Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
Samsung DeX has been around for eight years, and for many, it’s become a core part of the Samsung experience. DeX gives us the ability to turn our Samsung phones and tablets into ultra-portable laptop replacements, provided all you need is Android apps and a browser. While DeX has gained plenty of features since its introduction, it’s still fundamentally the same as it was in 2017. That’s changing with One UI 8, though, as Samsung has rebuilt DeX upon Android 16’s desktop mode.
There’s potential for greatness here, but Samsung has had to take a significant step backwards to prepare for a leap forward, and the DeX experience is lacking features and stability.
Are you looking forward to the new DeX? 13 votes Yes 62 % No 38 %
Performance
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
While One UI 8 is stable on the Z Fold and Flip 7, it’s still a beta on my Galaxy S25, so that may contribute to some of the issues I’m experiencing. The first issue I’m facing is resolution. By default, DeX won’t go higher than 1080p, with the MultiStar Good Lock module enabling higher resolutions. One UI 8 and the new DeX remove the “I <3 Samsung DeX” menu from MultiStar and add the “high resolution for external display” toggle to the main MultiStar menu. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work when toggled, and my S25 won’t let me go above a very fuzzy-looking 1080p. I double checked my HDMI cable and adapter with my S24 Ultra, in case they were at fault, but that phone, on One UI 7, worked in 1440p without issue.
Performance in general is a problem. This shouldn’t be surprising; Android 16’s desktop mode, which this is based on, is nowhere close to finished and often crashes and freezes. This new version of DeX is better than the experience on Pixels, but not by much, and it’s a far cry from the polished and smooth DeX we’re used to. At one point, simply opening the display settings menu crashed my S25 and forced it to reboot.
Missing features
Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
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