Samsung's DeXPad Turns Smartphones Into Workstations

What does your work day look like? Do you sit for 9 or 10 hours on a chair in an office without moving? Or does your day include constant movement, interacting with a variety of people, running from one office to the next, from the meeting room to a business lunch, from your company’s headquarters to the clients’ offices?

If the latter describes you, you are probably always in search of lightweight, mobile workstations, that are also of high quality, the kind that you can take with you everywhere without compromising over convenience and results.

For most managers and businesspeople, the smartphone is a necessary work tool, enabling them to write and edit documents and to transfer files, among other things. However, it is missing an important component: a large screen, which allows you to display those documents in a clear, legible way.

This is not a problem if you carry a laptop around; but while laptop computers have become lighter in recent years, they still weigh us down, requiring us to carry a bag, not to mention a charger. When we move between one office and another, we usually leave our laptop behind in our office.

Samsung has thought of an interesting solution to this problem: turn the smartphone, which is always on us, into a full PC workstation. Smartphones are already powerful enough to enable surfing, emails, and running applications such as Microsoft’s Office. At the launch of its Galaxy S8, Samsung uncovered the Dex – a docking station that turns your smartphone into a full-blown computing interface.

The first Dex was highly successful with both private and business users. Now, Samsung is launching its DeXPad, the new generation of the Dex, and this time Samsung is offering the highest quality, most mobile working station solution.

Unlike the previous Dex, the DeXPad – a black surface the size and thinness of a smartphone – is meant to serve as a docking station for the company’s two new flagship products, the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+. All you have to do is place your mobile on the DeXPad with the screen facing upwards, connect it to your screen, and you can get to work, as if your laptop was there with you.

The DeXPad serves as the mouse or trackpad, turning your smartphone into a full PC workstation. You can use it to open files, edit them, watch movies, display presentations, surf the web, and use various applications.

You can also connect it to screens reaching up to 2K resolution – as opposed to the maximum 1080p that previous versions enabled.

The meaning of all this is that even in systems that require advanced graphic capabilities (sketching and graphics applications, architecture visualizations, etc.), the user enjoys a particularly high quality experience.

The overall look of the DeXPad’s user interface is reminiscent of the Windows operating system. There is a desktop with shortcuts to applications, a type of “Start” button where you can find all the apps installed on the phone, and on the other edge of the screen you can find a task launcher that includes quick access to notifications and turning various connectivity features on and off. In fact, this is equivalent to the notification and setting menu in the Android system, and on the bottom part of the screen you can see all active applications.

The desktop features allow users to use all the phone features as well: you can make and answer calls, use apps, read notifications, play games, etc. The interface feels natural and intuitive; using the interface is easy and simple, and it adopts many of the desktop system characteristics. For example, a right click on the mouse opens a quick menu, you can drag objects from one window to another, and you can use the keyboard’s shortcuts, such as CTRL+C/V for cutting and pasting.

In addition, you can connect to your company’s system through a secure connection and receive the full virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) anywhere in the world with real mobility and in a highly secure environment.

In order to provide the user with as many options and connections as possible, the DeXPad is equipped with two USB 2.0 entrances as well as an HDMI port, so that you can easily connect it to a keyboard, mouse, or other gadgets. If none of the ports are in use, the default settings are a virtual keyboard and trackpad (the keyboard is forthcoming in the next software upgrade).

At the end of the day, this device gives you the ability to stay connected to your business while on the go and to use it as a full-fledged PC.