Samsung DeX and Google Ecosystem Plan

[Sarbun96]

Hello everybody, I'll keep this as short as I can, but I wanted to hear your ideas on how this might pan out.

Until recently, I was totally invested in the Apple Ecosystem - iPhone, Watch, TV, iPad Pro (before that MacBook Pro). Got rid of my Mac because it was overkill and WFH meant being on a laptop all-day felt uncomfortable. Got rid of the iPad because it was too limited and restricted for its price (it was a top end Pro 2020). I bought a dirt cheap Windows 10 PC - doing a good job - and have been hunting for the Android phone to better support Microsoft services.

My choices were between the Note 20 Ultra 5G and making a serious investment and enjoying the benefits of a pen / tablet in a large powerful phone. or the S20 FE 4G, keeping it low cost and reasonable, or the Xperia 5 II - somewhere in the middle, good hardware and performance but middle of the road cost wise. I will never achieve the level of Apple integration with Android and Windows, as there is crossover between Microsoft's interests, Google's interests and Samsung's interests - and different partnerships etc will probably keep it this way for a while, such as limiting W10 and Samsung sync features. I've accepted this.

Now, I'm thinking... as my needs are relatively simple, perhaps I should get a Samsung latest phone with DeX and just use this through my Work PC during the day, plug it into my desktop monitor and keyboard when needed, and use Google services for my music, photos, etc how I used to use Apple, as Google and Android will have superb integration of course, and unlike my Mac <> iPhone or my Windows <> Android ideas, my content will literally be in one place, my phone, and in my pocket all the time when I need it, and then in an ergonomic, comfortable and stretched out desktop Windowed interface when I need it. And I'd have my Work PC for some odd tasks and bulk file management if Android slips up.

Do you think there are any major flaws in this idea? I'm always searching for that 'one ultimate device' that is life friendly and worth the investment. But Apple want us to own numerous of their products - Mac for a desktop layout, iPhone for calls, iPad for pen input... Microsoft wants you to own a PC... The Samsungs seem to tick all the boxes? It seems too good to be true..

Your feedback and opinions is incredibly valuable to me, and also which S20 to go for from regular to Note Ultra?

 

[sracer]

Sounds like a good plan. Given my experiences in pushing devices with mobile operating systems beyond the mainstream, you are more likely to be successful with a Windows/Android combo than macOS/iOS combo. But that greatly depends upon what you need your devices to do and how close you want your mobile device to function as a desktop/laptop-type device.

I currently have a mix of devices... way too many... and the number of them with the Apple logo are gradually decreasing.

A few days ago I purchased a Galaxy Tab S6 and I'm very excited to see how DeX will function. for years I've been on a quest for the "holy grail" of mobile devices that would be able to function as a netbook/notebook as well as a mobile media consumption. I've gotten close a few times... on the surface, this seems like it might get the closest yet.

I'm generally not a fan of spending a lot of money on smartphones. They're too expensive for what you get, more likely to get damaged, and don't have as long of a lifespan as other form-factors like tablets and notebooks.

Having said that, if I could get a DeX-equipped smartphone for under $300, I would consider that path too.

One thing to consider is, what will be your plan to back-up (non-cloud storage copy) of for media and files. Ubiquitous access to your files in the cloud is very convenient, but "stuff" happens and only having your data in the cloud is risky.

 

[Sarbun96]

Today I just placed the order for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G. What a huge investment though, I really hope it lives up to the hype. Given that Samsung have been working on DeX now for a few years, I'm confident it's not going to disappear overnight. It's going to be mad that this phone can drive my 1080p monitor when my former iPad Pro couldn't... woah

 

[sracer]

Today I just placed the order for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G. What a huge investment though, I really hope it lives up to the hype. Given that Samsung have been working on DeX now for a few years, I'm confident it's not going to disappear overnight. It's going to be mad that this phone can drive my 1080p monitor when my former iPad Pro couldn't... woah

Here we go! 😅

Please update this thread as you use your Note 20 with DeX. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who is interested with how your experiment is going.

 

[Sarbun96]

Here we go! ?

Please update this thread as you use your Note 20 with DeX. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who is interested with how your experiment is going.

I will do!

 

[kuroe]

I've been using my Fold 2 with Dex as my primary computing machine, it's been an interesting experience with some ups and downs. But overall, having a combined phone/tablet/desktop with all my books, music, etc, in one device has been awesome.

For simpler computing needs, such as browsing the web, watching Netflix, listening to music, etc, Dex has worked pretty well for me. As an added bonus, it's nice to have native apps for stuff that is web-only on desktop (e.g. google photos, youtube music, kindle, etc). I also have a nexdock touch, which works well for me when I'm on the go. No need to tether or hunt for public wifi!

Caveat, one really big thing that really bugged me was that you can't, by default, resize all of your apps. For example, the netflix app could only run in a narrow portrait app window, which as you can imagine, is awful. The Amazon kindle app wouldn't even load!'

The workaround is easy to setup, but even having to run a workaround indicates that there's still some room for improvements with the Dex experience.

FYI, the workaround for to enable all apps to be openable/resizable is:

- in android developer options, enable "force activities to be resizable" and "enable freeform windows"
- activate dex developer mode (yes, this is separate from the android developer options). this is needed for kindle, prime video, and a few other apps
- reboot phone after enabling the settings

Overall though, I'd say give it a shot. I use my Fold 2 with an official Dex Pad + 34" ultrawide monitor, along with the nexdock touch when I'm on the go.

Side note, I do still have a separate Macbook Pro for my professional work, etc. In practice, I almost never boot that macbook outside of when I need it for programming, etc.

 

[Sarbun96]

Okay, early update, having some doubts already about the £1200 on a phone... Contemplating returning it on arrival just in case it doesn't live up to my expectations? (Terrible thread for those who might follow hoping to do the same, I know)

 

[sracer]

Okay, early update, having some doubts already about the £1200 on a phone... Contemplating returning it on arrival just in case it doesn't live up to my expectations? (Terrible thread for those who might follow hoping to do the same, I know)

That twinge of buyer's remorse is to be expected when spending that much on something one isn't over-the-top sure they're going to be delighted with.

If you want to experiment with DeX on a smartphone, you don't have another option.

The brief tinkering I've done with DeX on my Tab S6 + keyboard case has been... quite pleasant. (I'm fighting against the over-enthusiasm that comes with playing around with any new gadget) ?

 

[Sarbun96]

That twinge of buyer's remorse is to be expected when spending that much on something one isn't over-the-top sure they're going to be delighted with.

If you want to experiment with DeX on a smartphone, you don't have another option.

The brief tinkering I've done with DeX on my Tab S6 + keyboard case has been... quite pleasant. (I'm fighting against the over-enthusiasm that comes with playing around with any new gadget) ?

I looked into the refund / returns, this retailer will only give me a gift card... Not my money back. So in that case, what else would I do with the money? Last night I contemplated going back to Apple, the M1 Air maybe... that sure does feel like the 'safe' option right now to go back... but I left for a reason (massive thread explaining that). I don't want to go back to iPad, again left that for a reason.

This morning, with a fresh mind I am now back into the Note 20 Ultra idea... with DeX and using this £100 PC laptop in DeX if I need to work out and about, giving me the keyboard / mouse when I need it. The inflexibility of something like a MacBook Air (forgetting the M1) alone puts me off a laptop frankly.

Something I'm struggling with now is that I've been moving my content away from iCloud successfully to OneDrive. Now, to Google Drive - photos too. How do I know if I should use Samsung services of Google's? I hear the Galaxy will ask me if I want to save my passwords to Samsung's keychain AND Google's ... is using both a good option? Which is better?

The overwhelmingness of 'choice' to an Apple user, who has always just had the 'one right way' decided for him time and time again is a huge barrier I did not foresee.. Any input to Google vs. Samsung appreciated. I did consider the Pixel being a 'pure Google' experience, but it lacked any high end tech and no desktop mode, no pen etc, the reasons I'm so fond of the Note in theory in being that 'ultimate device'

 

[The_Interloper]

How do I know if I should use Samsung services of Google's? I hear the Galaxy will ask me if I want to save my passwords to Samsung's keychain AND Google's ... is using both a good option? Which is better?

I use LastPass for password management, simply as it's completely cross-platform (and free). It means my passwords can be on Android, iOS, iPadOS, Mac, Windows and in any browser.

 

[sracer]

I use LastPass for password management, simply as it's completely cross-platform (and free). It means my passwords can be on Android, iOS, iPadOS, Mac, Windows and in any browser.

THIS is the type of approach the OP should take. Whenever possible, use options that aren't tied into any one platform.

 

[kuroe]

I'd personally recommend Bitwarden (or 1password) over Lastpass. Bitwarden is open-source, free, and has been through a few security audits. It's also cross platform, and can even be self hosted (self-hosting requires some more technical knowledge, probably not everyone's cup of tea).

 

[Sarbun96]

Hi guys, I'm still getting the emails and order updates from the courier. apparently the Note 20 Ultra will arrive tomorrow. If it does, I'm going to call the retailer and the financer and see if they'll let me 'uncancel'... it's a long shot.

But in the past two days, I restored everything to my iCloud, moved back to Apple services and started following all the coverage of the new M1 Macs, and they look promising. However, they are still a conventional laptop, no tablet function, no benefit from them if I'm not willing to sit at home or at a desk...

One of the reasons I freaked about the Note 20 Ultra was that it lacked a 'keyboard' for me to sit and type or message in bed or at the coffee shop. Well, with a Nexdock or even my work PC laptop I could have all my content / logins run in a Window and keep my Note charged. And when we go back to the office, I can actually use it on screen alongside my work. Things like this slipped my mind and I forgot that's what made the Note 20 Ultra such an 'ulltimate device' for me in the first place.

My only doubts now really are over the Exynos 990, however if it's as good as last years Snapdragon flagship that should be fine (ironically less powerful than my iPhone XR though).

I wonder will they let me keep the Note or will I need to order it again...

 

[Sarbun96]

Okay, good news, the retailer let me un-cancel the order and it should be here within an hour! Woooo!

Got a genuine Samsung Clear Protective Cover for it for half price at O2. Not bad! No risking the new device. I reckon the size will cause it to be very dropable!

 

[Sarbun96]

So I'm nearly finished setting it all up. It's been challenging to not be overwhelmed, but I kind of knew what to expect compared to Apple. DeX is fantastic! The Exynos 990 does heat up, but it's more than good enough performance wise with all the constant downloads I've been doing and other big initial setup jobs. It's also under a lot of pressure with DeX and the pen support etc. It's really unbelievable what a smartphone can do.

I'm not saying that iPhones should be like this, but at least the Pro Max should be Apple's answer to this IMO. I can see how some people just have no interest whatsoever and that it's a very niche feature. But something I've discovered is these are no 'half baked' gimmicks like I worried, I can tell the S-Pen has been carefully evolved very much how Excel has ... over many years tailoring solutions to all kinds of use problems and cases for its users some of which I might actually make part of my daily life! Yesterday I was shopping and saw the new iPhone side by side, I have to admit, the Mini looked best, the Pro Max was nice too, and huge, but again, same grid of apps, same functionality except for a slightly better camera... I don't feel that justifies the money? Anyway, Apple knows what it's doing. But I think I've moved out of the mainstream iPhone camp now into this niche world of Note.

DeX on the other hand, is still a little half baked, but watching some reviews I can hear the reviewers mentioning things that have recently been fixed etc in each update, so that's good that they consider it worthy of further development. It's got potential to be the future of our computing. Imagine, a foldable like a Duo or Fold... an easy to grip phone, a reasonable but compact tablet and then a full on PC when we need it. Everything in the tech world is just booming right now be it Apple's new chips showing the capability of ARM and this new hardware excelling in new form factors ... exciting times.

One note on Dex, typing this has been somewhat laggy. It feels like an iPad when bogged down with background tasks and a bluetooth keyboard. I'm using it via a cheap i3 Windows PClaptop in DeXwindow mode <-- you see those lack of spaces? It's been doing that rather annoyingly as Itype all of this. Earlier, when I ran it direct via HDMI / bluetooth keyboard and mouse it was fully responsive with no lag. Interesting observation

 

[Sarbun96]

Today was the first day I took it out to test the camera. Wow, this thing is insane. I can see ships out at sea! Looking at the photos I've attached, they were taken from the same spot. This is insane! Sure, I can't think of times I'd 'NEED' this, but having it switch to another lens when it starts to get grainy with the digital zoom is satisfying.

One thing Apple and the A14 etc, has nailed, is battery life. My old iPhone XR would still have had 55-60% left after today. Granted, it doesn't have as advanced a camera system, display or pen etc, so that's to be slightly expected, but still this thing would do me fine for a day. My car doesn't charge it as fast, I suspect I'll need an Anker grade fast power delivery charge box - that's still lighter than a laptop and I can still use it in transit or at a cafe with a little wire running out of my backpack.

I also have to remark Bixby is total trash.Worse than 2011 Siri IMO. It's hearing my say ''Shuffle all songs" or "call John", but its constantly saying 'I'm sorry I'm having some difficulty doing that" etc... Useless. And when I summon it by the button in my car, it'll trigger (LATE), head what I say and either ask me to unlock my phone, despite the phone knowing it's connected to my car, or will do nothing, and stop my music playing... I can't even get it to play until I stop and play it manually.This morning once it did work, I paused the song to dry my hair. When I asked it to play, it just started shuffling a new song from my library. I'm tempted to switch to Google Assistant really (it's nice to have the choice) but Bixby Routines looks powerful and I suspect less limited than Siri Shortcuts, which I never really got into as back when it came out and I had some ideas for it Apple wouldn't let me do em...

The phone has an overwhelming number of choices for just about everything. Though I was happy that Samsung have it designed to pop up on the camera to say things like 'Brighten this night shot up with Night Mode' , or 'Switch to 108MP to capture the full detail of this landscape shot' etc. I'm not sure if it's the OLED display which in classic Samsung fashion is way oversaturated... but all of the photos looked stunning. The sync with OneDrive is also handy - I noticed Samsung Cloud and Sync is now gone in favour of OneDrive.... interesting.

And now, as I type this in DeX mode I have a browser window, Whatsapp (minimised even smaller than I could minimise it on my old Macs and PCs) and YouTube in a desktop like environment. This is just superb. If somebody asks me to go do something now I can simply unplug and all my apps are in the same stage in pocketable form.

One of the big ties to Apple for me was the iCloud sync on iPhone / Mac / iPad, which you could recreate on Windows and Android, sure, but it wasn't the same, though you could control it more in some ways. THIS to me trumps all cloud services and sync.. why? Because it doesn't need to. This is the home for my content, here it is. Sure, it can off load to the cloud when it needs to (which will be a while with 256GB) and is backed up just in case, but I honestly feel like this is the future of computing for a lot of us.

 

[1520]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I’ve been interested in DEX for a while now and really wish Apple would provide something like this for the iPhone they already have the ability they just don’t scale to the correct resolution

 

[kuroe]

The Exynos 990 does heat up, but it's more than good enough performance wise with all the constant downloads I've been doing and other big initial setup jobs. It's also under a lot of pressure with DeX and the pen support etc. It's really unbelievable what a smartphone can do.

What really blows my mind a bit is that the Exynos 990 performs on par with a 10th gen i7 from Intel in laptops. And this isn't even the Snapdragon 865, which performs even better! We already have desktop-class CPUs in our phones, so a desktop mode makes perfect sense to me. Now if only Apple could allow this with iPhones, which have even better performance...

One note on Dex, typing this has been somewhat laggy. It feels like an iPad when bogged down with background tasks and a bluetooth keyboard. I'm using it via a cheap i3 Windows PClaptop in DeXwindow mode.

I've heard that using the Windows/macOS dex app is laggy. Sounds like the best experience is via direct connection, which is a shame.

THIS to me trumps all cloud services and sync.. why? Because it doesn't need to. This is the home for my content, here it is. Sure, it can off load to the cloud when it needs to (which will be a while with 256GB) and is backed up just in case, but I honestly feel like this is the future of computing for a lot of us.

This has been my experience too. Having all of my music, apps, books, etc, downloaded on one phone/tablet/desktop device makes cloud services basically backup-only for me. For most of my use cases, works great!

 

[Ludatyk]

One note on Dex, typing this has been somewhat laggy. It feels like an iPad when bogged down with background tasks and a bluetooth keyboard. I'm using it via a cheap i3 Windows PClaptop in DeXwindow mode <-- you see those lack of spaces? It's been doing that rather annoyingly as Itype all of this. Earlier, when I ran it direct via HDMI / bluetooth keyboard and mouse it was fully responsive with no lag. Interesting observation

Yeah, as @kuroe I tried using Dex software under macOS and it's no comparison via direct connection with a montior. I'm fully committing to the Samsung DeX experience.. I'm learning how to maneuver around the platform quickly by keyboard shortcuts and TouchPad gestures.

On a side note.. there's quite a few of keyboard shortcuts. Some are useless while other ones are refreshing to have.

 

[Tsepz]

This has been an interesting read, looking forward to how you get on.

May I just point out that it sounds like you should have gone for a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ alongside your Note 20 Ultra, then you would have a smartphone and tablet with SPen and max integration.

With Samsung being in bed with Microsoft you should benefit form moving your ecosystem over to Microsoft, on both your Samsung and Apple devices, heck even using the Google ecosystem of apps will be great but I think Microsoft integrates far better with Samsung than Google themselves which is strange yet exactly what is going on. The MS suit of apps plays nicely with SPen.

 

[Jason2000]

It's going to be mad that this phone can drive my 1080p monitor when my former iPad Pro couldn't... woah

Why can't your iPad Pro drive your 1080p monitor. I use mine with a 4k monitor all the time with zero issues.

 

[Sarbun96]

This has been an interesting read, looking forward to how you get on.

May I just point out that it sounds like you should have gone for a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ alongside your Note 20 Ultra, then you would have a smartphone and tablet with SPen and max integration.

With Samsung being in bed with Microsoft you should benefit form moving your ecosystem over to Microsoft, on both your Samsung and Apple devices, heck even using the Google ecosystem of apps will be great but I think Microsoft integrates far better with Samsung than Google themselves which is strange yet exactly what is going on. The MS suit of apps plays nicely with SPen.

Ah nah, part of the beauty of this to me is having one single device to do it all. It made the £1200 cost easier to swallow too. I was raging that on Black Friday Samsung reduced it by £250 after me paying full price! But I got a price match from the retailer so phew. The S-Pen is quite cool, only really finding uses for it by accident but there's so much on this phone I think it'll be a few months before I truly get to grips with it.

It's stuttery on Fortnite compared to my former iPhone, but no Android phone is anywhere near Apple's chips yet so I expect that. It's good enough though. It's powerful functionality wise over raw power I guess.

Why can't your iPad Pro drive your 1080p monitor. I use mine with a 4k monitor all the time with zero issues.

Oh, it connects, but it's like looking through a letterbox sideways... It was fine but even then the resolution was massive for the 24" screen. The DeX mode scales which is nice and takes up the full space. Plus, Windows! Sweet, sweet windows!

 

[Sarbun96]

Update on DeX

It's been just over a week now since I've been Note 20 Ultra only. My favourite thing so far has been the need to not depend on a cloud service, when I take my photos and they go into the Gallery app, that's it. With 256GB onboard as well, no need to offload immediately. They are backed up to OneDrive, which I get for £40 a year thanks to work for 1TB. I've just taken my reminders and calendar OFF the cloud and just onto my phone now too. The 'sync' isn't needed now that my phone is my desktop PC. And Samsung built in apps are kind of in some ways behind iOS, but in other ways ahead. Was able to duplicate calendar events, make a slight change and power through them. Working with the glitchy and sometimes laggy windows of DeX has been infinitely more useful than when I used to use my iPad Pro hooked up to the monitor. It's definitely not perfect, but it continues to get better from what I can see.

The camera on this thing is phenomenal. I've gotten back into 8 Ball Pool, Fortnite and a bit of Minecraft Bedrock - not a big gamer in general. But doing all this on my phone is amazing. The S-Pen is still a cool novelty. I discovered a 'PENUP' app which is like a free optimised Pigment colouring app by Samsung. That was a nice discovery! The night mode is insane too, it's able to see better than the naked eye in unlit streets. I'm telling you, all I could see was dark and a shadow of this cathedral but it turned out amazing in the unedited attached photo. Loving it so far. But I acknowledge it's still not perfect.

 

[Ludatyk]

And Samsung built in apps are kind of in some ways behind iOS, but in other ways ahead.

Can you elaborate on this?

To be honest, I think the only built in app that iOS has locked in the competition is iMessage. The two most important built in apps that most users use.. is Notes and Browser. And for me, I think Notes for Samsung has so many features from PDF editing to the range of customization compared to iOS Notes.

And when it comes to the browser... I think Samsung is better, from the amount of customization.. that's why it leads in my opinion. Both has ad tracking and ad blocking available.

 

[Sarbun96]

Can you elaborate on this?

To be honest, I think the only built in app that iOS has locked in the competition is iMessage. The two most important built in apps that most users use.. is Notes and Browser. And for me, I think Notes for Samsung has so many features from PDF editing to the range of customization compared to iOS Notes.

And when it comes to the browser... I think Samsung is better, from the amount of customization.. that's why it leads in my opinion. Both has ad tracking and ad blocking available.

Well just to be clear, I'm still getting to grips with them so it could partly or fully be me missing the features that are there. But, what comes to mind is that the mail doesn't use machine learning or AI to learn where I typically file away emails I get a lot. Though, in another area using the S-Pen to draw random shapes including animals can be picked up by AI impressively. The browser is definitely better. The add-ons and adblocking is also a game changer! (Now if only they could find one for YouTube - does that exist on Android? Lol)

I have to admit, Bixby is a joke. I know we all give Siri a hard time, but man is it ahead of Bixby in terms of actually understanding what you're saying plus context. Tried to replace it fully with Google Assistant including holding the sidekey but it seems Samsung are hesitant to allow that sadly. But I'll have another go at it this week in case I'm missing some setting. Though if it worked, I'd much rather use Bixby as a Samsung product rather than Google Assistant because I don't trust Google as much between the two.

The clipboard for copying and pasting is cool!


On a side-note, the iPhone XR is ready to sell. It'll be sad to see it go. I love the rich yellow and the feel of it, even picking it up now it still feels nicer than the Note 20 in the hand. And in the back of my mind I'm thinking.... I could still get rid of the note and go back to a Mac + iPhone setup.... but I am also still in the mindset of all the points against that made on this thread above.