The Sundarban
Published Mar 6, 2026, 8:15 AM EST
Bertel is a lifelong tech enthusiast with over a decade of journey writing thousands of articles about Android devices, Linux, and more.
Before joining the How-To Geek team, Bertel wrote for the likes of MakeUseOf, MakeTechEasier, and Android Police—at the latter he wrote over 3,500 articles. He delights in serving to others assume which tech to carry into their lives… and which tech to carry out with out.
Bertel graduated from the Faculty of William and Mary in 2012 with levels in History and Executive. He has spent his complete career since as a tech journalist defending Android, Linux, Wearables, Web Apps, and more.
Even as you happen to may be a proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy cellular phone or tablet, there’s an advantage you have over most others. To take plump advantage of this feature, you simply need a cheap USB-C hub. There is so mighty you can carry out with it.
Make the most of Samsung DeX
There is a plump PC in your pocket
Samsung DeX is an Android-based desktop mode that appears everytime you join a excessive-finish Galaxy cellular phone to an external display. The features first appeared on the Galaxy S8 in 2017, and it has appeared on every Galaxy S cellular phone since. It’s also available on the Z Fold collection (which is how I’ve archaic it) along with Galaxy Tab S tablets. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 technically helps DeX exclusively utilizing a wi-fi connection, nevertheless that would now not provide the handiest journey. For a buttery delicate and stable DeX journey, you may be going to want to join via a cable.
In case your visual display unit has a USB-C port, you can join your cellular phone or tablet straight to the display utilizing a single USB-C cable that’s capable of transferring video. Unfortunately, now now not all USB-C cables are created equal, so that you may have to carry out some research or carry out a bit of trial and error to take a stare at this out.
Alternatively, you can purchase a cheap USB-C hub. You hasten the hub into the underside of your machine and then start up access to a state of ports you would traditionally catch on a laptop or desktop. Then you positively can exercise the HDMI cable you seemingly already have.
DeX can run any Android app that your cellular phone or tablet can, and many of them scale to various sizes surprisingly successfully. Samsung’s apps in particular stare treasure PC software when placed in windows on a desktop. There are quirks to the journey, nevertheless it isn’t all that dissimilar to utilizing a Chromebook. Even as you happen to can carry out your job or schoolwork on one, chances are that you can catch by with the assorted. Your cellular phone can even replicate a gaming rig, especially have to you pair DeX with NVIDIA GeForce Now or another cloud gaming service. Even as you happen to may be brooding about giving this a hasten, here are some things I’ve learned from my time with DeX.
Connect your cellular phone to the TV
Flip your Galaxy into a streaming field or game console
Turning your cellular phone into a desktop PC is a great way to make exercise of DeX, nevertheless it is hardly the one one. There is another, even larger external display your Galaxy machine can jack into—your TV.
Connecting your Galaxy to a TV follows the same activity as a desktop PC. Even as you happen to join via an HDMI cable, a desktop appears in your TV displaying all the apps you usually search for in your cellular phone. From here, you can click on on an app treasure Netflix or YouTube and enjoy it on the larger display mask. This is something you can also snappy deploy when visiting others or staying at a lodge, so that you form now now not wish to fear about signing in and out of accounts. It’s absolutely worth shopping a cellular phone dock for your TV.
Alternatively, you can join a Bluetooth controller or mouse, launch a game, and sit back on the couch. Many cellular phone games will scale accurate sparkling to your TV’s resolution. Most games run accurate as easily as they carry out in your cellular phone. If this is surprising, have in mind that your TV’s resolution may possibly actually be decrease than that of your cellular phone, especially if it is 1080p.
If this is something you may be going to carry out usually, I highly advocate shopping an impartial appropriate USB-C docking station for your cellular phone. It’s functionally the same as any assorted USB-C hub, nevertheless it tidies things up a bit. Your cellular phone isn’t left strung about the pinnacle of your TV stand or desk.
Back up your cellular phone to external drives
Your cellular phone can have a MicroSD slot again
Credit ranking: Bertel King / How-To Geek
Any fashionable portable SSD comes with a USB-C cable you can hasten straight into the underside of your cellular phone. You can also catch flash drives that either exclusively exercise USB-C or make stronger a number of connectors. For like a flash file transfers, you form now now not need a USB-C hub to make exercise of these.
For large file transfers, it is a assorted anecdote. I’ve transferred over 100GB straight to an external force from my cellular phone, and it can be anxiety-inducing. Powering the force and transferring large information heat up the cellular phone and establish a strain on the battery. Now now not only are you blowing via your cellular phone’s charger, nevertheless it may possibly also turn off before the transfer is complete. With a USB-C hub, you can hasten in a USB-C cable to present energy and attend your cellular phone charged in the midst of the technique.
A USB-C hub also allows you to make the most of your existing stash of USB-A flash drives or save money by continuing to purchase them as the cheaper option. And have to you want to transfer information from one external force to another, a hub allows you to join more than one storage force at as soon as.
