Hadley Simmons/Android Authority
TL;DR
- There’s a frustrating bug in Samsung’s One UI 8 software when using the wireless controller in DeX mode.
- The gamepad’s analog stick stops working in this mode when the connected phone’s screen turns off.
- Thankfully, the One UI 8.5 update fixes this issue.
Samsung introduced an overhauled DeX mode in One UI 8 last year, which was created in partnership with Google. Some features were missed in the rebuilt mode, but we also discovered an important gaming bug that has now been fixed in One UI 8.5.
The analog stick on my Xbox One controller stopped working whenever my connected phone’s screen turns off in DeX mode. The face buttons, start button, and select key still worked, but it made for a disappointing big-screen gaming experience. It’s worth noting that my keyboard and mouse still work fine, but the gamepad is ideal for gaming on the couch or if you just prefer a controller.
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It turns out I was not alone on this issue. Several Galaxy owners reported the issue on Reddit (1, 2, 3) over the last eight months or so. One of the most notable solutions was to enable and toggle developer options Stay awake Speciality This toggle prevents the screen from going off while charging, but you may want to reduce the display brightness to avoid burning the screen. Another solution was to install an app like Blackkeep that kept your screen active. Still, these are not perfect solutions to the problem.
Thankfully, we can confirm that the bug has been fixed in One UI 8.5. We specifically downloaded One UI 8.5 and the May 2026 security patch, and found that the controller worked fine for emulation. This is great news if you have a phone that recently received the update. However, this could be a problem for older Galaxy phones that are either stuck on One UI 8 or are going to get One UI 8.5 much later.
Still, we’re glad Samsung has fixed this issue, so gaming on the big screen should be more enjoyable. It also comes as One UI 8.5 revives the auto-hide taskbar and audio output toggle, which went missing in One UI 8’s DeX mode.
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