Which is finest in 2024?

Linking my phone to my laptop is sensible as a result of I can reply calls and obtain notifications on a single platform. It improves my day by day effectivity as a result of I can depart my distracting cellphone out of the way in which whereas nonetheless with the ability to entry its core features once I must. I additionally do not want pesky cables as a result of my cellphone connects to my laptop computer through the shared Wi-Fi connection.

Samsung DeX and the Hyperlink to Home windows apps are the 2 best methods to attach Android telephones to a Windows After taking a deep dive into these two rival platforms, hopefully you may see which works higher for you.

Worth, availability, and launch date

They’re each free and price attempting

The perfect factor about Samsung Dex and Hyperlink to Home windows is that they’re free apps constructed into Samsung and Android units. DeX is unique to Samsung telephones and requires the companion DeX Home windows app from the Samsung web site or Galaxy retailer to connect with your PC. Hyperlink to Home windows is baked into most fashionable Android telephones, together with Samsung, OnePlus, and Pixel. It connects to your PC through the Cellphone Hyperlink app preinstalled on Home windows 11.

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Samsung DeX was launched in 2017 with a docking station providing two USB-As, an HDMI 2.0, Ethernet, and a USB-C port for connecting your cellphone to a monitor and including mice and keyboards. In 2018, the DeX HDMI adapter, DeX USB-C to male HDMI cable, and the DeX Pad with a USB-C port, HDMI, and two USB-A ports phased out the docking station. DeX developed additional in 2019, solely needing an everyday charging cable to work on laptops and screens. In 2020, it went wi-fi, utilizing Miracast to connect with different units.

In its present kind, DeX can convert your Samsung cellphone’s interface right into a desktop expertise that works on TVs, computer systems, screens, and tablets.

Hyperlink to Home windows runs in your cellphone and connects to its companion app, Cellphone Hyperlink, in your PC. Cellphone Hyperlink began life because the Your Cellphone app, which was launched in 2018 for PC customers to view their Android galleries and ship SMS messages. It turned an ordinary characteristic on Samsung telephones in 2020 and gained the power to make and obtain calls on a linked PC.

In 2022, the desktop app was up to date and re-branded to Cellphone Hyperlink, whereas its companion cellphone app turned Hyperlink to Home windows.

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  Samsung DeX

  Samsung Dex connects your Android cellphone to most PCs, screens, and TVs to supply a desktop-like expertise that is incredible for multitasking and boosting effectivity.

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  Hyperlink to Home windows

  Hyperlink to Home windows is a straightforward strategy to join your cellphone to your PC, so you may take calls, entry your gallery, or obtain notifications in your desktop.

Dex and Hyperlink to Home windows supply a number of connection strategies

Wired and wi-fi connections on your comfort

DeX is flexible and might connect with non-Home windows units like TVs, Tablets, and screens. The perfect connection technique is dependent upon what system you are connecting to and its ports and capabilities. Most laptops, tablets, and TVs can connect with DeX with a cable and work wirelessly, offered they share the identical Wi-Fi community. Screens sometimes work with a USB-C to HDMI cable and want a separate mouse and keyboard for navigation.

Downloading Dex is step one to getting it going. Then, you may resolve whether or not to attach utilizing your customary USB-C charging cable or wirelessly.

Connecting with a USB-C cable is simple. I simply plug one finish into my cellphone and the opposite into my laptop computer. The DeX desktop app mechanically detects my cellphone and asks me to press the Begin Now button on the cell app to hyperlink the 2. After that, I’ve a steady connection and might use DeX to reply calls, reply to WhatsApp messages, or entry the AI instruments in my picture editor.

Utilizing a cable simplifies the method as a result of it is steady and works with out requiring a Wi-Fi connection. I can entry my cellphone’s apps even when Wi-Fi and cell knowledge are turned off, however I will not be capable of entry the web for shopping or streaming. One other good thing about the cable connection is that it expenses my cellphone whereas working, so I need not fear about battery life. This won’t be a giant deal at house, however it may be a lifesaver once I work on the go and haven’t got energy sockets close by.

However, utilizing a cable requires a free port, which is scarce on my laptop computer once I have already got a mouse, dongle, and different peripherals related. I additionally must have the cable with me and discover a strategy to run it so it does not intervene with my mouse actions or take up beneficial desk house.

Connecting wirelessly is equally easy if my cellphone and laptop computer are on the identical Wi-Fi community. I open DeX on my cellphone, and it exhibits a listing of units to connect with. After I click on on my laptop computer’s identify, it opens up the affirmation display screen, and I click on on Begin now to run the desktop app.

I discover it simpler to make use of DeX wirelessly as a result of I do not want a cable, and it’ll work if my cellphone’s in a separate room. It connects immediately and gives the identical options, however its stability relies on sign energy and might fluctuate relying on distance and community visitors. Utilizing Dex wirelessly impacts my cellphone’s battery life, however its affect is not sufficient to offset its comfort and practicality. After I’m accomplished, I faucet the Exit button on my cellphone to disconnect.

As its identify suggests, Hyperlink to Home windows works on Home windows 11 units and is not appropriate with TVs and screens. The cellphone and desktop apps ought to be baked into your cellphone and laptop computer, however you will want a Microsoft account for them to work.

Not like Dex, Hyperlink to Home windows solely works wirelessly, and you will not be capable of use a cable. Most Hyperlink to Home windows options work over your shared Wi-Fi community, and calls undergo Bluetooth. To get it going, it’s worthwhile to open the Cellphone Hyperlink app in your PC, which can generate a QR code. Then, scan the QR code along with your cellphone’s Hyperlink to the Home windows app and sign up to your Microsoft account to finish the setup. After pairing for the primary time, Hyperlink to Home windows will bear in mind the settings and join mechanically sooner or later when your cellphone is in vary.

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DeX and Hyperlink to Home windows can run in your PC concurrently, however there is a trick to it. DeX will not work if Hyperlink to Home windows is already related. It’s going to show an error message asking you to shut Hyperlink to Home windows earlier than continuing. You may run Hyperlink to Home windows if DeX is already related. They will work concurrently over Wi-Fi, however the connection may be unstable.

You too can concurrently run sure apps, like your gallery or cellphone dialer, in DeX and Hyperlink to Home windows. Others, just like the calculator, will not work concurrently, and the primary app window will shut once you open the second.

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Dex and Hyperlink to Home windows differ however share comparable options

Run apps, reply calls, and extra

Samsung DeX permits me to make use of all my cellphone’s options on a desktop interface once I join it to a appropriate PC or laptop computer. This implies I can entry all of your apps, make and obtain calls, and do every part I can on my cellphone. The app successfully takes management of my PC and shows its interface in a separate window that I can shortly reduce if I need to swap to my Home windows desktop. One of many advantages of this method is you can join DeX to an previous laptop computer, and it’ll nonetheless work the identical as a result of your cellphone does all of the heavy lifting.

DeX opens up many prospects as a result of you may work on paperwork and spreadsheets on a bigger show, and it is simpler to browse your gallery and edit footage. Many cell video games work with DeX, so you may get pleasure from taking part in them with a mouse and keyboard as a substitute of imprecise contact controls. DeX helps me multitask as a result of I can open my messages, emails, calls, and WhatsApp home windows concurrently as a substitute of switching between them on my cellphone.

Top-of-the-line issues about Dex is the fluid expertise. It is at all times clean and responsive when opening home windows or clicking on icons. If you happen to use the MultiStar module in Samsung’s GoodLock app suite, you may even improve its capabilities to confide in 5 apps at a time or show increased resolutions.

Hyperlink to Home windows works the alternative strategy to DeX, and my PC controls my cellphone as a substitute of the opposite means round. As soon as related, Hyperlink to Home windows opens an interface with shortcuts to my messages, photographs, apps, and calls. Most apps work advantageous, however most are restricted to a smaller vertical window mimicking my cellphone, and I will not get a correct desktop expertise. They nonetheless work properly, and I can open a number of apps concurrently or stream my cellphone’s show to my PC. Simple file switch is one other good thing about Hyperlink to Home windows as a result of I can copy and paste footage and different media from the app onto my PC.

The Hyperlink to Home windows interface is simply as clean and responsive as DeX, and its minimalist model makes it straightforward for anybody to make use of. Nonetheless, it does not present the desktop-like really feel of DeX and is extra like one other window operating in your laptop. Certainly one of my petty gripes is that I should have my cellphone available as a result of Hyperlink to Home windows asks me to unlock it to entry sure apps.

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Which linking app is finest for you?

They every have execs and cons

Samsung DeX

Samsung Dex connects your Android cellphone to most PCs, screens, and TVs to supply a desktop-like expertise that is incredible for multitasking and boosting effectivity.

DeX is unique to Samsung telephones, so different Android customers are higher off with Hyperlink to Home windows by default. However which app is finest for Samsung customers? DeX works with a wired or wi-fi connection, making it extra versatile as a result of you should use it in locations with out Wi-Fi or needing to share cell knowledge. It additionally works on a number of units and might flip your previous Home windows laptop computer or monitor right into a productiveness PC, stream content material to your TV, play cell video games on a monitor, or use your pill as a substitute of a heavy laptop computer once you’re on the go.

The DeX interface gives a desktop-like really feel with a begin menu and taskbar that will probably be acquainted to anybody with an Android cellphone or Chromebook. I at all times really feel at house utilizing DeX and love that I can open a number of cell apps on my PC to enhance my effectivity.

However, DeX lacks an auto-connect characteristic, and I have to manually open the app each time I need to use it. If the Hyperlink to Home windows app is open, I must dig into my settings and shut it earlier than attempting to run DeX, in any other case I am going to get an error message. I believe it is nice that DeX can take over your laptop’s entire show or work in a window. Nonetheless, switching between my Home windows and DeX interfaces can typically get overwhelming once I’m busy and looking for the place my notifications are coming from.

Hyperlink to Home windows

Hyperlink to Home windows is a straightforward strategy to join your cellphone to your PC, so you may take calls, entry your gallery, or obtain notifications in your desktop.

Hyperlink to Home windows works on most Android telephones however solely with a wi-fi connection, and it nonetheless wants Bluetooth to deal with calls. It is simpler to arrange than DeX as a result of the cell and PC linking apps are constructed into their respective units and do not require any downloads to get them working. The auto-connect characteristic is one other bonus as a result of your cellphone and laptop will mechanically sync after linking for the primary time with out consumer intervention.

Hyperlink to Home windows feels extra like a Home windows 11 app than a separate entity, and its integration into the taskbar makes it simpler to navigate and consider. It is user-friendly and responsive however does not supply the identical desktop-like really feel or full-screen apps like DeX.

Total, I would say that it is a toss-up between the 2, relying on what you are utilizing it for. DeX is the higher selection for heavier duties like multitasking and operating a number of cell apps on a big desktop. Hyperlink to Home windows gives extra comfort and is healthier if you’d like a hassle-free app for taking calls and answering messages in your Home windows laptop.