These are my 5 favorite Samsung DeX use cases

As somebody whose work is generally web-first, I’m very open to experimenting with future-forward methods of computing. Thus far, I’ve tried an iPad-first, Android tablet-first, and even distant desktop-based work environments. That stated, I’m all in regards to the cellular life, and a system that seamlessly switches between a desktop and a pocketable on-the-go machine is the dream. Coincidentally, Samsung DeX on my Galaxy S23 Extremely does precisely that.

I firmly imagine that the crossover between telephones and conventional computer systems is far nearer than many would think about. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that I’ve been intrigued by Samsung’s DeX expertise. When Samsung introduced DeX on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, it skyrocketed to the highest of my record of telephones to check out. Quick ahead to the newest and biggest Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, and DeX stays a characteristic that I take advantage of no less than a number of instances a month in some methods you’d anticipate and others you may not. Right here’s a more in-depth take a look at how I take advantage of DeX on my Samsung telephones.

Like some other gamer, I like the newest and biggest online game titles, however there’s a sure consolation in settling in along with your childhood favorites. Whereas my outdated Home windows machine was once the middle of my retro-arcade gaming, I’ve graduated to a Samsung cellphone over time for good cause.

For one, emulation on Android has come a good distance. Apps like AetherSX2 allow full-speed emulation for the PlayStation 2. Coupled with a high-quality Bluetooth gaming controller, Android telephones are shaping as much as be the flagbearer for emulation on the go. Nevertheless, what satisfied me to change to a Samsung flagship was the comfort of having the ability to carry over my emulated video games to a big display. I’ve beforehand dabbled with syncing save states between my desktop and cellphone utilizing Dropbox or Google Drive. Nevertheless, it’s a relatively janky answer and doesn’t all the time work. Samsung DeX permits me to have a seamless gaming expertise when out and about and at dwelling. Consider it like a Nintendo Change, however for old-school retro gaming.

Right here’s what my workflow appears like. Fairly a number of front-ends can be found for emulation on Android, however I desire to return to the tried and examined Retroarch principally for its XMB interface that harkens again to the PlayStation 3. I’ve acquired a complete library of PlayStation 1 and PlayStation Moveable titles dumped from my consoles saved up on my Galaxy S23 Extremely. When on the go, I slap my cellphone right into a sport controller for a little bit of Jean D’Arc, Wipeout, or Disaster Core motion. As soon as dwelling, I swap my Galaxy S23 Extremely to Dex by connecting a USB-C to HDMI cable and am able to proceed the motion on a bigger show. My PlayStation 5‘s DualSense controller pairs up natively with the cellphone, and button mapping is a cinch. It’s that simple.

In case your pursuits in gaming are a bit extra fashionable, you possibly can obtain the identical outcomes with a number of the greatest Android video games too.

My greatest gripe with even the fanciest lodge chain is the horrible leisure choice on supply. Every now and then, I’ve carried an Amazon Fireplace TV stick to me. I preserve one arrange with all my most popular companies, able to be linked to lodge Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, captive portals and bandwidth restrictions can typically dampen the expertise. Moreover, it means carrying an additional charger, cables, and remotes. Generally lodge TVs don’t also have a spare energy port accessible close by.

My answer is simple. I’ve switched to utilizing DeX on my Samsung telephones to beam over no matter content material I wish to a lodge tv. I normally carry a spare USB-C to HDMI cable in my tech package, and that’s all it takes. From Netflix to Emby or Plex and even native media saved on my cellphone, I not must depend upon the lodge’s leisure choice. Higher nonetheless, I can bypass poor Wi-Fi to stream all my favourite content material over 5G. I’ve additionally used the characteristic to shortly flick through images I’d shot that day on an enormous display.

Beaming up leisure is one factor, however DeX mode works remarkably effectively for productiveness duties as effectively. Samsung’s deep collaboration with Microsoft signifies that the telephones ship with Workplace apps pre-installed. So long as you’re employed on a single doc, the Microsoft Workplace suite simply scales as much as a big 4K show and consists of a lot of the performance you must edit paperwork, work on spreadsheets with moderately complicated formulation, and even make displays.

Nevertheless, you want workarounds to work on a number of paperwork concurrently. I discover it handy to drag up Workplace 365 within the browser for this. It’s simple sufficient to open three or 4 paperwork concurrently to overview and edit data. Every now and then, I’ll have the Slack app open as effectively, and oodles of RAM makes it simple sufficient to get work accomplished. Whereas I’m an Workplace 365 subscriber, the identical may be achieved by way of Google Docs.

My monitor is a 43-inch Samsung Body TV that lets me wirelessly run DeX mode. That is significantly helpful because it lets me overview paperwork or PDFs from my cellphone on my massive display. A fast toggle of my mouse and keyboard’s shortcut keys pairs them up with my cellphone, making the Galaxy S23 Extremely a totally wi-fi computing answer.

A few of you may be questioning if Samsung DeX can substitute a laptop computer. Nice as it’s, DeX isn’t a drop-in alternative for each use case. Generally I would like a full-blown desktop PC or want to manage my distant server. I log in to my pc utilizing Parsec or an identical distant desktop utility. Blown as much as full dimension, it offers me full-speed entry to my dwelling pc proper from the palm of my hand and near-native entry to my servers. In fact, it’s doable to perform the identical factor instantly on the cellphone’s display, however the DeX expertise makes it higher.

And it isn’t simply nice for large-screen entry. It additionally permits windowing. This turns out to be useful when wanting up particular instructions in a browser window. If you wish to play PC video games utilizing DeX, gaming-optimized distant desktop options like Parsec could possibly be an answer to log in to your Steam library remotely.

As I discussed earlier, I prefer to dabble in web-first options that may simply transition between my cellphone, pill, and pc. For instance, I haven’t given up Photoshop on my pc but, however net apps like Photopea and Canva get frequent use as they let me carry my work over to my cellphone for fast edits and changes.

These instruments really come into their very own when blown up on a big show. The Galaxy S23 Extremely in DeX mode can simply deal with desktop-class modifying, picture manipulation, and extra. This is sensible for the reason that apps are primarily operating within the browser.

A favourite is Photopea — a particularly nifty software when you plan to do critical picture manipulation. The online app is designed to be a full-blown Photoshop various in your browser, and I’ve used it a number of instances by DeX mode on the go. It’s an incredible step up above Lightroom when you must get into the weeds with a number of layers of modifying.

For those who actually wish to push what you are able to do with Dex, writing code utilizing the web model of VS Code can also be doable. It really works and compiles simply high quality on the built-in browser. That stated, I wouldn’t use it for far more than reviewing code or making mild edits on the go.

Bringing cellphone apps to the massive display

The sky is the restrict when you go down the cellphone apps in your massive display route. It’s simple sufficient to get fairly revolutionary. A sneaky little use case of mine is to drag up the Pocket Casts Android app on the massive display. Pocket Casts has been my go-to podcast app for over 5 years. Sadly, its accompanying net app wants a subscription. However we’re in the midst of a recession, and I don’t wish to spend cash only for the comfort of accessing the identical podcasts on a bigger display. So I dock my cellphone to my common USB-C to HDMI answer and entry the common app on my monitor.

A glimpse into the longer term — at this time

My examples simply scratch the floor of what you should use DeX for, but it surely ought to be loads clear that it’s a characteristic geared at energy customers. Furthermore, it’s apparent that Samsung’s DeX mode isn’t going to interchange a pc simply but. In my case, the flexibility of DeX has shortly made it essential addition. Extra in order a frequent traveler and energy person. A lot in order that it surprises me that not many different OEMs have experimented with comparable options.

It may not be the simplest characteristic to market. Nonetheless, DeX is hands-down a kind of additions that profit from the sheer quantity of processing energy at our disposal in at this time’s flagship telephones and comes into its personal when you’ve acquired a wi-fi DeX-compatible show. I’d go so far as saying that it is among the few smartphone use instances that give us a glimpse into the way forward for computing.