used on DeX from time to time, the latter all the time.
The phone is rarely used with an external screen so it rarely sees DeX use but the tab is set to DeX on startup and is very rarely used as a standard Android tab.

The phone is an excellent device but the tab is intended to replace windows as much as possible and DeX is a serious winner when it comes to that, especially as I bought the keyboard case and use a bluetooth mouse. It's essentially a laptop but is a little limited in some ways. However, regardless of the limitations, I love the thing and believe it was an excellent choice and good value for money.

 

[EMGSM]

I have 2 devices, an Note 9 and a Tab S5e, the former being used on DeX from time to time, the latter all the time.
The phone is rarely used with an external screen so it rarely sees DeX use but the tab is set to DeX on startup and is very rarely used as a standard Android tab.

The phone is an excellent device but the tab is intended to replace windows as much as possible and DeX is a serious winner when it comes to that, especially as I bought the keyboard case and use a bluetooth mouse. It's essentially a laptop but is a little limited in some ways. However, regardless of the limitations, I love the thing and believe it was an excellent choice and good value for money.

With the N10+ I've used DeX for the 1st time. Now I see it's usefulness. I can only imagine how much better it is or could be on a tablet.