Your Android Phone Could Be Your Next Desktop PC: Here’s How

Smartphones continue to get more powerful with every iteration. If you’ve got a premium Android handset in your pocket, you’re carrying more computer power than some of the best full-sized laptops had a decade ago. So, setting aside special use cases like cutting edge gaming and video editing, why do we still have both? That’s a question Google has been asking. Starting soon, it appears you’ll be able to plug your phone into a monitor and run your apps in free-floating windows within an environment similar to a desktop operating system. In fact, the new desktop mode is already out for beta users.

A large number of Android users have already been able to run their phones in a desktop environment for quite a while, at least if they owned a Samsung Galaxy device. Thanks to Samsung DeX, you can simply connect those phones and tablets to an external display. I replaced my laptop with DeX almost a year ago and never looked back. But aside from a somewhat confusing “New DeX” for tablets a couple years back, the company hasn’t significantly innovated. That makes it all the more exciting to see Google taking the initiative here.

Android 16 desktop mode appears to be a surprisingly polished product for a beta, with far fewer rough edges than you might expect, at least according to those who have tested it. It turns on when plugged into a display, and it has robust support for peripherals, making it easy for anyone with an HDMI cable and a monitor to use without a lot of technical know-how. Here’s how it all works, and why it might play a major role in the future of Android.

Android’s new desktop mode is already working in the latest beta version of Android, QPR1 Beta 2. It is available for those in the beta program to download as of this writing on compatible Google Pixel phones. Like Samsung DeX, it triggers when the phone is connected to a display with an HDMI cable (sadly, though, there’s no evidence yet of a wireless mode for feature parity with DeX). Connecting mice and keyboards is as easy as pairing them over Bluetooth, or via cables if you connect everything through a USB hub.

In general, a good USB hub will make Android’s desktop mode feel more like a real computer, as you can connect a charger through a port with USB-C power delivery, and still have some USB ports, SD slots, Ethernet, and so on to plug in flash drives and other USB gadgets. Audio routes through any connected speakers. You can simply load up your hub, plug in your phone, and work on the big screen, then unplug and pocket the phone when you’re done.

You might worry about running multiple apps, but newer processors can take the punishment. Android Authority was able to get several apps up and running simultaneously without issue. In my own DeX setup, I routinely run Google Docs, Microsoft Edge, Apple Music, Gmail, Slack, and more at the same time and have yet to experience hiccups unless I load up multiple, 4K videos to play side-by-side. Google’s implementation of Desktop Mode might not perform exactly like DeX, but it should be very similar. The question is which devices will get this functionality. Those with phones more than a few years old shouldn’t get their hopes up.

Given how seamlessly Android desktop mode reportedly works, even in beta, it’s worth asking why Google waited until 2025 to implement it. Samsung DeX was introduced eight years ago, and by 2020 it could even connect to displays wirelessly. I’ve been using it semi-regularly since my old Galaxy S9 picked up support for it, and it’s always been snappy. Clearly, the issue wasn’t a lack of processing power.

Partially, it could be because Google is planning to swap ChromeOS to Android, a plan that won’t succeed unless Android reaches feature parity with the company’s Chromium-based desktop operating system. It also seems likely that the launch of Android XR  — Google’s answer to the Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro  — is about to hit the market. Both Android-ified ChromeOS and Android XR will require a lot of Android apps to play nice with window resizing, and Google entreated developers to make their apps scalable at last month’s Google I/O. Plus, with Apple finally giving in to user demand and loading the iPad up with real, MacOS-style multitasking in iPadOS 26, Samsung can’t be left as the only Android manufacturer able to support a similar experience on tablets.

This feels like the point where the line begins to blur between legacy desktop and mobile operating systems. Even for someone like me who spends a lot of time with tech, my DeX setup covers everything but heavier gaming and video editing. This experience is only going to get better as Google works it into Android 16 and mobile processors continue to get more powerful. If I were Apple or Microsoft, I’d be nervous. But as a user, I’m incredibly excited.