Samsung Galaxy S9+ gets dockless DeX support in Android Pie beta

We may earn a commission for purchases made using our links.

Samsung DeX is Samsung’s desktop experience based on Android that appears when you connect your Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S9, or Galaxy Note 9 to a monitor. It allows for multiple windows and apps to be open at once with a special UI designed for a larger desktop screen. Samsung Experience 10 based on Android Pie is almost here for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 and comes with a whole slew of new features. Dockless DeX from the Galaxy Note 9 is one of those new features being brought to the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Samsung Galaxy S9+. This means that all you need is a simple HDMI to USB Type-C cable to use Samsung DeX.

Samsung DeX before the Galaxy Note 9 required a Samsung DeX Pad or DeX Station. The DeX Station was a small round dock that was launched with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+. It allowed users to connect an ethernet cable, HDMI cable, and USB devices to it through the Station. It also allowed for users to connect a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and use that instead of USB devices. This would all go into the Station and allow for users to use their phones as a computer. This Station was expensive and was required for DeX to work. When the Samsung Galaxy S9 launched, Samsung also launched the Samsung DeX Pad. This has USB ports and an HDMI port for connection. It would act as its own track pad and keyboard to free up the ports for USB devices.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 launched earlier this year with a new feature involving Samsung DeX. It allowed for users to use DeX without the need for any DeX hardware. The new Samsung DeX would let anyone with a HDMI to USB Type-C cable to connect to a monitor and control DeX through the screen or a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. It would have the track pad and keyboard on the screen of the device. It would only allow for 5 windows instead of the 20 windows that are part of the DeX with hardware. Samsung hasn’t yet brought this back to the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on Android Oreo, but after some testing by invmini from the SamCentral Discord we found that the Samsung Galaxy S9+ on the leaked Samsung Experience 10 beta supports DeX over HDMI. Below is a video provided by him that shows him connecting and activating DeX through a simple HDMI to USB Type-C adapter.

The hardware on the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 are almost the same. The biggest difference are the sizes of RAM and storage in the most expensive models. The smaller Samsung Galaxy S9 should also support DeX over HDMI but we were not able to confirm this. The minor differences between the two devices shouldn’t be a big enough deal for Samsung to not allow DeX on the regular Galaxy S9, so it will most likely work.

Dockless DoX support goes along with what we have seen so far in Samsung Experience 10 with Samsung bringing up their Galaxy Note 9 features to the Galaxy S9. Samsung has already brought up the Scene Optimizer, for example. Samsung has also brought up new features to lots of their phones lately. The older Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, and Galaxy Note 8 have all gotten features like Super Slow Mo and AR Emojis, though Super Slow Mo on these devices is limited to 480fps. Samsung has done a good job adding new features to their older devices.

Users who want to install and test Samsung Experience 10 with all the new features can install it right now on the Snapdragon Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, and Note 9. These all have the latest beta builds from firmware.science. Samsung will be launching their official beta program very soon so be on a lookout for that.

Feature image: Dockless DeX on the Galaxy Note 9.