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Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Note series, the Galaxy S series of smartphones is not as focused on professionals. Or at least, it wasn’t in the past.
With the launch of the Galaxy S21 this year, Samsung has included a lot to please business people and professionals.
[Related: Apple iPhone 12 Vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Head-To-Head]
CRN’s Test Center has been testing the Samsung Galaxy S21, the base model in the new series that features a vivid 6.2-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate (which we continue to enjoy for its smoother user experience). .
We think the redesigned camera housing on the back of the phone is a nice touch, and of course, 5G capabilities continue to have a lot to offer workers looking for a more secure connectivity option on the road than Wi-Fi. public. .
But it’s some of the S21’s business-only features that really caught our eye.
What follows is our review of the top five business features of Samsung’s Galaxy S21, which starts at $ 799.99. (In particular, that’s less than the Galaxy S20’s starting price of $ 999.)
Wireless DeX
With the debut of the Galaxy S21, Samsung’s vision is finally becoming a reality for DeX, a feature that allows you to open an Android desktop powered by your phone. This is because you can now install the DeX desktop on a PC wirelessly (pictured above), making the whole perspective much more convenient and in keeping with the way workers expect things. run in 2021.
DeX has been continuously simplified, year after year, since it was first introduced with a separate dock with the Galaxy S8 in 2017. Now, as long as a PC has downloaded the DeX software and is on the same wireless network, you can easily run a DeX desktop computer outside of the Galaxy S21.
DeX’s vision has always been that workers can put down their laptop and simply carry a Galaxy device while on the go, and simply connect to a PC or display while on site, as needed. We were impressed with how well the wireless DeX performed on the Galaxy S21, suggesting that more companies could now adopt this approach (once workers are on the road more often, at least).
While on the DeX desktop, users can get their own separate experience from the host PC, with web browsing and other applications available. Users can also drag and drop files and photos between PC and DeX, which could suit some business use cases involving sharing many photos or files.
All in all, this was the first time we discovered that DeX is a truly compelling experience and that it could begin to serve more business needs.
Share private
Speaking of sharing documents and photos, Samsung has also introduced a new solution for secure sharing on the Galaxy S21: Private Share. While it is at least in part aimed at privacy-conscious consumers, the new Private Share feature could also be useful for businesses that share sensitive data internally or externally.
Along with encrypting shared files, Private Share also allows you to set file permissions as well as set an expiration date. Another option is to provide read-only access to the file. All of these measures could help businesses share documents more securely, although for now, Private Share is only available for transferring files between Galaxy phones (which must be running at least Android P). Still, the feature could at least be useful for sharing data within an organization with a fleet of Samsung Galaxy phones.
Link to Windows
Another feature of the Galaxy S21 that business users should appreciate is “Link to Windows”, which allows you to use much of the phone’s functionality on a Windows PC without leaving the screen.
This could be a productivity booster (and sanity saver) because it allows you to check notifications, send and receive text messages, and take calls on the PC. Linking to Windows is also another way to copy photos, and also to use Android apps on your PC.
We found Link to Windows to be easy to set up, and we believe that ultimately it has the potential to enable the “continuity between mobile and PC” that Samsung seeks.
Company Edition
For the Galaxy S21, Samsung has also released a special model aimed specifically at business users. The Enterprise Edition model of the Galaxy S21 is offered in the US at no additional cost for business customers.
Enterprise Edition includes one year of free access to Knox Suite, which provides tools for mobile endpoint enrollment, configuration and management. Additionally, Enterprise Edition offers a staggered product lifecycle for five-year security maintenance release support. While this option is less attractive to individual users, it should help make life easier for IT administrators.
Director’s view
Galaxy S21 users may be more interested in one of the new camera features. This is especially the case for professionals working in the field. With the new Director’s View feature, the Galaxy S21 camera allows users to simultaneously capture video from the front and rear cameras.
Options for video streams include picture-in-picture, with the ability to move the tile with one of the streams on the screen, something we think is very cool and useful. The other director’s view option is for split screen video, with one source occupying the top half of the screen and the other video source occupying the bottom half.
Anyone who needs to take a virtual tour or show what’s happening in the field while including a narration could benefit from the director’s eye – one of the many ways the Galaxy S21 could prove to be an essential tool for businesses.
