Samsung disables 3rd party DeX support in Galaxy S8's fourth Android Oreo beta

The Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ received their fourth Android 8.0 Oreo beta update yesterday, and unfortunately that comes with a downside. Samsung has decided to block the use of 3rd party DeX docks with their phones.

Samsung DeX is a powerful feature that allows Galaxy S8/S8+ owners to plug their phones into a dock and get a desktop experience by connecting the dock to a monitor. While Samsung's proprietary dock costs upwards of $150, some clever users have found workarounds for this. One XDA Developer user was able to turn their MacBook into a DeX dock, utilising the phone's processing power and the Mac's display, trackpad, and keyboard. Upon updating to the newest beta however, such users found that their DIY docks would only mirror their phone's display rather than giving the full DeX desktop experience. This change, if kept, is sure to disappoint users who were looking for a cheaper way to make use of one of their phone's most interesting and unique features.

Huawei recently unveiled the Mate 10, and one of its newest features was to include the ability to use the phone to power a desktop experience. While this is very similar to what Samsung did with DeX, Huawei was able to do it with a single USB 3.1 Type-C cable rather than a bulky, expensive dock. Sure, Samsung's DeX dock has its advantages like being able to charge the phone at the same time and being able to use gigabit ethernet, but with such a simpler alternative on the market, it is a little disappointing that Samsung is going to such lengths to sell more of their expensive docks.

What do you think about this news? Is Samsung becoming too restrictive with their phones nowadays, or was this a smart move for them to make? Let us know what you think in the comments.