Samsung Dex setup

one quick tip - if you wish to play 4k or higher res files from the hard drive then connect that drive to the USB 3.2 10GBps ports on the hub to get a glitchfree experience

i have stored some 4k and upscaled 8K files on the onboard storage of the phone (mostly Indian song clips just for demo)

8k files.jpg

heres a video on youtube that demonstrates how the setup plays demo stuff - the first file played is upscaled 8k and then the second file is 4k - each time the files were played in zoomed mode - zooming in was done via fingertip stretching - you can set it to play in better apps like Kodi and set the zoom and scale you wish to play so it starts in the size you want - these two demos are Indian songs - sorry if you don't like that stuff but the idea is just to see that video actually plays - and the third file played was from the hard drive - i don't have too much content on that drive right now - so this was only a 720p downloaded file but it does give an idea of how most files would play - the higher res stuff played via the hard drive plays just as well as if it was stored on the phone itself - sorry if it all seems amateurish but this was one of my first attempts at uploading a video i made to youtube


Also some details of how the pictures and videos were done ...... i used my buddies Samsung S21FE which is not a hugely high end camera so remember that all of this stuff looks a lot better in real life and i have zero knowledge of lighting and how to use it to your advantage when taking photos etc so apologies for glare and reflections etc - i will add some video of the actual Dex user interface and how it works at a later stage - today i just did the video of actual video playback capability - if someone has some demanding material they want to try out then they can suggest it, and i will see if the setup can play it or is tripped up, but i have tried a few 4k files with Dolby Atmos but those were the HDR versions - i also want to try some of the DV versions but my main movies and TV series drive just crashed a week or two back so i need to download new demo material - also i will have to try and play the DV stuff on my TV instead of on the portable monitor because the portable is not DV capable - the phone in Dex mode also does multimedia on the TV brilliantly - i just need to also see what happens with regards to DV and HDR/HDR10 when i introduce the USB-C hub in the playback chain

and yes a more modern laptop or an Apple laptop will do all the stuff that Dex and the phone combined with the monitor does, but i already had the phone and how many modern laptops or Apple laptops will come in at R6k to R7k that can do all of the above - so it was worth the time and expense for my circumstances IMHO

and this is just the stuff from external storage and stuff transferred to internal storage on the phone itself ..... i also have the DSTV Stream app as well as Netflix and Youtube all installed on the phone too, so i doubt i will run short of stuff to watch during load shedding whenever it starts again
 
Last edited:
why leave a story unfinished? I started the story - so it needs to go on till the end - so even if no-one cares right now - someday it might interest or help someone else who reads the story 😉 😉😉
 
I've been following along. Quite interesting. And thanks for the tip about Good Lock.. Never would have known otherwise.
 
Last edited:
I've been following around. Quite interesting. And thanks for the tip about Good Lock.. Never would have known otherwise.

I was looking at lots of things Dex related on Youtube and i found that Good Lock tip there so i also would not have known about it unless someone who knew about it had pointed it out so its a lot more thanks to them :thumbsup:

some of the links regarding the 4k resolution settings in good lock :



more tips and tricks :

 
I've done something similar, but with the Galaxy Tab S10+ with the detachable keyboard book cover. I run in classic Dex Mode, using a Bluetooth mouse and a 7-in-one USB hub. I output to a 4K monitor. It works very well.
 
I've done something similar, but with the Galaxy Tab S10+ with the detachable keyboard book cover. I run in classic Dex Mode, using a Bluetooth mouse and a 7-in-one USB hub. I output to a 4K monitor. It works very well.

Brilliant stuff and yep - when it works it is absolutely top notch ..... though it seems like Google is killing Samsungs version from One UI8 onward and they are doing their own version which is not as advanced as Samsungs - it will lose a few key features BUT hopefully as things go along Google will keep improving it - see my retitled link below

Googles big mistake with Dex "IMHO" (clickable link)
 
I'll stick to classic mode for now until they improve the new version; it has a long way to go.

don't get it wrong - you are on classic Dex until your device updates to One UI8 - as soon as One UI8 starts rolling out and the instant you update then classic Dex is gone, and this one is what you get instead - this is a total replacement of classic Dex and its going to replace your classic Dex as soon as you update to One UI8 - a process which should begin in a two to three months time since the rest of the world has been testing the Beta version for some time already (and the flip and fold have launched with One UI8 as will the S25FE end of this month)

there will be no choice in the matter - Samsung are discontinuing their dedicated version of Dex and leaving it to Google to provide a Desktop mode going forward and even other brands will be getting it on their higher tier phones too ie Pixels etc
 
I get it. With One UI 7, the new DeX is currently missing a lot of the options that the classic DeX supports. I'm hoping they will add those features that I use, such as resolution options and starting DeX if I connect the keyboard, right click options, etc.
 
I get it. With One UI 7, the new DeX is currently missing a lot of the options that the classic DeX supports. I'm hoping they will add those features that I use, such as resolution options and starting DeX if I connect the keyboard, right click options, etc.

the resolution options will remain in good lock as part of the main options in Multistar BUT you will lose the ability to open more than 5 windows at a time and the I (heart) Samsung Dex option will no longer be there but all the resolution options will be shown in the main window ..... I'm not 100% sure of the other options because i usually use either the touchpad and keyboard off the phone OR my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so i don't actually plug in my keyboard but i do know that the "start Dex if HDMI is connected" might just disappear for a while so you might have to manually start it for a while

hopefully some of the stuff that disappears will have Google thinking that it was a good idea to actually keep those and they will code them back in and hopefully add lots more stuff too but as it stands my phone as a desktop or even portable PC is stronger than my microserver besides for the fact that my phone only has 8gigs of Ram and my microserver has 16 gigs of Ram - but otherwise in terms of graphics and processing power the phone beats the living daylights out of the microserver (the main difference being that the microserver works with Windows so might allow for more PC like app capability)
 
Last edited:
I was unaware that Goodlock is available in South Africa. I will check it out. The DeX feature on the tablet has been quite impressive. I share your sentiment regarding the swiftness of the tablets and phones. It is remarkable how effectively they manage multitasking without any performance slowdown.
 
I was unaware that Goodlock is available in South Africa. I will check it out. The DeX feature on the tablet has been quite impressive. I share your sentiment regarding the swiftness of the tablets and phones. It is remarkable how effectively they manage multitasking without any performance slowdown.

you can get it in the playstore now but you can also get it from the Samsung store as well for a slightly more complete version
 
Are you using the new Dex or Classic Dex mode? The new dex it seems just does external monitor mirror. Where as classic allows to operate both devices independently.
 
Are you using the new Dex or Classic Dex mode? The new dex it seems just does external monitor mirror. Where as classic allows to operate both devices independently.

should be classic Dex - as you see here there are different things happening on each screen and it doesn't just mirror - but i never had a choice in the mode - i just use what One Ui gives me - the older versions go away and the newer versions just take over - hence why One UI 8 is going to have a different Dex mode

Dex setup 3.jpg

same here

Dex setup 2.jpg
 
Your setup looks fantastic, very neat. I'm also using classic Dex on my tablet for now.

Managed to get a good setup going; everything is working well. Including the Windows app for AVD, which works in dual-screen mode after a few tweaks.
 
Your setup looks fantastic, very neat. I'm also using classic Dex on my tablet for now.

Managed to get a good setup going; everything is working well. Including the Windows app for AVD, which works in dual-screen mode after a few tweaks.

Thanks - great to hear that yours is working well too - i like success stories and it seems like your efforts have been successful too :thumbsup: ..... i particularly like the S-pen that comes with those S10+ tablets and the Generative AI drawing app on the tablet is great because you get a much bigger space to draw stuff than on the phone or even via Dex or any form of screen mirroring - and i'm sure you are enjoying playing around with all of the features provided as much as i am

i want to try an experiment when i find a nice HDMI cable - i want to connect the first HDMI port on the USB hub to the 15.6" monitor and the second HDMI to the TV and i want to see if i can get multiple monitors plus the phone working or is it restricted only just to the phone plus one additional monitor - would be fun to multitask with three things happening on three screens at the same time ..... with each screen having a different window open 😉
 
Last edited:
Yes, I am absolutely loving the tablet. Especially streaming as well—it works very well. I don't really use the pen all that much, but for multitasking, it's been fantastic. Also, not carrying around my huge laptop to the office and to client meetings is a huge benefit.
 
Yes, I am absolutely loving the tablet. Especially streaming as well—it works very well. I don't really use the pen all that much, but for multitasking, it's been fantastic. Also, not carrying around my huge laptop to the office and to client meetings is a huge benefit.

great stuff - and yep laptops have been proving disadvantageous for certain things ie size and constant updating (especially when you don't use them often at which point they do an update every time you try to switch them on) ..... that was driving me crazy

also it seems like my USB hub can do three way screen multitask as per the diagram below - i just need to test if Dex will allow it - but i now need a second good HDMI to HDMI cable that has bandwidth for 4k video - I do have 4 or 5 spare HDMI cables but all older models so not sure if they have enough bandwidth for 4k video

multi monitor.jpg
 
Last edited:
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X