Can the Samsung DeX replace your PC? We put it to the test

The quest for an all-in-one device

Much of our personal technology has converged into today’s powerful smartphones. From simple calling and texting to streaming movies and making payments, the neat little gizmo in our pockets can do everything we throw at it.

Well, almost everything.

Traditional PCs are still more suited for many tasks, thanks to two important usability reasons: the time-tested keyboard-and-mouse combo, and a much bigger screen.

After all, working on a tiny screen and typing on a tiny software keyboard all day sounds like an ergonomic nightmare.

Smartphone makers have tried to bridge this gap over the years. One of the first attempts was the Motorola Atrix, a smartphone-laptop hybrid which launched to much fanfare in 2011 only to fizzle out into oblivion.

More recently, Microsoft took a stab at the concept with Windows Continuum, which did a reasonably good job at turning Windows Phones into pseudo-PCs by blowing up apps and other UI elements on to the big screen. This manifested in several devices, most notably in Microsoft’s own Lumia 950 and 950 XL, as well as HP’s Elite X3. All of them struggled to gain traction because, well, they run on the app-poor Windows Phone platform.

The buzz hit a new high earlier this year at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, where Razer showed off a “lapdock” prototype named Project Linda that’s powered by its Razer Phone.

Enter Samsung.

The Korean chaebol launched its flagship smartphones last year with the Samsung DeX, a docking station that transforms compatible phones into a pseudo-PC, complete with a familiar desktop UI.

Has it succeeded where previous attempts have failed?

To find out, I decided to try going some time using nothing but my Galaxy Note 8 and the DeX. To be specific, I was looking for answers to two main questions:

1. Can my Galaxy Note 8 with a Samsung DeX really take over all my personal computing needs?
2. If not, what else is it good for?

Here’s what I found.

First, the hardware

The DeX looks like it could pass off as any number of small, round gizmos when you first take it out of the box. A Bluetooth speaker comes to mind, or maybe one of those stones used for curling (which is a totally legitimate winter Olympic sport, in case you were wondering).



Gently push the top part down a little, and a neat little backrest slides up to cradle your phone, complete with a USB-C port underneath for charging and data transfer. There’s even a fan behind the backrest to keep your phone cool, which is useful when you have to charge your device and use the device simultaneously.



You’ll find more connectivity options round the back of the DeX, including an HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, and an Ethernet port. That’s not counting a USB Type-C port for drawing power.



Overall, it’s a decent-looking, inoffensive gadget that should look fine on most desks.

That said, there’s one major issue with the DeX: it doesn’t have an audio jack. 

This isn’t one of those save-the-audio-jack sentimental complaints. Your Samsung phone’s audio jack and speaker is blocked by the DeX after docking, which means you only have two options for proper audio output when your phone is docked: one, hook up a Bluetooth-connected headphone or speaker, or two, make sure you use a monitor that offers audio output (assuming you plugged it to the HDMI output on the Dex).

This brings me to my next point…

 

Be prepared to spend on peripherals

This should go without saying, but it will still come as a shock if you’re not paying attention: getting the DeX to work properly may be more expensive than you expect.

To have a comfortable and productive experience with the DeX, you won’t want to skimp on peripherals. Otherwise, what’s the point?

The cost of putting together a set-up that consists of an above-average display, a keyboard, and a mouse can quickly add up. The first item in this list alone could easily set you back a couple of hundred bucks, even more if you fancy one of those touch-enabled monitors because hey, it’s Android after all. Perhaps fortunately, there’s no need to shell out for a 4K monitor, because the DeX support resolutions of only up to 1080p at this point.

And in case you were wondering: no, your Samsung phone can’t double up as a trackpad or virtual keyboard. Unlike Windows Continuum or Razer’s even conceptual prototype, the phone is pretty much a brick once docked. It’d be nice to have a clock or notification panel showing as a secondary display on the phone, but you’ll have to settle for a glossy black mirror.

Your keyboard and mouse should ideally be wirelessly connected via Bluetooth, or you’ll find yourself running out of USB ports very quickly

These USB ports are important if you don’t subscribe to expansive cloud storage services like Google Drive. You’ll want to tote around a decently-sized flash drive if you plan to work on the same files across the DeX and your PC at home or work. Note that full external hard drives won’t work, and it’s probably because they can’t draw enough power from the DeX to spin up their disks.

Don’t have any keyboards, mice, or flash drives lying around? Great, more stuff to buy.

Even if you’re a geek like me, who has spare monitors, keyboards, and mice collecting dust in my storeroom, you still have that audio issue I mentioned earlier.

So, you’ll either have to upgrade your external display to one with built-in speakers or one with an audio jack to plug in external speakers. Or, shell out even more money for Bluetooth-enabled speakers.

Oh, and make sure those speakers come with mics too, because smartphones are phones too. And you might run into the occasional conference call in your work.

Still keeping tab? Because we’re not done.

For the DeX to truly replace your PC, you’ll need to be able to seamlessly zap into DeX mode at any place you settle down for more than a few hours.

Unless you fancy lugging a DeX station and all essential peripherals around the city, this means you’ll end up with at least two DeX Stations – one at home and one in the office, with twice the number of accessories outlined above.

That’s fine if your workplace invests in a couple of DeX stations to go with their employees’ Samsung phones, but having to buy a few of these for yourself will weigh even more on your pocket.

You either go all-in on DeX, or not at all; there is no in-between.

By now you may be thinking, “Surely you must be exaggerating.” Perhaps, since Samsung assumes most people have an existing screen at home along with input devices, so it shouldn't be difficult to get the Dex up and running, correct?

But the DeX is one of those accessories that there’s no point buying into half-heartedly. Having to hijack an existing screen and re-use existing peripherals is at best only suitable for occasional ad-hoc use and isn't ideal for regular usage. Worse yet, if you spend a small fortune on the DeX and related accessories thinking that maybe you’ll just use it when you’re not on your laptop, I promise you that eventually you’ll end up not using it at all.

Better for office deployment?

From the above perspective, the DeX makes the most sense for enterprises looking for an easier way to manage their employee devices: buy them a Samsung phone each, and you control both their smartphone and PC usage in one stroke.

The concept could be particularly useful in an open concept office, or a co-working space with lots of workers moving in and out. In these scenarios, anyone can just pop into an empty seat or cubicle decked out with a DeX set-up, stick in a phone, and get down to work in an instant.

Still, even this approach is not perfect. What if you need to get work done on-the-go, say, on a long flight? You’re out of luck. Unlike the Motorola Atrix or the HP Elite x3, the DeX has no “lapdock” equivalent. Perhaps Samsung can take a leaf out of Razer’s book here for the next generation of DeX.

There’s another small problem: the software isn’t quite there yet. More on this in the following page.

Some apps are good in DeX mode, but most aren’t

“DeX” is Samsung’s short-hand for “Desktop Experience”, and it fully met my expectations on this front.  The DeX is blessed with a properly-designed desktop user interface (UI) that most people are presumably already comfortable with.

If you’ve spent any time with PCs made in the last decade, the DeX environment will pose no problem at all. All the key elements are there and work exactly like you’d expect them to: an app drawer that shows you all your installed apps, a task bar of open apps lining the bottom of the screen, and a bunch of tiny icons for controls and notifications on the bottom-right.

The biggest issue lies in app compatibility.

At launch, Samsung touted a number of apps fully compatible with DeX mode, including the venerable Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Even Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom apps hold up gracefully in DeX mode.

These apps are expected to improve with time, provided their makers continue to show support for the DeX platform. We’ll also have to put our faith in Samsung as it tries to drum up developer support for DeX-optimized apps.

But for now, using all my regular apps on the DeX feels… uncomfortable. There’s no other word for it. Sure, the apps do run, but they don’t behave in quite the same way. Some can be run in landscape mode, others cannot. Some apps let you resize their window while others don’t.

Some work well with a mouse pointer, others are terribly awkward since they’re made for touch. And while some apps allow you to expand the window to fill the screen, most are not coded to take advantage of the bigger screen estate and the mouse-and-keyboard combo that the DeX offers.

Google Chrome, for example, insists on serving up mobile layouts by default even on DeX mode.

On the other hand, many other apps just refuse to run at all.

Don’t get me started on keyboards. Every so often, my keyboard will mysteriously switch to Chinese input, and it’s probably because I accidentally hit a hot key that triggers it. But for the life of me, I just can’t figure out what it is. The only solution was to disable my Chinese keyboard in DeX mode, only to re-enable it after I exit DeX mode.

As a result, I could never really enter my state of productive flow when using the DeX. Compared to a traditional Windows laptop, which I’ve had decades to master, the DeX somehow always throws me a curve ball every once in a while to break up my concentration.

Putting the desktop in DeX

So far, there doesn’t seem to be a really compelling reason to run out and buy the DeX right now. Most of us simply won’t have a good reason to do so.

But here’s the little secret that Samsung isn’t telling you yet: the DeX isn’t just trying to be an optimized Android interface blown up into a big screen.

The company’s end-game seems to be bringing the entire desktop experience to its smartphones.

Just a few months ago, Samsung announced that DeX users will soon be able to run Linux distributions powered by just their smartphones.

Play

This opens up a world of possibilities. Full-blown desktop apps running from a smartphone! Even if they are Linux apps, which are not very common.

But it’s not impossible that we could see Windows 10 running from an Android phone in the near future now that Microsoft has announced its first ARM-based Windows laptops.

In the meantime, the DeX can technically already offer the full Windows desktop experience to those who desire it through its compatibility with VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) solutions, such as Amazon WorkSpaces, VMware Horizon and Citrix Receiver.

Sadly, you probably don’t have access to these solutions as they’re generally part of very expensive enterprise plans. For regular Joes like you and me, there appears to be a lack of compatible remote desktop access apps.

I tried out several free or consumer-targeted apps like Parallels Access and TeamViewer, but they all turned out to be incompatible with DeX, with no indication of when compatibility will come, if ever. The best workaround came in the form of a third-party app called DEX MAX, which grants the power of going full screen in DeX to every app you have.

Nonetheless, this is not a difficult problem to fix in the grand scheme of things. And once Samsung does that, the DeX will be that much more powerful.

What else can you use the DeX for?

With all that talk about work and productivity apps, it’s easy to forget that Samsung meant for us to have fun with the DeX, too.

The company has partnered with game developers to enhance their games for the keyboard and mouse, including the popular MOBA Vainglory and the MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of mobile games, so porting these games over to the big screen and giving them keyboard and mouse controls does nothing to increase their appeal for me. But for fans, the small investment in DeX to bring their favorite games to the big screen could be a big plus.

But I really see the potential for the DeX to be a home entertainment hub.

A “DeX for TV” platform could transform any plain old television into a smart television, complete with video streaming, casual gaming, and other custom app experiences. Throw in customized remote controls and gaming controllers and Samsung may just give the Apple TV or other dodgy Android set-top boxes a run for their money.

Imagine how awesome it would be to come home after a long day, plop your phone into a dock, and immediately begin enjoying your favorite shows streaming off Netflix or YouTube without having to mess around with wireless casting or their ilk.

Conclusion

Here’s the million-dollar question: should you get the DeX?

I have to admit, I cheated. A lot.

Frankly, I was extremely relieved to be able to go back to my Windows 10 laptop whenever I wanted and settle back into the familiar productive flow that I’ve painstakingly cultivated and trained myself in over years of practice.

Whenever I needed to complete a task that took too much effort to “make it work” on the DeX, I just switched to my laptop to avoid wasting time.

But all things considered, I do think that the DeX is a good product. In fact, it’s the best attempt at desktop-smartphone convergence that I’ve seen to date.

Even so, there is clearly work to be done, both on the hardware and software fronts.

But Samsung is clearly showing commitment to the DeX. Recent leaks appear to show Samsung fixing two of the biggest hardware annoyances: allowing the phone to double up as a trackpad when docked, and freeing up the audio jack for external speakers or headphones. It looks to be a lot more compact and suitable for traveling with, too.

If Samsung is giving this much attention to fixing the first DeX’s hardware shortcomings, we can be reasonably hopeful that many of the software and app issues will be fixed too.

The only problem is that no one really needs it. It’s a nice-to-have accessory that augments your S8, S8+, or Note8, but chances are you’ll struggle to find a fit for it between all the gadgets you already own.

For the DeX to be a compelling purchase, its features and functionality must eclipse the tried-and-tested laptop formula. It has to be able to somehow be powerful enough to be the centerpiece device of our computing lives, have the flexibility to morph into any form factor we need it to be at any point in time, and offer corresponding software that works seamlessly just like we’re used to no matter the screen size.

That’s no small feat, but I believe we’ll get there sooner than you might think.

For now, hold off on the purchase and let’s look at what Samsung will bring to the table at its UNPACKED event this year.

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