Phones are now pretty much the smartest things on the planet. Not only do we no longer need to lug a laptop around with us wherever we go, we don't even really need a brain of our own anymore. This is why we're starting to see more phone manufacturers producing accessories to help you use your handset as a desktop.
Last year, Samsung introduced the DeX - a dock that enabled a desktop experience as long as you had a screen with an HDMI socket to plug into. Let's find out what they've done to ramp up the 2018 version...
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Obviously, the DeX Pad looks completely different to the round, ashtray-style dock from 2017 with the pop-up stand. There were all kinds of drawbacks to that design, not least of which was the complete inability to access the headphone socket at the base of your phone. In fact, getting at any part of your phone while it was docked was problematic. While this isn't a major if you're in Samsung DeX mode (desktop mode), using a peripheral mouse and keyboard - if you're just screen-mirroring, obviously it becomes harder to control things when you're having to poke around for navigation buttons at the base of the screen which is recessed inside the dock itself.
The DeX Pad 2018 has none of these issues because your phone lies flat to plug in, leaving the screen (and the headphone jack) completely accessible. The "Pad" has also been added to the name because when in Samsung DeX mode, you can now use your phone screen as a trackpad controller, just like on a laptop - therefore you might not need to attach a mouse at all.
However, there are two USB ports on the DeX Pad if you do prefer a mouse and keyboard, although obviously these can be used for accessing external storage devices as well - pretty handy for transferring a lot of data quickly.
While the original DeX was the only thing in the box, this year's upgrade includes HDMI and charging cables and most importantly, its own fast charger. This is vital because the whole shebang only works when it's plugged into the right power source. This is actually a positive rather than a drawback because it means you can keep using your phone productively while fast-charging it at the same time.
The DeX Pad 2018 seems to fire up a bit faster than the previous model and I definitely noticed far less lag with the connection, something that bothered me last year - especially when streaming video. Whether this is due to improvements in the device itself, more power from the Galaxy S9+ I'm using with it, some kind of software modifications or a combination of all three, I'm not sure. What I'm trying to tell you is Netflix works brilliantly through this thing - outstanding picture quality.
Sadly, not all apps have been optimised to be used with the DeX Pad - they all work, but many won't maximise to full-screen size, keeping to a phone-screen shaped window on the desktop instead. This can be worked-around to some degree if you mirror the phone rather than using Samsung DeXÂ mode, although even then many apps won't expand out to fill the whole screen.
Another upside to the new lay-down configuration of the DeX Pad is you can flick it (and the phone) sideways to force the screen into landscape - something that just wasn't an option with the 2017 stand-up version. (Again this is only an issue if you're mirroring rather than desktopping)
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Perhaps the most useful improvement to the 2018 DeX is simply how much more compact it is. Yes, the original was portable, but it was still too bulky to slide into a briefcase or handbag. Now it really isn't much bigger than your phone itself, making it a far more realistic option when it comes to hot-desking between offices, towns or countries.
Some games have been optimised for DeX and work very well - but of course, most haven't so this may not be your go-to gaming accessory. On the other hand, if you're already using your phone as your primary business tool, the extra functionality you can gain by plugging into a large screen is more than a little useful.
Compatible with Galaxy S8, S8+, Note8, S9 and S9+, the DeX Pad makes the most of these phones' impressive computing muscle and multitasking abilities, empowering you to easily move and modify media files, documents and presentations - or just take it with you when you travel so you can watch your favourite streaming apps on a bigger screen - charging your phone the whole time.
Best of all, it's cheaper. Some stockists are retailing the DeX Pad for as much as $70 less than the old model - when does that ever happen?
At around $179, it seems like there's a lot of productivity and portability to be gained and not much to lose.
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