That’s an interesting statement! Samsung DeX (Desktop Experience) is a feature that allows you to use your Galaxy device like a PC, with a desktop-like interface and support for mouse and keyboard input. It’s a unique feature that can be useful for productivity and multitasking.
However, it’s great that you have a clear idea of how you plan to use your Galaxy Z Flip 7. If you don’t see yourself using DeX, that’s perfectly fine! The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is still a powerful and feature-rich device with many other capabilities that you might find more appealing.
What do you think you’ll be using your Galaxy Z Flip 7 for most often? Will you be using it for social media, gaming, photography, or something else?
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Samsung’s DeX mode is available on the Galaxy Z Flip 7, making it the first of Samsung’s compact folding phones to come with the interesting desktop mode.
I’ve given it a try to see how well it works, and also to really understand if I’d ever use it.
The good news is, it’s an effective and well-designed feature, but I can’t find a strong enough reason to fire it up regularly.
Setting up DeX
There’s one Z Flip 7 problem
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 supports both wired and wireless DeX, but to use the wireless system, it must connect to a device with Miracast support.
While Miracast (which is often known by different names) isn’t a rare feature, it’s more often found on televisions and streaming devices, which isn’t where I’d want to use a desktop computer alternative.
Instead, I connected the Z Flip 7 to a monitor using an HDMI-to-USB-C cable. It’s by far the easiest option, and requires absolutely no setup beyond plugging both ends of the cable in.
Keeping things simple is always good when work is going to be involved, but wireless support is also good to have for situations where you want to connect to a tablet on the move, or potentially a TV in a hotel.
The DeX main screen appears on the monitor instantly, and the Z Flip 7’s screen becomes a multi-function trackpad, ready to control the onscreen pointer.
Here’s where some may not enjoy the Z Flip 7 for DeX. You’re going to feel the crease in the open screen a lot.
I don’t notice it much during normal phone use, but my finger naturally goes to the center of the Z Flip 7’s screen when it’s in pointer mode, and the crease is almost all you feel because of it.
There’s something else to know, too. By default, the Z Flip 7 displays in DeX at 1920 x 1080 (FHD) pixels, and if you want a 3440 x 1440 (UWQHD) resolution, you have to force it in the Good Lock app.
If you use DeX with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, it immediately displays in UWQHD with no additional stages required.
I love the way DeX looks. The multi-window view, complete with a task bar and a host of quick settings, is immediately usable to anyone with even a vague knowledge of Microsoft Windows.
Its familiarity extends to the way you control it using the phone’s trackpad view, with most gestures seen on many modern laptop trackpads available.
It means you fall into using DeX quickly, which is a real benefit. I see it as being an emergency feature, rather than one you rely on regularly, so quick setup and simple controls are essential.
You can use the Z Flip 7’s onscreen keyboard to type through DeX, which works without a delay, but is not as ergonomically sound as linking a Bluetooth keyboard to your phone and using that instead.
I paired my usual Logitech MX Keys Mini keyboard to the Galaxy Z Flip 7, and while it certainly makes it feel more like a desktop alternative, there’s a slight pause between keyboard inputs and what appears in apps like Google Docs.
It’s not much, but it’s more than you get when using the Z Flip 7’s own keyboard, or a keyboard on a laptop.
There’s no gap between input and visual confirmation when I use the Logitech keyboard with my Apple Mac Mini M1 either.
If I’m not typing, what else can it do? It does everything you can do on your phone, just on a bigger screen and with a mouse and keyboard.
Performance is the same as on the Z Flip 7, so the same games you play on it also work with DeX.
Editing photos in the Gallery app is seamless, right down to the way the touchpad recognizes a long press to adjust the attribute scroll wheels, and I had no speed, smoothness, or heat issues either.
Its lack of limitations is a considerable benefit.
DeX is polished and smart
But it’s not for everyone
DeX is a great addition to the Galaxy Z Flip 7. It isn’t really a productivity device on its own, so the feature adds another dimension to the phone, potentially making it more useful to more people, more of the time.
However, while I work on the move a lot, DeX doesn’t appeal to me as much as a tablet, laptop, or reasonably priced Chromebook.
Most of the time, my work involves just a few apps, a web browser, and a word processor like Google Docs.
If I’m going to carry a tablet or small monitor around to use as a screen for DeX, adding a keyboard case instead of a separate Bluetooth keyboard would likely be more space efficient, but also avoid the slightly disconcerting pause when I type in DeX with a Bluetooth keyboard too.
There are some excellent tablet choices with a keyboard accessory, whether that’s an Apple iPad and Magic Keyboard, the OnePlus Pad 3, or even the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE with its keyboard accessory. All are solid on-the-go work machines.
Furthermore, if I only want to carry a phone and a mini keyboard around, I’d go for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 instead, and use its excellent multitasking features and the handy Task Bar feature over DeX.
There’s a lot to DeX
Find what works for you
I don’t find Samsung DeX does anything better than any of these choices, but it’s certainly not worse, and I did enjoy looking at what others use DeX for.
Browsing the Samsung DeX subreddit revealed a host of truly creative and surprisingly complex setups, with many replacing a laptop with their phone and DeX, and others embracing a more tech minimalist lifestyle through it.
If you’re interested in DeX but aren’t sure where to start, or aren’t quite sure of the point, there’s plenty of inspiration there.
The good thing is, because DeX is so well-sorted, if you find a way it works well for you, it’s unlikely to cause a headache or be a pain to set up.
Give it a try, and I think you’ll be impressed. I know I am every time I use it, but I personally just can’t find a way for it to fit into my life. Using DeX again on the Z Flip 7 showed I’m probably missing out because of it.
