Can The Galaxy S8 Really Function As A Work Computer?

In particular, some humans, freelance writers, and I have long used our smartphones as secondary computer systems. I estimate that more than half of the heaps of labor emails sent in 2016 were typed on a mobile tool. Heck, I’ve even posted a Forbes publish completely on a cellphone.

But Samsung is taking the telephone-as-laptop element to every other level with Dex, a US$150 dock that turns the Galaxy S8/S8+ into a fully practical PC (although a few third-party sites, like Mobile Fun, are promoting it at inexpensive at US$one hundred thirty).

To get started, you’ll want the Dex, a Galaxy S8/S8+, a TV or monitor that helps HDMI input, an HDMI cable (now not covered inside the Dex bundle), a USB-C strength supply for the Dex (essentially a charger for the S8), a mouse and keyboard. So, if you’re retaining music at home, you’ll want five extra portions. If you use a stressed keyboard and mouse, you’ll wish to use USB-A ports, which the Dex offers in the back of the tool (at the side of an Ethernet port). I opted for my Dell Bluetooth mouse/keyboard blend that best wishes one USB dongle.

The first time you plug in the S8, the Dex will guide you via a brief set-up, and after that, you’ll be taken to a desktop set-up that resembles a regular Mac laptop. At the bottom is a “dock” with some of your apps, and scrolling through them brings about this Mac-like animation in which the highlighted app grows in length. The app tray is in the left corner, where the Windows “start” button is. Whatever custom launcher/app icon you have selected in your S8 disappears here — the laptop uses Samsung’s inventory icons and look.

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Most 0.33 party apps you open could be cellular variations of the apps — which means they open as a small vertical rectangle –. Still, like Gmail, a few appear to have been optimized, resulting in a much wider field that indicates an extra plane of records. Along with the calendar and internet browser, Samsung’s apps have been optimized for the huge display screen experience. Most app windows can be resized or moved across the laptop.

When using the S8 as a smartphone, I use Chrome as opposed to Samsung’s internet browser; however, with the Dex, it’s worth sticking with Samsung’s own. It’s faster and smoother and masses webpages in the desktop format instead of mobile. I opened plenty of apps, including the Forbes CMS, on which I’m penning this proper now, with no troubles. The internet browsing enjoyed on the Dex is, in most cases, marvelous, except it does not aid Flash, so a few pages might not load.

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Because the Dex is your cellphone strolling on a monitor/TV, you may send messages like WhatsApp directly from the desktop. You may even make calls. But the Dex dock covers the S8’s headphone jack so that you’ll have to pair the device to a Bluetooth speaker or deal with certainly crappy sound out of the S8’s mediocre unmarried speaker.

I am on the fourth day of using the Dex as a laptop, having written multiple movie critiques, and currently, this publish, and the general enjoys a nice wonder. The S8 comes as a laptop that may run smoother than a cellphone (that is laggy and slower than, say, the OnePlus 3T or Huawei Mate Nine Pro); however, in the long run, it can not evaluate the usage of a great computing device.

A few no longer-so-minor insects right now should be fixed with time. The Spotify app will no longer run, and you cannot replicate text from the Gmail app. It hasn’t gotten within the manner of my work revel in, but if these insects are nevertheless there a month later, that’ll be some other tale.

Overall, the Dex works as advertised. The S8 can be a work PC, as a minimum, for newshounds and writers. If I changed into a picture dressmaker or video editor, the Dex wouldn’t fare as nicely. But the big query is, will we want this element? As cited in advance, you need a keyboard and mouse to run the Dex, and if you have a keyboard, that means you already own a computer. So, under what situations could you need the Dex? The simplest one I can consider is in case you’re a commercial enterprise visitor and you like to travel very, very mild — the S8, Dex, a small keyboard, mouse, and HDMI cable are all you would need to work at the inn (you’ll use the hotel TV as shown.

Sandy Ryan
Writer. Music advocate. Devoted bacon trailblazer. Hardcore web fanatic. Travel junkie. Avid creator. Thinker. Skateboarder, coffee addict, record lover, reclaimed wood collector and RGD member. Producing at the junction of minimalism and mathematics to craft delightful brand experiences. I'm a designer and this is my work.