NexDock 2 hands-on: Work anywhere with your Samsung smartphone
As a particular person who takes advantage of their smartphones for quite a few hrs each and every working day, the prospective to have 1 product electricity all of my computing encounters has been my search for the holy grail. The Samsung Galaxy Note ten Additionally is the most promising contender with Samsung DeX assistance, but owning to obtain an external show, keyboard, and mouse make it a lot more of a area of interest scenario.
After observing my buddy Steve Litchfield share his ideas on the NexDock two I frequented the NexDock site and purchased my possess. For the past two months I have been making use of the NexDock two with a Galaxy Note ten Additionally and it seems to be like I can go away tablets, Chromebooks, and other computing units behind with extremely very little compromise.
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NexDock two components
The NexDock two is accessible for $259 and at the moment has an estimated 1 March ship day. It seems to be like a modern-day laptop computer with a 13.3 inch 16:9 show, edge-to-edge whole measurement backlit keyboard, significant multi-touch trackpad, numerous ports on the facet, and four speakers. However, it has no CPU, no inner memory, and no admirer.
It is a moveable terminal for a variety of units, which includes Samsung phones, Huawei phones, LG phones, and the Raspberry Pi. You can also use it as a secondary show for laptops, monitor for video game consoles, show for HDMI streaming media sticks, and a lot more. It is really a fairly brilliant notion that Samsung must have provided with its DeX-capable smartphones.
The brushed aluminum end of the NexDock will help you keep on to the product. There are four significant spherical rubber pads on the bottom corners to maintain the NexDock two protected on a table. There are ten modest screws on the bottom, but I have not still cracked into it to see what is actually within.
On the left facet you will obtain a HDMI port and 3 USB-C ports. Each individual port has a extremely distinct use and they are not interchangeable like you may perhaps be utilised to on a laptop computer or Chromebook. The HDMI port serves as an HDMI enter port for when you hook up a Raspberry Pi, other laptop computer, or other product to use the NexDock two as a monitor.
The furthers aft USB-C port is utilised to charge up the NexDock, the center 1 is for connecting the Y-splitter to the Raspberry Pi, and the ahead 1 is utilised to hook up to your smartphone.
Just one the correct facet you will obtain a USB-A port, 3.5mm audio port, and a microSD card reader. The USB-A port can be utilised to hook up a mouse, keyboard, external hard push, USB memory adhere, and a lot more.
NexDock incorporates all you will need to have to get connected in the retail package. You will obtain a 60W USB-C PD charger to charge 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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Specs of the NexDock two include things like:
- Exhibit: 13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution
- Audio: 4 1W speakers
- Battery: six,800 mAh
- Dimensions: 317 x 215 x 15.9 mm and 1420 grams (3.13 kilos)
Connecting with Samsung DeX
Push and keep down the electricity button on the NexDock two for a few of seconds until eventually you see the text, “NexDock is all set to hook up” on the show. Plug the USB-C cable into your Samsung cellphone and observe the magic happen. The whole DeX interface will look on the NexDock two show although your cellphone can continue to be utilised for other issues. You can change to monitor mirroring manner way too if you want, but to start with fully examine DeX.
There are a whole lot of objects at the bottom of the show with an application launcher, recents, household, and back buttons in the lower left. You can also designate apps to look in the taskbar just to the correct of the back button.
More than on the correct bottom corner you will obtain DeX controls, Brief Handle buttons, notifications, and buttons for keyboard, quantity, screenshot, finder, and calendar.
You can resize apps, toggle to whole monitor manner, lower windows, see several apps at the identical time, and a lot more. You can even decide on to have the trackpad pointer increase off of the NexDock two show on to the cellphone show, which may possibly operate very well the moment I get my Mountie bracket in hand. Regretably, you can’t drag apps to 1 facet or the other to place them into split monitor manner.
Two fingers can be utilised on the trackpad to scroll. A few fingers slid correct and left can promptly change you between open apps. Operate buttons can be utilised to manage smartphone and NexDock two capabilities these kinds of as quantity, monitor brightness, keyboard backlight, and a lot more.
Connecting with Huawei and LG phones
When Huawei phones are no longer easily accessible in the US, I was equipped to exam out a Mate 20 Pro with Easy Projection. When not as fully produced as Samsung DeX, a identical desktop interface appears on the NexDock two when you hook up via USB-C.
When working on this review I go through that LG phones upgraded to Android ten would function with the NexDock two. I upgraded a Korean version of a LG V50 ThinQ and it did without a doubt operate. This encounter was extremely fundamental even though with nothing at all a lot more than larger sized apps showing up on the NexDock two. Long term Android phones may perhaps operate with the NexDock as very well presented this glimpse of what we see is feasible with Android ten and later on.
At to start with I tested my OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren and observed it supported monitor mirroring manner, but no prolonged desktop see was accessible. A little bit of looking and I identified a XDA Builders short article that aided me get this working way too so now I have a 5G enabled laptop computer for my commute.
A Google Pixel 4 was tested with no desktop manner accessible. I realize that the Pixel 4 does not have show out assistance, but possibly we will see it in the potential.
Everyday usage encounters
As a particular person who spends about two hrs a working day commuting on a prepare who usually has my cellphone in hand, I was looking for a little something to increase the phone’s capability to serve as a operate system. Working with this new NexDock two prompted me to more examine DeX and what I could do with it.
I last but not least explored my engineering firm’s VDI alternative and put in VMware Horizon on the Note ten Additionally. With VMware Horizon and the NexDock two, I no longer have to remmber to get my laptop computer and have it everywhere. With the Note ten Additionally and the NexDock two I was equipped to review and create Microsoft Undertaking options, operate my vessel hydrostatics software program, obtain our whole timesheet software program, and a lot more. I am now equipped to operate off of my cellphone just like I have a whole Home windows pc in hand and am extremely pleased with this alternative.
Since I’m a T-Cellular customer, I get totally free net on my cellphone when I fly with Alaska and now I can increase that net to the NexDock for a greater big monitor operate encounter. I also like to observe movies when I commute or travel and with the NexDock two I can use Google Perform Motion pictures, Disney +, and Netflix in DeX manner. Amazon Key Video clip and Motion pictures Anywhere do not operate with DeX, but basically change the NexDock into monitor mirroring manner and then video is effective beautifully on the 16:9 element ratio show. Audio also performs out of the NexDock so I can hook up my Bose wired headphones and get pleasure from motion picture articles all served up from my cellphone.
There are also quite a few apps that are optimized for the Samsung DeX encounter so you get several columns and prolonged sights above what a smartphone structure would usually show. I identified that Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Telegram operate splendidly with the big 13.3 inch NexDock two show. Microsoft Teams and quite a few other apps are sad to say not optimized for DeX.
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The two finger scrolling on the trackpad is opposite what I usually use on a laptop computer, but there is no way to change this orientation as it is established by the cellphone utility and DeX won’t have this environment. When I swipe by fingers down the show moves up the monitor. I’m utilised to “pulling down” the show articles when I transfer my fingers down. BTW, there are left and correct simply click corners on the trackpad way too.
Total, I am extremely pleased with the encounter of the NexDock two. It is really brilliant to have my cellular relationship, all of my articles, and all of my configurations managed on the cellphone although owning a laptop computer encounter with extremely very little compromise. I no longer have to fret about tethering a laptop computer to a cellphone, lacking some data on 1 product that then has to be shared to a further, or hoping I really don’t create a stability concern. The NexDock two even serves as a powerbank for your cellphone and when you up grade your cellphone your NexDock two receives updated.
In purchase to use the NexDock two on the prepare, I purchased a Mountie clip to keep my Samsung cellphone to the facet of the show. The Samsung DeX and NexDock two alternative is brilliant and Samsung must seriously consider exhibiting this off to enable develop DeX as a viable business alternative.
