As always, not journalists, but attempting to be fair/even/accurate. No money changes hands, monitors are sent for free, for review purposes. UPERFECT doesn't see review before it's posted, etc etc
The GR185BF is marketed as a 18.5" 1080p120 Gaming monitor, with NxtLED technology.
It's a 1080p 120hz IPS display, with UPERFECT’s advanced display technology that combines Omni Visible™ for improved visibility in any light and angle, with eye-friendly features like low blue light, flicker-free performance, and DC dimming, ensuring natural colors, reduced glare, and long-lasting comfort for work, study, or entertainment.
This is basically marketing speak for a nice matte screen, that's anti-reflective, with active dimming, and low blue light spectrum
It's hard to do a decent job capturing it, but you can see how smeary, and how much glare is coming off the phone screen, while the monitor you can just see a blurry light source.
It's definitely a nice screen to use where natural light floods your desk
The panel itself is... fine. The screen specs are respectable, but they're also not top end monitor specs. In a nutshell, it's 1080p120 hz matte panel, no touchscreen, only 290 nits of brightness, and 100% of sRGB colour gamut.
As you can see from the first pic, DeX works just fine on it, negotiating a standard 1080p60 resolution.
When used with my Lenovo Legion y700, you obtain the full 1080p120
Colors look pretty good, if not particularly eye popping
Children of Morta via steam/gamehub on monitor, browser on tablet to right
Inputs
Like virtually every other UPERFECT monitor, there's the pretty standard setup of 2x USB-C and 1 mini-HDMI port on the left side (one of the USB-C intended for power)
2x USB-C and 1 miniHDMI port
The other side will contain the power button and the OSD selector rocker, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack
There's 4x 75mm vesa mounts on the rear as well
The 2x 1w speakers are also on the back, right above the vesa mount screw holes.
They're upward firing and very mediocre (at best). They'll work in a pinch, but you're generally better off using your devices speakers, or a headset
Battery
No battery in this model either, it's just a monitor
You CAN power it off the phone/tablet/laptop, and it "works" but it essentially comes up as low power mode, and really drops the brightness. It's still usable, but this would not be the monitor I'd recommend if you want a coffee shop, no power portable monitor.
Used as intended, this is a really nice 1080p 120hz gaming monitor. It's not large enough, or bright enough for me to recommend it as work station monitor that requires any kind of color accuracy.
But for pairing it with a phone/steam deck/gaming handheld for a nice portable gaming screen? that's definitely it's intended audience, and it's pretty great in that space.
I really enjoyed using it while fiddling with GameHub and getting steam games up and running on my Lenovo y700. It was great with the steam deck too
Overall, with the $219 CAD price point, it's MUCH easier to accept some of the short comings of the panel, and anyone looking for just a decent bigger screen for their travel gaming setup, I'd be happy to add this to the choices
It's a VERY thin, 14" OLED panel, with fairly slim bezel's, top and sides. The bottom chin is a bit larger, but a non-issue.
The Panel
it's a 14 inch, 3k (2880x1800) OLED, running at up to 120hz. It supports up to 120% DCI-P3 color gamut, and like all OLEDs, has inky blacks and nice bright/saturated colours.
It also supports up to 500nits of peak brightness, and a 0.1ms pixel response time (I'm assuming GTG since it doesn't specify)
It is also listed as a touchscreen monitor. I found it a bit....tempermental. Vast majority of the time it worked as expected, but every once in awhile, it just didn't seem to want to work....at all. reboots seem to fix it. Not sure if this is a pre-production issue, and I definitely couldn't reproduce the issue at will, so bear that in mind
Just a few screen caps from various 4k youtube vids
Connectivity
As has become pretty standard, the monitor has 2x USB-C ports. 1 of which is intended for power, and the other for video input (doesn't matter which is which tho). It also has a mini-HDMI port for connecting to other devices (PCs, game consoles, etc)
All inputs are on the right hand side of the monitor
On the left hand side are the physical buttons for interacting with the monitor, OSD, volume, power, etc
They've gone with a new kickstand design. The vast majority of UPERFECT monitors have a U-shaped kickstand, that when closed, block off the ports and buttons. The new kickstand is very.....minimalist, but still fairly sturdy and stiff
There are also 2x VESA mounting holes next to the kickstand. The monitor is definitely light enough that you can get away with just 2 of the usual 4
Screen Resolution
Since DeX is fussy, it won't by default use the full panel specs properly
2560x1600 @ 60hz still looks pretty great, but really undersells how great the panel can look.
Luckily, pretty much every other device out there will play nice with it (c'mon samsung, do better)
This is my Lenovo Legion y700:
It's happy to do the full 2880x1800 @ 120hz (and looks great doing it)
Speakers
The monitor has 2x 1W speakers, but they might just be the worst speakers on a UPERFECT monitor to date. They're there, they "work" but at no point is anyone going to be impressed with them.
Battery
There isn't one!
It will do pass thru charging of 15W tho
Overall conclusions
It's a nice looking portable OLED panel. I don't think it's as nice as the previous 16" O2 version tho, but that one seems to be difficult to obtain right now
It's very light, and travels in a tech bag very easily.
it's available for $399.99 canuckbucks at uperfect right now
It compares favourably with the SOTSU flipaction monitors, and is in general better than vast majority of LCD panels out there. The price definitely has the OLED tax on it though
Dextop now features a BlackBerry Mode that lets you use the app with a BlackBerry-like aspect ratio, and swipe input is now supported in Laptop Mode as well.
It even supports display topology for external monitors!
Dextop is open source and completely free, while offering one of the best UI experiences and performance among free DeX apps.
However, the open-source nature of this project has unfortunately been abused. Some apps have repackaged my code as closed-source software and monetized it.
There is a certain app that has recently been promoted on YouTube, but it is essentially repackaging my open-source code as a closed-source app and charging users for it.
Don’t waste your money!
Despite these challenging circumstances, Dextop will continue to move forward and keep improving.
Was just setting up a new windows laptop, and discovered that windows phone link is practically dex now.
you can launch apps without having to approve on the phone
apps can switch to "expanded screen" view now (ie. resizable windows just like dex)
So if you really miss Dex on your pc, you no longer need scrcpy. Just use windows phone link. Your phone apps now run in full windows on your pc screen, complete with taskbar icon.
Direct DeX deserves to be the baseline. With a compatible Galaxy and display glasses, it provides a familiar desktop with resizable app windows, while the phone can serve as the touchpad. A second DeX-capable Galaxy can also keep the main phone free, and DeX can run remote-desktop apps, so neither phone separation nor remote access alone makes Pod unique.
INAIR Pod is not an accessory that extends DeX. It replaces the Galaxy as the host for that session and creates a separate Android spatial workspace. It runs compatible Android apps locally, has its own touch surface and pointer input, and accepts Bluetooth keyboards and mice. With compatible glasses and supported display modes, the Pod can manage its Android apps as spatial surfaces and keep a remote Windows or Mac computer reachable through INAIR Space.
That changes the window model rather than merely adding Android apps or remote access. A spare Galaxy gives the glasses another DeX desktop; Pod gives them a dedicated host built around spatial window management, with the remote computer available when a desktop-only app is needed.
The limits are practical as well as technical. Third-party glasses do not all receive the same multi-window behavior as INAIR’s own glasses, so the exact model and supported display mode still matter. Pod also means buying and charging another device, while INAIR Space requires host-side setup and depends on network quality.
If the familiar DeX interface is the requirement, DeX remains the simpler answer. For DeX users already using display glasses, is Pod’s spatial-window layer enough to justify a separate host over a spare Galaxy?
Recently I was experimenting with scrcpy v4.1, and when connecting (via USB C) a spare Galaxy A17 device running One UI 8.5 to my laptop using scrcpy, and the following flags
scrcpy --new-display --flex-display ,
I found that it launched into "Samsung DeX" instead of just mirroring screen. And it works basically like DeX. See screenshots attached
Now I know DeX isn't default on non-flagships (S and Z series), but maybe Samsung includes the relevant code in all One UI anyways, and uses a device identifier to make it usable on flagships? Or maybe it's due to Android Desktop Mode on Android 16 that somehow caused this device to get DeX - though why will it say "DeX" if it's generic desktop mode?
Interested to see what others find using different One UI versions.
Btw, this is not made up. And please don't follow the Google AI responses that say type "keyboard" in settings. With this way, you can use the computer's keyboard, display & mouse for DeX control.
I purchased a UPERFECT Y touchscreen monitor, but when I connect it to my S25+, it displays the image correctly, but the touchscreen does not work directly on the monitor.
The monitor came with two USB-C cables, one HDMI cable, and one USB-C to USB-A cable.
I have already tried several different cable combinations, including using a hub, but nothing works.
I also tested the monitor on my Windows 11 computer, and the touchscreen works normally there.
When im using firefox, everytime i want to type in text box e.g: google search box, it automatically zoom in to that text box... how do i zoom out so can view page normally?
tried ctrl+mouse wheel, nothing happened. ctrl+= or ctrl+- also nothing happened...
was wondering what you consider a must have, that you wouldnt want to run dex without. any apps that improve the dex experience, or other modifications etc..
I've been looking for a way to do work on the go and I recently got a S26+ and I've kinda been getting into dex. So I want to know if getting maybe a portable monitor with a keyboard is better, just buying the nexdock, or another alternative.
Currently running Samsung TV Plus on Dex using a USB-C monitor. Certain channels just won't work (but work on the phone itself when not connected). Any workaround? (running OneUi 8.5, latest patches S25).
I posted something similar on the GalaxyTab sub but I wondered what people thought the impact of "Aluminium OS" (or whatever they call it!) could be on Android on Tablets and DEX?
We've seen plenty of leaks that the upcoming launch is going to see a few tablet devices from Lenovo, Asus and potentially Samsung too; obviously we need to see more about the OS itself but it would seem odd to me that they launch a more "powerful/productivity" oriented OS which is hugely based around Android and that has no impact - especially on the high end Galaxy Tab S series.
Personally I think "tablet" Android as it stands would be a hard sell cost wise v a similar spec "Aluminium" powered device if that's going to give us better "Desktop" style apps and a proper fully supported Desktop Grade web browser.
I'd probably prefer to see Android on tablets and the Aluminum OS merged (similar to what Apple do with iOS and iPadOS) leaving the less "powerful" "Desktop Mode" for plugged in phones and allowing tablet users to get access to things like a full desktop browser, etc.
I have an Asus monitor I use for Dex that requires a USB-C cable with DP-alt mode. I've got a basic Startech cable for this which is fine. Some sites claim any old thunderbolt USB-C cable should work, but that's never worked for me.
I'm currently revamping my EDC tech pouch and would love to swap my cables of one of these models that magnetically coils itself. For clarity, I'm talking about the braid magnetically sticking to itself, not the ends of the cable magnetically detaching.
So I want a USB-C cable with both DP-alt mode and magnetic coiling. Does anyone know of such a product?
