As a particular person who makes use of their smartphones for quite a few hrs just about every day, the probable to have one device power all of my computing encounters has been my look for for the holy grail. The Samsung Galaxy Take note ten Additionally is the most promising contender with Samsung DeX help, but owning to locate an external display, keyboard, and mouse make it additional of a specialized niche circumstance.
Right after viewing my pal Steve Litchfield share his feelings on the NexDock 2 I frequented the NexDock web-site and ordered my have. For the previous two weeks I have been working with the NexDock 2 with a Galaxy Take note ten Additionally and it appears to be like I can go away tablets, Chromebooks, and other computing units behind with incredibly tiny compromise.
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NexDock 2 hardware
The NexDock 2 is readily available for $259 and presently has an believed one March ship date. It appears to be like a fashionable laptop with a thirteen.3 inch sixteen:nine display, edge-to-edge whole sizing backlit keyboard, big multi-contact trackpad, many ports on the facet, and 4 speakers. Having said that, it has no CPU, no inner memory, and no enthusiast.
It is a moveable terminal for numerous units, which includes Samsung phones, Huawei phones, LG phones, and the Raspberry Pi. You can also use it as a secondary display for laptops, observe for activity consoles, display for HDMI streaming media sticks, and additional. It’s a somewhat excellent plan that Samsung ought to have made available with its DeX-capable smartphones.
The brushed aluminum complete of the NexDock aids you hold on to the device. There are 4 big spherical rubber pads on the base corners to maintain the NexDock 2 protected on a table. There are 10 little screws on the base, but I haven’t nevertheless cracked into it to see what is inside of.
On the remaining facet you will locate a HDMI port and a few USB-C ports. Each and every port has a incredibly precise use and they are not interchangeable like you may possibly be made use of to on a laptop or Chromebook. The HDMI port serves as an HDMI input port for when you join a Raspberry Pi, other laptop, or other device to use the NexDock 2 as a observe.
The furthers aft USB-C port is made use of to demand up the NexDock, the center one is for connecting the Y-splitter to the Raspberry Pi, and the ahead one is made use of to join to your smartphone.
1 the ideal facet you will locate a USB-A port, 3.5mm audio port, and a microSD card reader. The USB-A port can be made use of to join a mouse, keyboard, external challenging generate, USB memory adhere, and additional.
NexDock features all you will need to get related in the retail package deal. You will locate a 60W USB-C PD charger to demand up the NexDock 2, US/British isles/EU/AU charger plug heads, braided USB-C smartphone cable, USB-C to USBA and microUSB Y-splitter cable, HDMI to HDMI cable, HDMI to micro HDMI adapter, and a microUSB to USB-C adapter.
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Requirements of the NexDock 2 incorporate:
- Display: thirteen.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution
- Audio: Four 1W speakers
- Battery: 6,800 mAh
- Dimensions: 317 x 215 x 15.nine mm and 1420 grams (3.thirteen pounds)
Connecting with Samsung DeX
Press and hold down the power button on the NexDock 2 for a few of seconds right up until you see the words and phrases, “NexDock is completely ready to join” on the display. Plug the USB-C cable into your Samsung telephone and view the magic happen. The whole DeX interface will appear on the NexDock 2 display though your telephone can nevertheless be made use of for other matters. You can switch to monitor mirroring mode also if you want, but first totally check out DeX.
There are a great deal of items at the base of the display with an application launcher, recents, residence, and again buttons in the lessen remaining. You can also designate applications to appear in the taskbar just to the ideal of the again button.
About on the ideal base corner you will locate DeX controls, Speedy Manage buttons, notifications, and buttons for keyboard, volume, screenshot, finder, and calendar.
You can resize applications, toggle to whole monitor mode, lessen windows, view multiple applications at the exact same time, and additional. You can even select to have the trackpad pointer increase off of the NexDock 2 display on to the telephone display, which may well do the job properly once I get my Mountie bracket in hand. However, you can’t drag applications to one facet or the other to set them into split monitor mode.
Two fingers can be made use of on the trackpad to scroll. 3 fingers slid ideal and remaining can immediately switch you amongst open applications. Functionality buttons can be made use of to command smartphone and NexDock 2 features these as volume, monitor brightness, keyboard backlight, and additional.
Connecting with Huawei and LG phones
While Huawei phones are no for a longer time readily readily available in the US, I was ready to test out a Mate 20 Professional with Simple Projection. While not as totally designed as Samsung DeX, a equivalent desktop interface seems on the NexDock 2 when you join by way of USB-C.
While operating on this evaluation I go through that LG phones upgraded to Android ten would functionality with the NexDock 2. I upgraded a Korean model of a LG V50 ThinQ and it did in truth do the job. This working experience was incredibly essential though with absolutely nothing additional than bigger applications showing up on the NexDock 2. Long run Android phones may possibly do the job with the NexDock as properly supplied this glimpse of what we see is attainable with Android ten and later.
At first I examined my OnePlus 7T Professional 5G McLaren and observed it supported monitor mirroring mode, but no prolonged desktop view was readily available. A bit of exploring and I observed a XDA Builders write-up that helped me get this operating also so now I have a 5G enabled laptop for my commute.
A Google Pixel 4 was examined with no desktop mode readily available. I recognize that the Pixel 4 does not have display out help, but maybe we will see it in the foreseeable future.
Every day usage encounters
As a particular person who spends about two hrs a day commuting on a coach who constantly has my telephone in hand, I was wanting for some thing to increase the phone’s skill to serve as a do the job system. Working with this new NexDock 2 prompted me to even more check out DeX and what I could do with it.
I at last explored my engineering firm’s VDI alternative and mounted VMware Horizon on the Take note ten Additionally. With VMware Horizon and the NexDock 2, I no for a longer time have to remmber to seize my laptop and carry it in all places. With the Take note ten Additionally and the NexDock 2 I was ready to evaluation and make Microsoft Venture options, run my vessel hydrostatics computer software, obtain our whole timesheet computer software, and additional. I am now ready to do the job off of my telephone just like I have a whole Windows laptop or computer in hand and am incredibly delighted with this alternative.
Considering the fact that I am a T-Cellular purchaser, I get free of charge world wide web on my telephone when I fly with Alaska and now I can increase that world wide web to the NexDock for a greater massive monitor do the job working experience. I also like to view movies when I commute or travel and with the NexDock 2 I can use Google Participate in Movies, Disney +, and Netflix in DeX mode. Amazon Prime Online video and Movies Wherever do not do the job with DeX, but merely switch the NexDock into monitor mirroring mode and then movie will work completely on the sixteen:nine part ratio display. Audio also performs out of the NexDock so I can join my Bose wired headphones and delight in film written content all served up from my telephone.
There are also quite a few applications that are optimized for the Samsung DeX working experience so you get multiple columns and prolonged sights around what a smartphone structure would usually show. I observed that Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Telegram do the job splendidly with the massive thirteen.3 inch NexDock 2 display. Microsoft Teams and quite a few other applications are regrettably not optimized for DeX.
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The two finger scrolling on the trackpad is opposite what I usually use on a laptop, but there is no way to switch this orientation as it is established by the telephone utility and DeX won’t have this setting. When I swipe by fingers down the display moves up the monitor. I am made use of to “pulling down” the display written content when I transfer my fingers down. BTW, there are remaining and ideal simply click corners on the trackpad also.
General, I am incredibly delighted with the working experience of the NexDock 2. It’s great to have my mobile connection, all of my written content, and all of my configurations maintained on the telephone though owning a laptop working experience with incredibly tiny compromise. I no for a longer time have to fret about tethering a laptop to a telephone, lacking some info on one device that then has to be shared to a different, or hoping I will not make a stability challenge. The NexDock 2 even serves as a powerbank for your telephone and when you up grade your telephone your NexDock 2 gets up-to-date.
In purchase to use the NexDock 2 on the coach, I ordered a Mountie clip to hold my Samsung telephone to the facet of the display. The Samsung DeX and NexDock 2 alternative is great and Samsung ought to seriously take into account displaying this off to assistance mature DeX as a viable enterprise alternative.
