If you’re a proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy phone or tablet, there’s an advantage you have over most others. To take full advantage of this feature, you only need a cheap USB-C hub. There’s so much you can do with it.
Make the most of Samsung DeX
There’s a full PC in your pocket
Samsung DeX is an Android-based desktop mode that appears whenever you connect a high-end Galaxy phone to an external display. The features first appeared on the Galaxy S8 in 2017, and it has appeared on every Galaxy S phone since. It’s also available on the Z Fold series (which is how I’ve used it) along with Galaxy Tab S tablets. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 technically supports DeX exclusively using a wireless connection, but that doesn’t provide the best experience. For a buttery smooth and stable DeX experience, you’re going to want to connect via a cable.
If your monitor has a USB-C port, you can connect your phone or tablet directly to the display using a single USB-C cable that’s capable of transferring video. Unfortunately, not all USB-C cables are created equal, so you’ll have to do some research or do a bit of trial and error to try this out.
Alternatively, you can buy a cheap USB-C hub. You plug the hub into the bottom of your device and then open up access to a set of ports you’d traditionally get on a laptop or desktop. Then you can use the HDMI cable you likely already have.
DeX can run any Android app that your phone or tablet can, and many of them scale to various sizes surprisingly well. Samsung’s apps in particular look like PC software when placed in windows on a desktop. There are quirks to the experience, but it’s not all that dissimilar to using a Chromebook. If you can do your job or schoolwork on one, chances are that you can get by with the other. Your phone can even replicate a gaming rig, especially if you pair DeX with NVIDIA GeForce Now or another cloud gaming service. If you’re considering giving this a go, here are some things I’ve learned from my time with DeX.
Connect your phone to the TV
Turn your Galaxy into a streaming box or game console
Turning your phone into a desktop PC is a great way to make use of DeX, but it’s hardly the only one. There’s another, even larger external display your Galaxy device can jack into—your TV.
Connecting your Galaxy to a TV follows the same process as a desktop PC. When you connect via an HDMI cable, a desktop appears on your TV displaying all the apps you usually see on your phone. From here, you can click on an app like Netflix or YouTube and enjoy it on the larger screen. This is something you can also quickly deploy when visiting others or staying at a hotel, so you don’t need to worry about signing in and out of accounts. It’s absolutely worth buying a phone dock for your TV.
Alternatively, you can connect a Bluetooth controller or mouse, launch a game, and sit back on the couch. Many phone games will scale just fine to your TV’s resolution. Most games run just as smoothly as they do on your phone. If this is surprising, keep in mind that your TV’s resolution might actually be lower than that of your phone, especially if it’s 1080p.
If this is something you’re going to do often, I highly recommend buying an upright USB-C docking station for your phone. It’s functionally the same as any other USB-C hub, but it tidies things up a bit. Your phone isn’t left strung about the top of your TV stand or desk.
Back up your phone to external drives
Your phone can have a MicroSD slot again
Credit:Â Bertel King / How-To GeekÂ
Any modern portable SSD comes with a USB-C cable you can plug directly into the bottom of your phone. You can also get flash drives that either exclusively use USB-C or support multiple connectors. For quick file transfers, you don’t need a USB-C hub to make use of these.
For large file transfers, it’s a different story. I’ve transferred over 100GB directly to an external drive from my phone, and it can be anxiety-inducing. Powering the drive and transferring large files heat up the phone and put a strain on the battery. Not only are you blowing through your phone’s charger, but it might also turn off before the transfer is complete. With a USB-C hub, you can plug in a USB-C cable to supply power and keep your phone charged during the process.
A USB-C hub also lets you make the most of your existing stash of USB-A flash drives or save money by continuing to buy them as the cheaper option. And if you want to move files from one external drive to another, a hub allows you to connect more than one storage drive at once.
7/10
Brand
Hyper
Ports
USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, SD, MicroSD, 3.5mm
USB-C Power Delivery
100W
Price
$45
The Hyper HyperDrive Flex 8-port USB-C hub is a colorful and textured USB-C hub made of 75% post-recycled plastic. With transfer speeds reaching 5Gbps and support for 4K displays, this is a compelling option for those tired of gray and black hubs.Â
If you take photos using an external camera, you can transfer those files using a USB-C hub with an SD card slot. Some even have microSD card slots, which you can use to make your hub seemingly do double duty as a backup drive itself.
Samsung My Files does an excellent job at transferring files and feels every bit like a desktop file manager. It’s not saying it has more features than every file manager out there, but as someone most familiar with using GNOME Files on Linux, Samsung’s file manager actually feels more powerful. This will be even more true if you’re coming from a Chromebook.
Use your phone’s full potential
Samsung phones aren’t the only ones that can make the most of a USB-C hub, but the experience is less predictable when you switch to other brands. Google’s desktop mode for Pixel phones isn’t ready for prime time, and only newer Pixels can support the feature anyway. The OnePlus 15 can mirror its screen to an external display, but the 15R can’t, and neither has a desktop mode. Apple does not offer a desktop mode for the iPhone. That said, there are plenty of reasons to buy a USB-C hub for any Android phone, and Samsung devices benefit from all of those as well.