As a individual who makes use of their smartphones for several hours each and every working day, the likely to have just one system power all of my computing encounters has been my look for for the holy grail. The Samsung Galaxy Note ten In addition is the most promising contender with Samsung DeX guidance, but owning to discover an exterior show, keyboard, and mouse make it far more of a market circumstance.
Just after observing my pal Steve Litchfield share his feelings on the NexDock two I visited the NexDock web site and purchased my individual. For the previous two weeks I have been employing the NexDock two with a Galaxy Note ten In addition and it seems like I can go away tablets, Chromebooks, and other computing equipment behind with really tiny compromise.
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NexDock two hardware
The NexDock two is readily available for $259 and currently has an approximated 1 March ship day. It seems like a modern-day laptop with a thirteen.three inch sixteen:9 show, edge-to-edge full dimension backlit keyboard, large multi-touch trackpad, various ports on the aspect, and 4 speakers. Having said that, it has no CPU, no interior memory, and no admirer.
It is a moveable terminal for a variety of equipment, like Samsung phones, Huawei phones, LG phones, and the Raspberry Pi. You can also use it as a secondary show for laptops, monitor for activity consoles, show for HDMI streaming media sticks, and far more. It’s a fairly brilliant idea that Samsung ought to have supplied with its DeX-able smartphones.
The brushed aluminum complete of the NexDock will help you maintain on to the system. There are 4 large round rubber pads on the bottom corners to preserve the NexDock two safe on a desk. There are 10 modest screws on the bottom, but I haven’t but cracked into it to see what is within.
On the still left aspect you will discover a HDMI port and a few USB-C ports. Every port has a really particular use and they are not interchangeable like you may possibly be utilized to on a laptop or Chromebook. The HDMI port serves as an HDMI input port for when you hook up a Raspberry Pi, other laptop, or other system to use the NexDock two as a monitor.
The furthers aft USB-C port is utilized to cost up the NexDock, the center just one is for connecting the Y-splitter to the Raspberry Pi, and the ahead just one is utilized to hook up to your smartphone.
1 the proper aspect you will discover a USB-A port, three.5mm audio port, and a microSD card reader. The USB-A port can be utilized to hook up a mouse, keyboard, exterior challenging drive, USB memory stick, and far more.
NexDock consists of all you will need to get connected in the retail package deal. You will discover a 60W USB-C PD charger to cost up the NexDock two, 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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Technical specs of the NexDock two incorporate:
- Show: thirteen.three inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution
- Audio: Four 1W speakers
- Battery: six,800 mAh
- Proportions: 317 x 215 x fifteen.9 mm and 1420 grams (three.thirteen pounds)
Connecting with Samsung DeX
Press and maintain down the power button on the NexDock two for a couple of seconds until finally you see the words and phrases, “NexDock is ready to hook up” on the show. Plug the USB-C cable into your Samsung cellphone and watch the magic take place. The full DeX interface will seem on the NexDock two show while your cellphone can continue to be utilized for other factors. You can swap to display screen mirroring manner much too if you want, but 1st completely check out DeX.
There are a ton of products at the bottom of the show with an application launcher, recents, residence, and back again buttons in the lower still left. You can also designate apps to seem in the taskbar just to the proper of the back again button.
More than on the proper bottom corner you will discover DeX controls, Speedy Command buttons, notifications, and buttons for keyboard, volume, screenshot, finder, and calendar.
You can resize apps, toggle to full display screen manner, lessen windows, look at a number of apps at the very same time, and far more. You can even pick out to have the trackpad pointer lengthen off of the NexDock two show on to the cellphone show, which may well work very well the moment I get my Mountie bracket in hand. Sadly, you are unable to drag apps to just one aspect or the other to set them into break up display screen manner.
Two fingers can be utilized on the trackpad to scroll. 3 fingers slid proper and still left can promptly swap you involving open up apps. Functionality buttons can be utilized to management smartphone and NexDock two functions this kind of as volume, display screen brightness, keyboard backlight, and far more.
Connecting with Huawei and LG phones
Though Huawei phones are no for a longer time readily readily available in the US, I was ready to check out a Mate 20 Professional with Effortless Projection. Though not as completely developed as Samsung DeX, a equivalent desktop interface seems on the NexDock two when you hook up through USB-C.
Though doing work on this critique I study that LG phones upgraded to Android ten would operate with the NexDock two. I upgraded a Korean version of a LG V50 ThinQ and it did in truth work. This working experience was really primary nevertheless with practically nothing far more than larger sized apps appearing on the NexDock two. Potential Android phones may possibly work with the NexDock as very well offered this glimpse of what we see is probable with Android ten and later.
At 1st I examined my OnePlus 7T Professional 5G McLaren and observed it supported display screen mirroring manner, but no extended desktop look at was readily available. A bit of exploring and I found a XDA Developers article that assisted me get this doing work much too so now I have a 5G enabled laptop for my commute.
A Google Pixel four was examined with no desktop manner readily available. I realize that the Pixel four does not have show out guidance, but perhaps we will see it in the upcoming.
Day-to-day use encounters
As a individual who spends about two hours a working day commuting on a prepare who always has my cellphone in hand, I was wanting for a thing to lengthen the phone’s skill to serve as a work platform. Working with this new NexDock two prompted me to even further check out DeX and what I could do with it.
I eventually explored my engineering firm’s VDI option and set up VMware Horizon on the Note ten In addition. With VMware Horizon and the NexDock two, I no for a longer time have to remmber to grab my laptop and have it all over the place. With the Note ten In addition and the NexDock two I was ready to critique and produce Microsoft Venture ideas, operate my vessel hydrostatics software, entry our full timesheet software, and far more. I am now ready to work off of my cellphone just like I have a full Home windows laptop or computer in hand and am really pleased with this option.
Given that I am a T-Cell customer, I get free of charge net on my cellphone when I fly with Alaska and now I can lengthen that net to the NexDock for a greater huge display screen work working experience. I also like to watch flicks when I commute or vacation and with the NexDock two I can use Google Play Movies, Disney +, and Netflix in DeX manner. Amazon Key Movie and Movies Anyplace do not work with DeX, but simply swap the NexDock into display screen mirroring manner and then video will work flawlessly on the sixteen:9 component ratio show. Audio also performs out of the NexDock so I can hook up my Bose wired headphones and appreciate movie written content all served up from my cellphone.
There are also several apps that are optimized for the Samsung DeX working experience so you get a number of columns and extended views about what a smartphone format would normally show. I found that Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Telegram work splendidly with the huge thirteen.three inch NexDock two show. Microsoft Groups and several other apps are unfortunately not optimized for DeX.
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The two finger scrolling on the trackpad is reverse what I normally use on a laptop, but there is no way to swap this orientation as it is established by the cellphone utility and DeX doesn’t have this placing. When I swipe by fingers down the show moves up the display screen. I am utilized to “pulling down” the show written content when I move my fingers down. BTW, there are still left and proper click on corners on the trackpad much too.
Total, I am really pleased with the working experience of the NexDock two. It’s brilliant to have my cellular connection, all of my written content, and all of my settings taken care of on the cellphone while owning a laptop working experience with really tiny compromise. I no for a longer time have to worry about tethering a laptop to a cellphone, missing some information on just one system that then has to be shared to yet another, or hoping I do not produce a protection challenge. The NexDock two even serves as a powerbank for your cellphone and when you enhance your cellphone your NexDock two receives up-to-date.
In order to use the NexDock two on the prepare, I purchased a Mountie clip to maintain my Samsung cellphone to the aspect of the show. The Samsung DeX and NexDock two option is brilliant and Samsung ought to critically take into account exhibiting this off to assist expand DeX as a practical business option.