Theoretically, the DeX could be a less expensive way to outfit employees with computers, except that it would require companies to have a mobile-first strategy for equipment, something that's still pretty rare in a time when most business hand out laptops and call it a day. But still, support for higher-resolution images would have been nice. With the extra horsepower needed to push that many pixels, I can understand the choice to limit the DeX to full HD. (You will need YouTube Red, since that's the only way to get YouTube to play in the background while you're multitasking, although even YouTube isn't always reliable.)Īnother restriction of the DeX is that even though the S8 features a 2960 x 1440 WQHD+ display, the system can output a max resolution of 1920 x 1080. You can even have YouTube playing off on the side at the same time, with almost no impact on performance. However, if you just want to have multiple web pages, a Word doc, Twitter and Spotify all going at the same time, a DeXed S8 will serve you just fine. You can't play two games at the same time - not because the S8 can't handle it, but because Android won't let you. There are also some annoying limitations with DeX. Additionally, aliasing on text makes letters look more jagged on the DeX and decreases readability a bit. When I watched a game of Overwatch at 1080p/60 fps on the DeX next to an all-in-one PC playing the same video, the DeX's clip looked blurrier and had more artifacting than when I watched the same clip on the nearby all-in-one PC. Videos and images don't look quite as sharp as they should when served up by a DeX-equipped S8. There are some downsides to the DeX compared to more traditional desktops. MORE: Best Chromebooks DeX Limitations: What needs work, what's missing When you compare a DeX-equipped Galaxy S8 to Android-based devices like the Lenovo Yoga Book in the Geekbench 4 benchmark, which measures overall performance, the S8's score is nearly twice as high (6,134 vs 3,211). It's not until you upgrade to Chromebooks that are in the $400 to $500 range, like the Asus Chromebook Flip C302CA, that you'll see better performance, which makes sense considering the Flip sports an Intel Core m3 CPU. With a score of 71.16 on the JetStream 1.1 JavaScript test, the S8 showed better web-browsing performance than similarly priced Chromebooks, such as the $200 Asus Chromebook C202 (48.25) and the $150 Lenovo N22 (50.8). Some officially supported apps offer a similar experience to what you get on a laptop or desktop, but a lot of rough edges remain with the DeX. MORE: The 10 Best Phones Available Can DeX replace your PC?Īs handy as the DeX can be, it's not really a replacement for a traditional PC or laptop. Finally, in the bottom right corner, there's something that looks like an old Windows system tray, which gives you easy access to your recent notifications, quick settings and shortcuts for things like volume, search tool and device alerts. On the bottom of the screen, you'll find familiar icons for your app drawer, recent apps and home, while the center of the bottom taskbar is where you'll see all your currently open apps. There's even an icon for the S8's file manager, which can be pretty helpful, though not as useful as it could be, since you can't drag and drop files from one app to another. Joe brings that same passion to How-To Geek.When you want to get down to business, you can use the handful of native Samsung apps (Gallery, Internet, Messages, etc.) found along the left side of the desktop screen. If something piques his interest, he will dive into it headfirst and try to learn as much as possible. Outside of technology, Joe is an avid DIYer, runner, and food enthusiast. After several years of jailbreaking and heavily modifying an iPod Touch, he moved on to his first smartphone, the HTC DROID Eris. He got his start in the industry covering Windows Phone on a small blog, and later moved to Phandroid where he covered Android news, reviewed devices, wrote tutorials, created YouTube videos, and hosted a podcast.įrom smartphones to Bluetooth earbuds to Z-Wave switches, Joe is interested in all kinds of technology. He has written thousands of articles, hundreds of tutorials, and dozens of reviews.īefore joining How-To Geek, Joe worked at XDA-Developers as Managing Editor and covered news from the Google ecosystem. Joe loves all things technology and is also an avid DIYer at heart. He has been covering Android and the rest of the Google ecosystem for years, reviewing devices, hosting podcasts, filming videos, and writing tutorials. Joe Fedewa has been writing about technology for over a decade.
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