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The DeX Station was designed by Samsung to work well with its own Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones to support USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode which allows you to create a desktop like DeX mode experience through your Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ phone. Once the Galaxy S8/S8+ is docked through the USB Type-C connector of the DeX Station, the Galaxy phone will automatically switch to DeX mode. The DeX Station uses USB data, USB Power Delivery, and DisplayPort video over the USB Type-C connector to add an external USB keyboard, mouse, storage, and HDMI display to the Galaxy S8/S8+ just like a notebook PC docking station.

By supporting DisplayPort over USB Type-C, the DeX Station can also be used with other phones like the LG G5 and HTC 10 that also have DisplayPort over USB Type-C enabled. Note this would not work with the LG G6 which doesn't support DisplayPort over USB-C.

Not surprisingly, Samsung has limited the Samsung DeX mode to only its Galaxy S8/S8+ which means other phones will not enter this DeX mode when used with the DeX. While these phones can output video to an external monitor, you can't get the same desktop PC experience.

To see if the LG G5 works with the DeX Station, we first inserted the LG G5 into the DeX Station slot and securely plugged it into the exposed USB Type-C connector. We then connected the Dell P2415Q Ultra HD 4K Monitor to the DeX Station using a HDMI cable. The DeX Station converts the DisplayPort signal coming out of the LG G5's USB Type-C port into HDMI which is then transmitted to the monitor through the HDMI cable.

Since the DeX Station only supports FHD (1920 x 1080) resolutions, you won't get the full resolution possible with the Dell P2415Q Ultra HD 4K Monitor, however you would still get a good user experience when playing fast action video from your phone.

Fortunately, we were able to immediately see the screen of the LG G5 on the Dell P2415Q Ultra HD 4K Monitor confirming it works.

Unfortunately, unlike Windows or Mac OS Android doesn't let you see or set the output video resolution. You also can't set any extend or mirroring display settings meaning that the LG G5 display will always be on and have its screen mirrored on the external display.

Once a movie is played on YouTube, the video will automatically show in landscape mode allowing you to take advantage of the full size of the screen. It's great to see how the space constrained Android mobile phone layout can be stretched out on to the monitor which makes watching movies or playing games much more enjoyable.

We could also see by going to the Dell P2415Q Ultra HD 4K Monitor settings that the actual resolution from the LG G5 going through the DeX Station  is (1920 X 1080)@60hz.

While you won't get a DeX desktop experience with the LG G5, it was still nice to see that the DeX Station could work with other devices other than the Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ to connect to an external display via DisplayPort over USB Type-C.

One of the main benefits of using DisplayPort over a USB Type-C connector is that you can smoothly play high resolution movies without any of the lag associated with wireless Miracast display technology. You can also keep your phone charged while playing video or just using the DeX Station as a charging stand for your desk.