Samsung Offers Free DeX Station or Gear VR with Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note8
by Anton Shilov on November 8, 2017 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- VR
- Samsung
- Gear VR
- DeX
- Hardware Bundles
Samsung has kicked off a new promotional campaign that bundles either of the company's two major smartphone peripherals – the DeX station or the Gear VR headset – with the company’s latest smartphones. The move enables Samsung to increase sales of its hardware and popularize its smartphone-based productivity as well as VR platforms.
For a limited time, Samsung is bundling a DeX or a Gear VR with its Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S8 Active, as well as Galaxy Note8 smartphones purchased directly from Samsung.com. The manufacturer normally charges $99 for the DeX station and $129 for the Gear VR, so the promo campaign makes a lot of sense for those who had plans to get one of the devices. There are certain terms and conditions to be met, but the main one is to buy one of the aforementioned smartphones directly from Samsung and include one of the devices into the cart before making the purchase.
This is not the first time when Samsung is bundling DeX or Gear VR with its new smartphones, but it is noteworthy that the company is re-launching the campaign in the middle of the Galaxy S8’s life cycle and ahead of the holiday season. By offering free DeX or GearVR hardware with its latest smartphones, Samsung is killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, it sells a high-end smartphone. Secondly, it popularizes its productivity and VR platforms.
The DeX may not look like a big deal at the moment, but it is an important effort for the company. At present, the DeX allows to run select apps on the big screen and use a keyboard and a mouse to control them. In the future, Samsung plans to enable users to run various Linux applications on its smartphones (through its Linux on Galaxy app), essentially bringing a host of productivity programs to its platform and creating a rival to Microsoft’s Continuum.
Meanwhile, the Gear VR is a strong contender to be the most popular VR platform and offering it for free to owners of advanced smartphones means getting new customers that are willing to pay for content. Samsung’s sales of the Gear VR headsets in Q2 2017 totaled 568,000 units, leaving behind headsets from Sony, Oculus VR, HTC and others, according to IDC. Analysts from the latter believe that bundle deals greatly help Samsung to drive adoption of the Gear VR and therefore it is logical for the company to run various promotions, especially as new contenders are either entering the scene, or are about to.
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Source: Samsung (via Notebookcheck.net)
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PeachNCream - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
DeX can only handle selected applications? That seems like a step backwards from the Galaxy S3 and S4 that had MHL where you could buy a dock with HDMI and USB ports and throw everything to an external screen plus use a keyboard and mouse. Then there's WiDi and Miracast for people that don't mind a the latency. You can still add a keyboard and mouse via bluetooth if you need it. I mean we've been beyond DeX for a number of years so why are we going backwards like this and then presenting it like its something really new and advanced?stanleyipkiss - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
Screen mirroring is one thing, desktop apps and use is another. Read up/investigate what Dex is before making assumptions.PeachNCream - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
Well it feels like a step backwards to have limited numbers of programs that can go to an external screen rather than all of your programs. I'd rather be able to push anything I have on my device to an external screen instead of being stuck with a smaller number of specific apps.eek2121 - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
I'm interested to know what sales are like on the Galaxy S8/S8+. Usually a certain percentage of my friends and/or myself upgrade by now. This year, none of us went with Samsung and many of us didn't upgrade. I'm interested to see if that's a widespread trend or just something smaller. I went with an LG V30 only because it was BOGO through AT&T.Speedfriend - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
Well Samsung mobile sales for Q2 were up 11% yoy due to strong sales of the S8 and up 23% in Q3 yoy due to strong Note 8 sales and mid-range sales.eek2121 - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
Yes, but Galaxy S8 sales were down, Note 8 sales were up, likely due to the Note 7 being MIA.Notmyusualid - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
I went with the S8+, one because its waterproof, and I do own a pool, and two, its the latest dual-sim phone to market, as after a botched update on the A9 Pro, that took the networks down repeatedly, I suspected Sammy would be much more careful with updates to their flagship.The screen quality is the most outstanding aspect.
After much testing, to my surprise, I noted the wifi has less receiver sensitivity than my GS5.
I thought the curved screen would be cool, but I don't use it, ever.
On-screen buttons are driving me crazy, as I suspected they might. And from the looks of upcoming devices, they look like they are here to stay, unfortunately.
Speaker quality is poor. Samsung, please listen to a device called the HTC One M7, and try again.
Charge time is very fast, be sure to get yourself a Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 socket for the car, as using it as a GPS / phone / entertainment device, on my standard 2A socket, leaves no extra charge after your journey. So to re-iterate, if your phone is dead when you begin your journey, and it will be more or less the same when you arrive, if you do not have the QC 3.0 lighter / charger.
As an aside, the Mrs covets it.
melgross - Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - link
Water resistant, not waterproof.Notmyusualid - Thursday, November 9, 2017 - link
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ feature IP68-rated water and dust resistance. The IP68 rating indicates that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is water resistant up to 1.5 meters (4.92 feet) for 30 minutes.Thats water proof enough for me.
Manch - Saturday, November 11, 2017 - link
But its only water resistant as stated by Samsung and repeated by you.....