I tried playing emulators on the Galaxy S25 Ultra with DeX, and I have thoughts

Samsung has offered DeX mode since 2017, providing a PC-like interface when connected to an external display. Several other Android phone brands have since embraced this feature, but I’d argue that DeX is still the best.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra continues to offer DeX along with an extremely powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor

This level of performance should be fantastic for games, but what happens when I combine the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s DeX mode with demanding emulators? Let's dive in and find out.

Peripheral support functioned well enough

My mouse, keyboard, and Xbox One S controller all connected and worked just fine. I was also able to plug in my portable hard drive, allowing me to quickly copy over ROMs and other files as needed. However, DeX could use some improvements.

DeX could use some improvements

For one, it doesn’t support ultrawide resolutions at all, which is disappointing but not surprising. Another notable issue is the lack of bypass or passthrough charging while running in DeX mode. Allowing the phone to be directly powered by the charger would reduce stress on the battery, in theory, and help reduce temperatures more broadly.

Playing games/emulators on Dex with the Galaxy S25 Ultra

The biggest issue I have with playing games/emulators on DeX is that you can’t have a true couch gaming experience without a keyboard or mouse to navigate the system UI. However, the extra horsepower afforded by the Snapdragon 8 Elite does bring some impressive results.

PS2, GameCube, and older consoles running very smoothly

However, the extra horsepower afforded by the Snapdragon 8 Elite is somewhat wasted right now as more cutting-edge projects like PC gaming apps and PS3 emulation are either in their early days or suffer from a dearth of adequate drivers. I can recommend you buy a Galaxy S25 Ultra to run emulators on a big screen, but only if you want older consoles to run smoothly.

Is it worth running emulators on S25 Ultra via DeX?

I had plenty of fun playing a variety of emulators via DeX on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with PS2, GameCube, and similarly older consoles running very smoothly, as you’d expect. However, the biggest issue I have is that Samsung doesn’t seem to intend for Dex to be used this way. If you want to use it for couch gaming, a keyboard or mouse are required.

The verdict

While DeX on the Galaxy S25 Ultra does bring some impressive results, especially with older consoles, I wouldn’t recommend buying a Galaxy S25 Ultra solely for this purpose. Older emulators run smoothly enough on legacy Galaxy flagships anyway, and more cutting-edge projects are either in their early days or suffer from inadequate drivers.