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The original was posted on /r/samsungdex by /u/smcb66 on 2023-09-28 23:12:58.
I've been using dex occasionally for the last few years with my s21 ultra. Sometimes with my portable zenscreen, occasionally with my 32" 4k monitor.
Today, I had to record some live sessions on my work pc that my company was presenting, which meant no interruptions on the work laptop (quit out of slack & email, and don't do anything else that could interrupt recording) .... 3+ hours worth of it.
And, i'm a Windows developer - been doing this a LONG time.
So instead of using another laptop to do work, I gave Dex a good try today. What I used:
- S21 Ultra 512gb
- samsung 45w pd power supply
- Anker 555 usb-c hub (4k hdmi, usb-c power in, usb-c out, 2 usb-a, sd/microsd, ethernet)
- wireless keyboard with usb-a dongle
- Microsoft ergonomic bluetooth mouse
- wired ethernet connection
The good:
- I was able to do a lot of work, mostly in web browsers (github, vscode.dev, etc)
- Slack works in a web browser reasonably well.
- 4k looks nice in dex
The bad:
- The outlook client for android really sucks compared to the real corporate windows outlook client. But I can live with that.
- The slack app sucks on dex
- Everything just feels slightly "sluggish" compared to a decent windows laptop
- Windows keyboard shortcuts don't work in a lot of android apps... I really missed that.
- Mouse movement is just not as smooth as windows.... trying to adjust pointer speed and such helps, but it still doesn't compare to windows
- Not a lot of control of how browsers display things (like zoom, etc)
- My setup only allows 4k30 without getting an
My takeaways -
- Dex is nice, but it still needs more polishing and refining to fully compete with a windows laptop (if it ever could compete?)
- Even though my hub supports 4k60, because of phone bandwidth i'll only get 4k30. But for regular work, this works. I wasn't watching movies or playing games.
- A decent (but pricey) docking station might provide a better experience. Not sure though.
- More apps need to be redesigned to support dex better (like slack, reddit, and many more)
- In an unusual or emergency situation, dex is there, and can do the basics and then some. For my daily use, it is just not ready yet.
- I'm hoping the S24 ultra has a decently faster cpu to smooth out some of these things on 4k.
- I thought about switching to my HD monitor, it probably would have been a smoother experience, but less screen real estate. As a developer, I love screen real estate. My laptop has a 4k display, and with a dell TB docking station, I have 3 external monitors (2 hd, one 4k) so I run with 4 monitors all day long.
- Still looking for a decent github client that will let me clone repos to and android device. Any suggestions?
- As more things transition to the cloud, dex becomes more appealing.