Poor man’s Samsung DEX HUB and VMware Horizon Advantage

22 Jun

I had been intrigued by the Samsung DeX mode post its launch but didn’t have the courage to buy the 125$ (Rs. 10,000/- INR) Samsung DeX Station. I was on a look-out for an alternate Hub which could do the DeX mode on my Galaxy S8+ for a lot less. After searching @ AliExpress I finally managed to find a hub called EASYA Thunderbolt 3 USB C to HDMI Adapter DeX Mode for Samsung Galaxy S8/S9 which had some good positive reviews and for 33$

The moment of truth was to plug-in the Galaxy S8+ and try the DeX mode. Attempt-1: Managed to plug the phone to the hub and HDMI monitor as the output. Next thing I noticed was the screen mirror got enabled and DeX Mode pop-up wouldn’t come or get detected.

Attempt-2: Additional to the above I plugged in the Power in the USB-C 3.1 PD Port and magically the pop-up appeared on the phone “Start DeX Mode”

If you don’t have the wireless mouse plugged in the entire Galaxy S8+ screen acts like a mouse trackpad which can come-in handy.

EASYA Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C Hub To HDMI Adapter Dex Mode

Productivity with VMware Horizon:

The Horizon Client available on the Android Store has integration with DeX mode that enables you to use the Virtual Desktop in Full screen mode. I launch my Windows 10 Desktop and use it for an entire day. I was easily able to work on the following applications without any issues

  • Microsoft Outlook Client
  • Chrome and Firefox browser
  • Skype for Business (Audio/Chat Only) – Video was having issues
  • VMware Performance Tracker was showing the CPU and Network Bandwidth Usage graphs in real-time
  • There was no lag or any sign of slowness in any form
  • CPU Usage on the phone at an average of 4-6%

Known Observations:

  • The phone didn’t heat all day during its usage
  • The HUB was reasonably warm during the entire day usage
  • The limited DeX compatible Application works good in full-screen

More Picture on the Usage

DeX Mode and Horizon Client Launch
Horizon Client

DeX Mode and Full Screen – Windows 10 + Dell 24 inch Monitor
Full Screen - Windows 10 VDI

Hardware Setup – Logitech M140 Bluetooth Keyboard + Mouse
Hardware-Setup

More Documentation on Samsung DeX + VMware Horizon

Using Horizon Client with Samsung DeX
Enable the DeX Mode Auto Launch Feature

I hope you find this HUB review and DeX mode usage with Horizon useful and will be able to use it as a daily driver. Let me know if you would like to know more in the comments section

Thanks,
Aresh

One Response to “Poor man’s Samsung DEX HUB and VMware Horizon Advantage”

  1. Aju S June 22, 2018 at 11:23 am #

    This is really good.

    Reply

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