It’s been said that the first iPhone had more computing power than the first space shuttle to go to the moon, and it could fit in a pocket. Both technological marvels have greatly improved since the iPhone was launched in 2007. The best smartphones today are powerful and capable of impressive feats. I’m not talking about helping you keep up with your favorite team’s game or sending the latest meme to your friends. While those are possible, they don’t scratch the surface of the possibilities.
No Thanks, Keep Reading
From being the only camera that most people own to helping navigate on road trips and more, the capabilities of our mobile phones are pretty wild when we think about them. Regardless of how far the technology is pushed year in and year out, the number of people taking advantage of what can be done with a smartphone is a sliver compared to the number of people owning a modern mobile phone. Even though the idea of having a device that we can take with us, capable of being an entertainment, productivity, and photo studio device in one, is enticing, we don’t utilize it. Why?
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What can’t our smartphones do?
The answer is very little
It’s funny how many people have no issues paying $1,000 for a smartphone. Granted, this is usually done in payments through their carrier. At the same time, they buy a laptop, desktop, or tablet for work, school, or an expanded workspace. That secondary device is mostly used for browsing the web, emails, maybe some writing, watching movies, and that’s mostly it. Can’t our phones do this, too?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m just as guilty. Shouldn’t we be more willing to take advantage of what our smartphones can do? Shouldn’t we get the use from our devices to make that $1,000 more worth it? The only smartphones that can easily work in an expanded computing setup are from Samsung and Motorola. Samsung offers DeX on its top Galaxy smartphones, and Moto has Ready For.
Each system gives you a desktop-like experience when you connect it to a monitor and use a mouse and keyboard. The idea is excellent when you think about it. You always have your smartphone with you, which contains everything you need, from your email to your photos. So, when you are ready to work or use a larger screen, your computer with an internet connection is there. All you have to do is carry a lightweight, portable monitor, a cable, a Bluetooth mouse, and a keyboard, and you’re ready to go. You can even connect a USB hub to your phone for expanded connectivity.
Most people overlook this feature, and many are unaware of it. It seems odd that DeX isn’t more of a thing, with Samsung being one of the top Android smartphone brands in the world. I would love to give these systems a chance, but I don’t own a phone from either of these manufacturers. This brings us to the next catch: the adoption of the idea that our smartphones can be our everything computers — availability.
Related
How to set up and use Samsung DeX on your Galaxy phone or tablet
Turning your phone into an actual computer is easy
It needs to be in more places
Peripherals could use work, too
I think one way to raise awareness of using smartphones as productivity machines is for Google to get on board. If rumors are true, that could be on the way. In May of this year, there was evidence that Google was exploring using ChromeOS to get a full-computing platform onto Android phones. Combining this with the rumor of replacing ChromeOS with Android, things seem to make more sense. While I have reservations about ChromeOS going away, getting a desktop experience from my smartphone is exciting.
I think Google has an opportunity to make this phone/desktop system work. Because it has its own lightweight desktop computing platform, the path to making that work on our Android phones makes sense. Every other smartphone OEM is trying to build something on top of Android or to work with Windows. Google can draw from the source on both of its platform fronts. How good of a job Google does with this, should it happen, is another question.
The other drawback to using our phones for our daily computer is its accessories. From pricing to clarity of what works, the average consumer doesn’t know what to get. Portability needs to be at the forefront of these accessories, but so does functionality. The mobile computing concept will fail if getting good peripherals is expensive and they don’t work well. Along with better accessories, there needs to be clear labeling so it’s easy to know if the portable monitor, cable, or dongle will work with your device.
Still up in the air
Probably will stay niche
We love getting as much bang for our buck as possible, but we’re usually not good at working to ensure that happens. Trying to figure out how to use a smartphone as a traditional mobile computer can seem confusing or, to some, impossible. Then, when you factor in that not every phone can do this, it only exacerbates the issue. By expanding the pool of devices, setting up the phone, and buying accessories clear and simple, I think more people would be willing to use their phones as their computers.
Until then, we’ll continue underutilizing the powerful devices we carry everywhere. At the same time, we’ll grumble that maintaining multiple computers is annoying, get frustrated over moving files between devices, and complain about how expensive devices are. But forget that the pocketable computer in our pocket can handle it all.
