Last year Samsung had introduced the DeX Station along with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8+. This time around the Korean company has launched an upgrade for the DeX system. The all-new DeX pad was made official at the ongoing Samsung event at MWC. The new DeX Pad comes with one big change, that is the smartphone will double up as a keyboard and a mouse device thus removing the necessity for an external keyboard and mouse.
The DeX pad comes with an arrangement that clips the smartphone to the top. The DeX pad comes with a micro USB port that needs to be connected to the Galaxy S9 and the S9+. Once the device sits flush it can be used as a touchpad and also as a keyboard. I personally feel that using a smartphone as a keyboard for a larger screen is a bit of overstretch. However, in certain cases its always better to use the phone as a keyboard rather than having to carry an external keyboard.
The DeX Pad supports displays of up to 2560×1440 as opposed to the DeX Station which can power up displays of up to 1080p. Connectivity ports on the DeX Pad include two USB ports, one Type-C port and an HDMI port. That being said the new DeX Pad misses out on the Ethernet port and this may be a deal breaker for some.
At this juncture, only the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the S9+ are compatible with the DeX Pad. However, Samsung has said that it will extend the support for Galaxy S8, S8+ and the Note 8 via an OS update. As far as the keyboard is concerned, Samsung DeX Pad comes with a tailor-made onscreen keyboard for the S9 and the S9+. The company is yet to announce the pricing for the DeX Pad and I presume that it will be below $200, especially since the DeX station is currently retailing for $149.99.