4 issues you may plug into your Android telephone’s USB port (that are not chargers)

As a platform, Android’s key energy is arguably flexibility. The software program on one gadget can look radically totally different from one other, even when there is a core underlying interface. There’s usually extra leeway in what Android apps can do than ones on an iPhone, and there is additionally a wider vary of {hardware} specs — every thing from the most affordable doable price range telephones to foldables that price as a lot as a gaming PC.

Android additionally adopted USB-C a few years earlier than Apple did. That has given the platform quite a lot of flexibility in what customers can join, and — the truth is — you are not taking full benefit of your telephone if you have not tried to plug in something extra refined than a charger. Not that it is required — it is simply that your telephone can deal with much more than you may understand, typically changing a laptop computer in a pinch. I am going to really begin with that one as a style of the probabilities.

Screens and lapdocks

Work from nearly anyplace

One thing that fries my mind in a small method is that for a few years now, Samsung’s Android telephones have provided DeX, a function that tasks a Home windows-style desktop interface whenever you’re linked to a monitor or TV. It may’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when you want to get some writing, spreadsheets, or shows finished, it may be a lifesaver. I do know I would not try to churn out an article if I needed to cram all my writing and analysis onto a six-inch telephone display screen.

What’s good is that Google lastly determined to bake this into Android 16 by way of Desktop Mode. In case your telephone is suitable, the mode switches right into a tablet-style interface with assist for a number of app home windows and a taskbar. Any current flagship telephone, resembling a Pixel 9 or 10, ought to be capable to run a number of apps directly, together with video games.

There are a couple of catches right here. It’s possible you’ll want a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter for some shows, and in a desktop setting, you may in all probability need to route every thing by a USB-C hub for the sake of connecting a mouse, keyboard, and energy provide. An alternative choice to this can be a lapdock, which will get you a display screen, keyboard, and trackpad in a single shot. Consider it as a laptop computer the place your telephone offers the processing.

Be aware that if you do not have a hub, you may also join mice and keyboards to your telephone by way of Bluetooth. Simply do not count on your telephone to final lengthy in DeX or Desktop Mode if it does not have a way of charging concurrently.

Exterior SSDs and card readers

Prepared to dump (and onload)

Gone are the times when you would rely on an Android telephone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nevertheless, is that you would be able to join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android telephone, providing a method of transferring pictures, movies, music, and different information to and out of your telephone’s inside storage. In reality, if you happen to’ve obtained an motion cam or an expert digital camera, you might be able to switch content material instantly.

Do take note of the USB speeds of your telephone, cable, and something you join, nevertheless. Whereas some telephones and equipment could also be able to knowledge transfers as much as 10Gbps or greater, you may extra probably be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however might be inconvenient if you want to switch dozens of gigabytes of 4K footage.

Watch out for something limiting you to USB 2.0 speeds, which peak at simply 480Mbps. That sounds fast relative to your web connection — however a 50GB switch that may take 40 seconds at 10Gbps will stretch out to just about 14 minutes. You will in all probability need an improve if you happen to’re utilizing your telephone for skilled work, and even if you happen to’re simply offloading PEV group ride footage regularly. USB 2.0 dates again to the yr 2000 — nobody needs to be together with it on fashionable {hardware}. I am you, Apple.

Recreation controllers

Who wants a console?

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Spine

Though you may all the time pair a Bluetooth controller together with your telephone, a USB-C based mostly “vice” controller just like the Spine One or Razer Kishi V3 is normally preferable for a couple of causes. The obvious one is comfort — you needn’t prop your telephone up someplace, and you’ll all the time decide up your total setup and go, a lot as if you happen to have been taking part in on a Switch 2 or Steam Deck. It’s possible you’ll want to make use of passthrough charging to keep away from draining your telephone in a rush, however some extra superior fashions sport their very own batteries.

Different perks embrace the bottom doable enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All you want to do to modify between units is clamp within the new one, so long as it suits the controller’s most dimensions. It’s possible you’ll even be capable to play Home windows video games utilizing your controller so long as you have obtained a spare USB cable.

Some type of devoted controller is basically necessary if you happen to care about gaming. When you may be capable to play one thing like Civilization VI with contact gestures alone, platformers like Blasphemous and shooters like Fortnite are going to be depressing with out D-pads or analog sticks. If you wish to run a traditional sport emulator, lots of the titles you may be taking part in have been by no means designed with touchscreens in thoughts.

An workplace or front room TV

No media streamer vital

Google discontinued all of its Chromecast dongles in August 2024, which is a disgrace — they have been a extremely transportable method of bringing your favourite media streaming apps to any TV. You’d plug one into an HDMI port and increase, Google TV simply the way in which you prefer it. If you happen to did not need to use the bundled distant, you would challenge absolutely anything onto a TV utilizing Google Solid. The Chromecast has since been changed by the Google TV Streamer, however that is not practically as simple to stuff in a bag or pocket.

If all you have got is your telephone, many TVs now have Google Solid built-in, and you might also be capable to use Samsung DeX or Android 16’s Desktop Mode, as I discussed firstly. When none of these items are an possibility, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to instantly mirror your telephone’s display screen, which can be adequate if you happen to’re making an attempt to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at residence. As a bonus, it will allow you to play media that may in any other case play badly over a wi-fi connection or solely be accessible on-device. For a gaming setup, this and a Bluetooth controller could also be all you want.

Take note of the output specs of your telephone and adapter, and the enter specs of the HDMI port you are plugging into. For a clean expertise, all three of those ought to assist 4K decision at a 60Hz refresh fee or greater. 30Hz is purposeful, however will not be capable to sustain with graphics operating past 30 frames per second. Some adapters are already able to 4K at 144Hz. At that stage, it is extra probably that your telephone and TV would be the limiting elements, particularly since few video games run a lot sooner than 60fps.