It took 8 hours of flying for Samsung’s DeX mode to finally click with me

I admit to being a little skeptical about tablets. Don’t get me wrong: Ever since I bought my first iPad in 2012, I’ve pretty much always had a tablet on hand. Whether it was buying an Nvidia Shield tablet in college or reviewing multiple Galaxy Tabs for Android Police, I’ve always appreciated a large, portable screen for watching movies or browsing the web. But when it comes to functioningWhether it was editing photos, recording podcasts, or writing a simple news article, I needed a full-fledged PC to do it.

This is probably why I’ve always made fun of Samsung’s DeX mode. If you’re unfamiliar, DeX is the optional desktop experience included in One UI. On Galaxy smartphones, DeX lets you connect to a monitor and various peripherals to create a proto-desktop computer right from the device in your back pocket. On Galaxy tabletsHowever, DeX is actually a second optional launcher, accessible directly from the quick settings menu.

I’ve been using the Galaxy Tab S10+ as a secondary device since I reviewed it last year. Its 12.4-inch screen has always been just large enough to accomplish many of my most basic tasks without breaking a sweat. Writing an editorial, responding to emails, organizing my to-do list: it’s the perfect space for it all. Still, it took me a while to wrap my head around the possibility that the Tab S10+ is more than just an occasional messaging machine, and frankly, I have DeX mode to thank for that revelation.

When you’re stuck on a plane, space is everything

And the Galaxy Tab S10+ makes way more sense than a laptop

It all started back in October, when I flew to Hawaii to cover Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset announcement. Covering a new SoC isn’t necessarily difficult, but it East takes time. The sheer amount of documentation, assets, and other resources you have to wade through to get a sense of what makes a new piece of silicon special – and better than its predecessor in particular – can be a bit overwhelming, especially on a small screen. Typically, I wouldn’t think twice before using a tablet for something like this, but sometimes a situation requires drastic measures.

In this case, that situation was, well, being on a plane. I don’t need to tell anyone that space is extremely limited on the coach. As much as I love my laptop – an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 from a few years ago – fully opening its screen requires a little more space than I can afford, especially if the person in front of me reclines their seat . Usually the lack of a dedicated trackpad and the locked angle of Samsung’s keyboard folio limits my productivity, but on a plane it’s actually perfect, giving my arms enough room to stretch out comfortably.

So, as I left for the longest part of my trip – an eight-hour flight from Dallas to Maui – I took the tablet out of my backpack and started writing. At first, everything went as well as expected. I answered some work emails, worked a bit on a earphone review that fell by the wayside, and finally started putting together my Qualcomm cover.

And that’s when Android’s limitations really started to show.

How multitasking works by default in One UI.

You see, as flexible as One UI looks on large-screen devices like tablets and foldables, it’s still primarily designed for using one or two open apps at a time. In this case, I felt myself switching between my blog post draft, several PDF files, my list of notes in Google Keep, and a collection of screenshots. Frankly, it was overwhelming and slow, and I found it particularly frustrating how much I missed Windows – the user interface, not the operating system. But that’s where DeX came into play.

DeX helped fill Android’s shortcomings on the big screen

Even without a dedicated mouse

There’s no doubt that DeX — at least in classic mode, as I use it — is designed primarily for a mouse and keyboard, in the same way that Windows 11 is designed for a mouse and keyboard. But like Microsoft’s operating system, DeX isn’t necessarily unusable without a cursor. In fact, since DeX is a layer above Android and you still access Android apps, I would say DeX is much more user-friendly than Windows. And that made me decide to switch to my Tab S10+ on an even smarter plane.

Since DeX lets you use apps in Windows, I was able to keep multiple PDFs open at once, open all the images I needed directly in a gallery, and keep anything scattered on my desktop in different windows at your fingertips. There was no swiping between recently opened apps, no locked 2×2 grid of poorly sized user interfaces. Everything was layered, one click away from being the focal point of my attention. Just like a computer should be.

From there, my to-do list – like the flight itself – went smoothly. It didn’t matter if I was crammed into an uncomfortable seat for hours. I was able to immerse myself in my work in a way that any typical Android experience, whether it was One UI on a Tab S10+, OxygenOS on a OnePlus Pad 2, or the Google Launcher on the Pixel tablet, simply would not have allowed. Ultimately, my work was finished even earlier than expected, and I was able to get up and enjoy an in-flight movie.

That doesn’t mean I’ll ditch a traditional laptop for a tablet anytime soon, of course. Although I’m glad that Android, with the power of DeX, has helped improve my writing experience that much more comfortable in a cramped environment, it is not my usual work space. In my home office, surrounded by a large screen, a mechanical keyboard, and plenty of space to spread out, I will always be more productive. And that’s not even counting tools like Lightroom and Audition, which I constantly depend on for my work.

Still, it made me reconsider how I pack for work trips. Recently, during my trip to CES – the exact trip that inspired me to write this article – I made the decision to leave my tablet at home, thinking that my laptop was more than adequate for the job. But as I hunched over my keyboard trying to finish my review of the OnePlus 13 before the plane landed in Las Vegas, I realized how much I regretted leaving my Tab S10+ behind. DeX is so good, and as I prepare to travel to AP in the near future, you can be sure I’ll make room in my bag.

Whatever the future of Android, DeX should be a source of inspiration

Google could learn a lesson or two

It also gave me hope for the future of Android on the big screen. If Google is truly looking to merge Chrome OS and Android to some extent, as rumors have suggested in recent months, DeX could be the key to success. After all, Android could be a good – even excellent – ​​productivity platform, for working on the go, but Google has not allowed it to fully exploit this potential. Tools like DeX have come a long way to make this dream a reality, but nothing is perfect. A genuine attempt to create a powerful desktop mode for all of Google’s mobile devices could make computing on the go such a reality.