Dex2

Do Try This At Home (or at the Office): Unleash the Power of Your Galaxy S8 or S9 With DeX!
A hands-on with the Samsung DeX Pad. Part 2

So, did we whet your appetite in Part 1 for more features and a cheaper price point for the Samsung DeX Desktop Experience?

Let’s have a close looks at the DeX Pad which Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S9 series.

First up: it works just fine with the Galaxy S8 as well and we’ll be using that phone here.
The DeX Pad comes complete with a Fast Charge Wall Charger, USB-C Cable, HDMI Cable, and Quick Start Guide. So this means you can go straight to work with this platform.

The shape and size is that of your Galaxy phone. It is lightweight and a more practical design than the DeX Station.
The Pad “misses” the ethernet port but most internet connections are wireless anyways these days. Except perhaps in corporate offices and since Samsung is hoping for a big uptake in businesses, leaving that port out could be a big mistake… The DeX platform might make it easier for IT managers to keep things simple in the office. Perhaps we’ll see an even more capable Pad II specifically for the business environment next year?

20180706 165547

The HDMI 2.0 port on the other hand is a slight upgrade and should be able to handle resolutions up to WQHD (2560×1440 pixels). We have tried to select a higher res on our WQHD monitor but it is greyed out in the options….

The monitor screen layout is exactly the same as with the Station version.
As a flat trackpad it is far superior to the trackpad function on the angled Station.
Another simple improvement: the DeX Pad doesn’t slide at all on a smooth desk. It has 4 rubber feet instead of one small one on the Station.
The headphone jack is accessible on the Pad when docked and it can be docked with the original Samsung flip cover (yeah!)

Now, if you could log in to your remote desktop and mirror that on your DeX monitor, that would be helpful, no? Well, Samsung is offering that through Citrix, VMware and Amazon Web Services. We have not tested that out yet and we have read that this functionality is really not ready for prime time at this time.

Handling calls: Just click on a pop-up notification and answer the call. Also if you want to pick up the phone and move to a quieter area, the call will not be dropped.

The latest news from the Samsung camp is also that the Pad will be able to support dual screen capability. We’ll test that out when the Galaxy Tab S4 will be announced shortly.

csm de dex pad ee m5100 ee m5100tbegww dynamicblack 93220436 2c5955837e

CONCLUSION

So here’s the Big Diff compared with the DeX Station: the DeX Pad comes with an HDMI cable and a fast charger + cable AND is cheaper! Around the AUD135 mark officially.

The DeX Pad is a much better, more practical and cheaper offering to get some Desktop Experience for your latest Galaxy smartphones. Case closed.

Head over to MobileZap to check it out for yourself!

20180706 165614