Using a phone as a computer with a monitor, keyboard and mouse

Flock XR running on an old Android phone with an external monitor and mouse

Did you know you can use a Samsung Galaxy Android phone as a computer by connecting it to a monitor and adding a keyboard and mouse? I know everyone else on the internet is trying to stop kids using phones, but that's never been our thing at Tech Age Kids! It's what you use the device for that counts.

It can be expensive to buy a laptop as an additional device for homework or creative projects. For many kids, a phone is the only device they have access to. So I've been experimenting with using a phone as a computer — and the results are pretty impressive.

Samsung DeX — Desktop Experience

Samsung Galaxy phones have a technology called DeX (Desktop Experience), available on all their phones going back several generations to the S8 series. Connect your phone to a monitor using a USB-C cable and you get a full desktop resolution experience — not just a mirrored phone screen, but an actual desktop layout. Most of what young people use now is web-based, so this works for homework sites, productivity apps and creative coding tools.

I tested this with a pretty old Samsung Galaxy S10e — generations old — and it worked well. A faster phone will give you a faster experience, but you don't need the latest model. Refurbished or hand-me-down Samsung phones are a great option for this setup.

One thing worth knowing: Samsung recently rebuilt DeX with Android 16 and One UI 8, in partnership with Google who are developing their own Android Desktop Mode. The new version is actively being improved but some users of newer phones have found that classic features are still being added back. If you're using an older Samsung phone like I was, you'll have the classic DeX experience which works really well.

What you'll need

It's simple once you know what you're doing, but there are a few things to get right:

• A good quality USB-C cable for connecting directly from phone to monitor
• A powered USB hub if you want to connect a keyboard and mouse — I ended up needing to use an HDMI cable from the hub to the monitor rather than USB-C, as the quality USB-C cable that worked direct from phone to monitor didn't work via the hub
• The monitor may need its own power source

It took me a bit of trial and error to get the hardware setup working, but once it's done it just works. Worth planning ahead and being prepared to try different cable combinations rather than assuming the first setup you try will work.

You can also get a similar setup on iOS phones, I just haven't tested that yet.

Going wireless

If the cable setup sounds too fiddly, monitors designed specifically to work wirelessly with Samsung DeX are available. The uPerfect UFree V is one example that explicitly supports Samsung DeX wireless projection with no drivers needed. However, wireless DeX support varies by phone model and you may need a more recent Samsung Galaxy than the older device I was using. Worth researching compatibility with your specific phone before buying. Note that wireless DeX tends to be less smooth than a wired connection, so if you need the best experience cables are still the way to go.

Why does this matter?

A phone is actually a really powerful computer. We give them to kids and they use them for scrolling social media — but what if they could use that same device for homework and creative projects on a large screen?

My motivation for getting this setup working was Flock XR. From the start, Flock XR has been designed to run on a phone — and it does. We're currently working on improving the touchscreen experience on small mobile screens too. But the experience is undeniably better with more screen space, where you can have your 3D world and your code side by side.

A lot of children around the world don't have access to a desktop computer or a large screen. But many more have access to a phone. Samsung DeX means that phone can become a proper computer — and running Flock XR on a large monitor through an old Samsung phone is, honestly, pretty magical.

Not just for kids

This setup isn't only useful for young people. I'm planning to use it when travelling — you can potentially plug your phone into a hotel television and have a full desktop experience wherever you are.

So there you go — Samsung DeX. Worth exploring if you want to give a child a bigger creative workspace without buying a whole new device. If you want to get started, here's what I used: an Arzopa portable monitor and a UGreen powered USB hub.