If you're considering using your mobile phone like a computer, you've probably heard of Samsung DeX and Motorola Ready ForBoth promise something very similar: you connect the phone to a large screen, plug in a keyboard and mouse, and you can work, watch movies or play games almost as if you were in front of a PC.
The problem is that almost no one goes into the finer details, and even less so when thinking about more advanced uses like XR glasses, long trips, real productivity, or laptop replacementThis is where the real differences between DeX and Ready For (now integrated into Smart Connect) begin, and where Samsung, to be honest, has a significant advantage.
What exactly are Samsung DeX and Motorola Ready For?
Both Samsung DeX and Motorola Ready For are based on the same basic idea: take advantage of the power of the Android smartphone to show a desktop-type interface on an external screen. Instead of seeing the typical enlarged mobile screen, what you get is an environment with windows, a taskbar, a desktop, and notifications adapted to a monitor or television.
In practice, when you connect the phone to a TV, a monitor, or even a... mixed reality or XR glassesYou can open applications in resizable windows, place shortcuts on the desktop, use a mouse and keyboard just like on a PC, and work with multiple apps simultaneously. For office tasks, advanced browsing, multimedia, and some gaming, both systems are perfectly viable.
Over the last decade, mobile phones have gone from being simple communication devices to authentic machines capable of moving complex processesHigh-end processors like the latest generation Snapdragon 8, 12 or 16 GB of RAM, fast storage… The phrase “carrying a computer in your pocket” is no longer just an empty slogan, and these desktop modes try to exploit precisely that power.
Samsung and Motorola, however, have taken somewhat different paths. Samsung has been refining DeX since 2017, first with specific docking stations, then with cables, later with wireless mode, and even with a DeX application integrated into Windows (which has now been losing prominence in the most recent models). Motorola, for its part, revived the desktop concept it first tested more than ten years ago with the Atrix and relaunched it as Ready For within Smart Connect, with a special focus on PC integration, although neglecting certain aspects such as wired support in some new terminals.
Compatibility and availability: which phones actually work
One of the key points before committing to one system or another is to know which models are compatibleHere, Samsung has a significant advantage simply due to its long history and the volume of its supported catalog.
Samsung DeX has been on the market for years and has spread throughout much of its high-end range and even some powerful mid-range models. Among the devices that have historically supported DeX are: Galaxy S8, S9, S10, S20, S21the Note family (Note 8, 9, 10, 20) and tablets such as Galaxy Tab S4, S5e, S6 and S7Not all of them offer exactly the same thing: older models required a specific base, others don't have a wireless mode, etc., but the list is long and the user has plenty to choose from.
Motorola, on the other hand, arrived later. Ready For debuted in models like the Moto G100 and the Edge+ and has subsequently been integrated into Smart Connect on other mid-range/high-end devices, but the total list is much shorter. Furthermore, there is an important distinction: some of the Newer Motorola devices no longer include DisplayPort Alt-Mode on USB-Cwhich means they lose the option of wired desktop, although they maintain wireless projection and PC integration.
This detail complicates things considerably for the average user: the marketing name “Ready For” or “Smart Connect” may be the same, but the actual capabilities vary depending on the model, year, and even the Android version. To top it all off, many Motorola devices with wired desktops have a significant limitation. Android 16 updatesSo, looking ahead to Android 17 and beyond, there is some uncertainty about whether they will continue to work the same way.
In contrast, Samsung's ecosystem is more predictable: if you buy a recent flagship phone, you can almost be sure that Will it have some kind of DeX support?Wired or wireless. For users looking for something that will last for years (or even a backup device to use with XR glasses), this continuity from Samsung is a big plus.
Connection methods: wired, wireless, and PC use
Another area where the differences are clearly noticeable is in the connection options which each system offers. In the end, how you connect your phone to the screen completely determines the experience: it's not the same to use an HDMI cable as it is to project wirelessly to the living room TV or to display your desktop in a window within Windows.
Samsung's DeX is quite flexible. On many models you can connect a USB-C to HDMI cable directly to the monitor or TVor use a more complete USB-C dock that adds USB ports, Ethernet, a card reader, etc. Furthermore, recent generations added a mode Wireless DeX via Miracastprovided that the TV or monitor and the mobile phone are on the same network and the panel supports this standard.
For a time, Samsung also offered a DeX application for Windows and macOSThis feature allowed users to open the DeX desktop in a computer window, using their own keyboard and mouse. It was especially useful for managing mobile apps, responding to notifications, and transferring files without taking your eyes off the main monitor. Although this integration has been reduced in some newer models, it remains one of DeX's historical distinguishing features.
Motorola started with a simpler approach. Ready For was initially intended for use with HDMI to USB-C cable towards a TV or monitor, to the point that in some models the cable was even included in the box, something Samsung doesn't usually do. If you wanted to go a step further, you could add a dock with a fan and extra ports, but the basic requirement was always the physical connection.
Over time, Motorola has primarily focused on integration with Windows computersThis allows users to manage their mobile device from their PC using the keyboard, mouse, and computer screen—a very convenient feature if you spend all day at your desk and don't want to be constantly fiddling with your phone. Interestingly, Motorola is pressing ahead in the same area where Samsung has been easing up, making a strong push for the mobile-PC combination.
The downside for Motorola is that the current strategy leaves a somewhat chaotic landscape: new models without DisplayPort Alt-Mode no longer support classic wired desktop setups, while those that do rely on certain features. specific versions of Android and finite supportNowadays, anyone who wants to Wired desktop with Motorola You need to carefully choose your terminal and accept that you may be limited in the medium term.
Motorola Ready For / Smart Connect interface and real-world use
When you connect a compatible Motorola to an external display, the experience doesn't start directly on a "Windows-style" desktop, but rather on a home screen with several optionsThis initial hub displays four access points: three themed launchers and the classic mobile desktop mode.
The themed launchers are called TV (multimedia), Games, and Chat. The TV launcher groups all your video and streaming apps (YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, etc.), the Games launcher displays your installed titles, and the Chat launcher brings together messaging and calling apps. They function as quick access lists to app groupsdesigned primarily for sofa entertainment, quick gaming sessions, or communication.
In everyday use, many users almost always end up clicking on the option to mobile desktopThis is where you actually have your windows, taskbar, notifications, and productivity tools. The initial hub can be convenient if you just want to put on a show, launch a game with an Xbox controller, or reply to chats from your TV, but when you need to get down to work, it feels like an extra step separating you from what you want to do.
Motorola's desktop interface is reminiscent of a blend between an Android tablet and a classic windowing system. On the left side, there is usually a app launcherOn the right, you'll find access to notifications, volume controls, connectivity options, and some quick settings. Visually, it's quite familiar to anyone used to Windows, and navigating between apps is intuitive.
The good news is that most apps behave reasonably well in windowed mode: they resize, switch from full screen to reduced size without too much trouble, and allow for comfortable work. However, as with any desktop environment on Android, Not all apps are designed to run in windowed mode.And some refuse to change size or look disproportionate. It's more of a limitation of the Android ecosystem than of Motorola.
An interesting feature of Ready For is that, while the desktop is active on the external display, you can continue using the phone screen independentlyThis allows you to have, for example, a notes or music app on your phone and several work or video apps on your TV. The only restriction is that you can't have the same app open at the same time on your phone and the external screen: if you try to open something on the desktop that's already open on your phone, it will close on one of the two.
Regarding peripherals, Motorola lets you use the phone itself as trackpad and touch keyboardThis can get you out of a tight spot in a pinch. However, to truly get the most out of the system, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, or a dock that adds USB ports for connecting a physical keyboard and mouse, is almost essential. The feeling of using a "real PC" comes when you rest your hands on a full-size keyboard and control everything with a comfortable mouse.
Samsung DeX interface and user experience
Samsung DeX, on the other hand, takes a somewhat more direct approach. When you connect a compatible Galaxy to a screen, no intermediate hub appearsThe system jumps directly to the DeX desktop. For those who use their mobile phone as their primary work tool, this is a welcome feature, as it eliminates unnecessary clicks. However, users more focused on gaming might miss a themed launcher like Motorola's.
The DeX desktop is clearly inspired by Windows: taskbar at the bottomThe system tray features app icons, a clock, connection, volume, and battery indicators, and a clear notification and quick settings panel. The context menu on the right makes accessing network settings, brightness, sound, and more much easier, so any user coming from a PC will feel right at home.
Just like in Ready For, in DeX you can use your mobile phone's screen as touchpad and virtual keyboardIt's useful if you're traveling with XR glasses or a hotel monitor and don't want to carry a lot of accessories, but if you're looking for long-term comfort, a dedicated keyboard and mouse are still ideal, or you can reuse your PC's when DeX is running within Windows.
Regarding application behavior, DeX encounters the same structural limitations as Android: there are apps that They are not designed for windowed modeThey either freeze in full screen or refuse to resize. Samsung has tried to address this: when it detects that an app doesn't work well in windowed mode, it displays a dialog box asking if you want to restart it in full screen or windowed mode, allowing you to force the behavior.
This trick improves compatibility, but it comes at a cost: when an app restarts, it disrupts the workflow a bit, and the experience feels less smooth. Even so, overall, DeX gives you a lot of control over how apps are displayed.allowing you to force a window where other interfaces don't even try.
As with Motorola, with DeX you can also use the mobile phone screen and the external display simultaneouslyAlways with different apps. You can have messaging, smart home apps, or Spotify on your phone, while working on the monitor with a browser, word processor, and spreadsheet. This opens the door for the mobile phone to truly act as a "desktop tower" with two separate screens.
For years, DeX's most striking feature has been its integration with Windows. Being able to open the DeX desktop in a window on your PC, use your computer's keyboard and mouse, drag and drop files between systems, and manage notifications without touching your phone makes DeX a truly powerful tool. a continuous productivity toolAlthough Samsung has been refocusing this integration in recent models, for many advanced users it remains the main selling point against Motorola.
Intensive use: Is it possible to live a week without a laptop?
Beyond the theory, the interesting thing is to see what happens when you try to use one of these environments as main computer for several daysWith a high-end Galaxy S, a good monitor, keyboard, mouse, and DeX, it's entirely feasible to work a whole week without opening your laptop, as long as your needs aren't ultra-specialized.
Modern processors like the high-end Snapdragon 8, with 3nm lithography and powerful GPUs, allow for effortless performance. Office tasks, multi-tab browsing, collaborative platforms, messaging clients, and multimediaWith 12 or 16 GB of RAM, the bottleneck shifts from the hardware to the Android app ecosystem and the interface itself.
If you connect your phone to a good quality monitor, plug in a comfortable Bluetooth keyboard and an ergonomic mouse, you can spend hours writing documents, researching the web, chatting with your team, and streaming music without major compromises. It's even possible to write entire articles or lengthy reports using only your phone in desktop mode, with a a feeling quite similar to that of a basic PC.
The main limitation remains professional software: advanced video editing suites, specialized design tools, engineering programs, or complex accounting software are often unavailable on Android, or only available in limited versions. Switching to mobile alternatives involves a learning curve and giving up specific roles which you often only find on Windows or macOS.
In terms of temperature, it's normal for the phone to get hotter than usual if it's charging while moving a whole desk, especially if you connect it through a USB-C hub with HDMI and multiple portsIt's not usually a big deal, but it's something to keep in mind if you plan to leave it plugged in all day.
In practical terms: for students, users of light office applications, light content creators, frequent travelers, or anyone who wants a “Emergency PC"In the suitcase, both DeX and Ready For are more than serious proposals. To completely replace a desktop computer in highly specialized tasks, they still have a way to go."
Specific experience with XR glasses: where Samsung wins by a landslide
When we put some into the equation XR or mixed reality glassesThe practical differences become even more evident. A real-life example: someone who travels constantly to conferences buys Viture Pro as their first XR glasses and decides to get a secondary phone to avoid draining the battery of their main Galaxy Fold on long flights.
After using DeX with the Fold 6 and verifying that it works very well but that the glasses get eaten up near 20% battery drain per hour while streaming contentThe idea seems logical: buy a Motorola Edge+ 2023 on sale to use as the brain of the glasses and leave the main phone alone. On paper, it sounds perfect: a powerful phone, 512 GB, a good price, and it also serves as a backup if something happens to the foldable phone.
However, the reality is that Ready For fares quite poorly compared to DeX when used with XR glasses. To begin with, Ready For does not automatically boot into desktop modeWhen you connect the glasses, the system usually enters vertical mirroring mode. You have to look at the phone's physical screen, tap the Ready For icon, and manually select "Desktop," "TV," "Games," etc. With DeX, however, you can configure it to launch directly from the desktop when you connect the screen, without any intermediate steps.
Another serious problem is that, unlike Samsung, Motorola It does not allow the phone screen to be turned off. Without messing things up. As soon as you press the power button, the lock screen appears on the glasses, breaking the experience. A possible way to prevent this has been mentioned, but on a fully updated Edge+, that setting isn't easy to find. With DeX, on the other hand, you can turn off your phone's screen cleanly: playback barely flickers when the refresh rate changes, but there are no disconnections or blackouts.
Trying to force the situation through Motorola's settings doesn't help much either. If you reduce the screen timeout to 1 minute and disable the “wake up with movement"You can make the panel turn off automatically after that time, preventing accidental touches on the curved edge. But the cure is worse than the disease: when the phone's screen goes to sleep, the signal to the glasses is interrupted, the panel goes black, and it reconnects several times before stabilizing."
There's one more annoying detail: while it's doing that disconnection and reconnection "dance," if you were using the glasses' built-in speakersThe phone decides to play the audio through its own speakers at maximum volume for a second or two, before redirecting it back to the glasses. It doesn't interrupt video playback, but the experience is so clunky that many users end up returning the device.
In parallel, the Motorola Bluetooth audio management It leaves much to be desired. With Sony Inzone Buds, for example, the phone would continue playing Netflix through the internal speakers when you took the earbuds out of the case, unless you manually went into Bluetooth settings, activated LE Audio, and carefully configured everything. Changing the audio on the fly from the menu during playback was also unreliable, even causing the pairing to be lost in sessions of less than half an hour. On Samsung, simply turning on Bluetooth headphones or a speaker is usually enough for the system to automatically and logically switch the audio.
Added to all this is the physical design of the Edge+: its highly curved screen edge It constantly detects accidental touches when holding the phone, something Samsung mitigated years ago with software (better recognition of intentional touches) and by reducing the curvature in later generations. In practice, with Motorola you end up experiencing accidental touches precisely when you least want them, for example, when using it as a controller or trackpad for your glasses.
Finally, the video streaming quality in Ready For seems somewhat worse than in DeX, especially in dark scenes with heavy compression, where The colored bands are more noticeableWith DeX the compression is there, of course, but the visual result is less noticeable.
Adding all this up (non-automatic startup, problems turning off the screen, clunky audio, false touches due to the curved edge, and more noticeable compression), it's not surprising that a demanding user ends up returning the Motorola and even assuming a replacement feeto look for a high-end or refurbished Samsung with good internal memory or a microSD slot.
Key advantages and disadvantages of each system
Comparing Samsung DeX and Motorola Ready For side-by-side, it becomes clear that both are systems usable and quite ripeBut they're not exactly in the same league in every aspect.
On Motorola's side, one of the strengths is that many models include the [tool/software] directly in the box. HDMI to USB-C cable necessary to use the desktop on an external screen. This lowers the barrier to entry: you take the phone out of the box, connect the cable to the TV, and you're good to go, without spending extra money on accessories. Furthermore, the TV, Games, and Chat launcher hub is a very convenient extra if your main goal is leisure and gaming.
Ready For also offers a very low input latency With a keyboard, mouse, or controller when connected via cable, you can play from the couch without annoying lag. The desktop interface is clear, windows generally behave well, and the ability to use your phone and monitor with different apps simultaneously adds versatility.
On the other hand, Motorola has several significant drawbacks. The most obvious is the absence of a robust wireless mode For traditional desktop use in many scenarios, this is something Samsung has been refining for years. It also lacks a DeX-like experience as a standard "window" within Windows on all models, limiting the options for those who want complete control from their PC.
On Samsung's side, the list of advantages starts with the wide variety of connection methods: via cable, via Miracast, and even as a Windows/macOS application depending on the model. This flexibility makes DeX a good fit for very different situations: presentations, office work, remote work, leisure time in the living room, or intensive use with XR glasses.
The response with keyboard, mouse, and controllers is very good, and the overall feeling is that the system is more polished, especially when it comes to Turn off the mobile screen, manage Bluetooth audio, and maintain signal stability on external displays and glasses. The big "but" is that Samsung usually forces you to buy the HDMI to USB-C cable or a dock separately, which adds to the initial cost.
In any case, both DeX and Ready For already offer a sufficiently robust environment to become serious tools for work and entertainment For a certain type of user: the one who wants to reduce gadgets, the one who travels a lot, the one who needs a plan B if the laptop fails, or the one who prefers to dedicate the budget to a powerful mobile phone and a good monitor instead of two separate devices.
Looking at the overall picture—compatibility, stability, connectivity options, PC integration, XR headset performance, and software maturity—it's clear that Samsung has made better use of its time with DeXOffering more ways to use it and a more complete experience, Motorola has taken important steps with Ready For and Smart Connect, especially on PCs, but it still needs to consolidate its commitment to the classic desktop, particularly regarding wired support, refining the experience with external displays, and the future of its models as new versions of Android are released.
