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

As a platform, Android’s key power is arguably flexibility. The software program on one gadget can look radically completely different from one other, even when there is a core underlying interface. There’s typically 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 cost effective potential price range telephones to foldables that value as a lot as a gaming PC.

Android additionally adopted USB-C a few years earlier than Apple did. That has given the platform numerous 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 subtle than a charger. Not that it is required — it is simply that your telephone can deal with much more than you would possibly understand, typically changing a laptop computer in a pinch. I am going to truly begin with that one as a style of the probabilities.

Displays and lapdocks

Work from virtually wherever

One thing that fries my mind in a small approach 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 might probably’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when it’s good to get some writing, spreadsheets, or shows executed, 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 through Desktop Mode. In case your telephone is appropriate, the mode switches right into a tablet-style interface with help for a number of app home windows and a taskbar. Any current flagship telephone, reminiscent of a Pixel 9 or 10, ought to be capable of 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 atmosphere, you may most likely wish to route every thing by way of 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 gives the processing.

Word that if you do not have a hub, you can too join mice and keyboards to your telephone through Bluetooth. Simply do not count on your telephone to final lengthy in DeX or Desktop Mode if it would not have a way of charging concurrently.

Exterior SSDs and card readers

Prepared to dump (and onload)

Gone are the times when you possibly can rely on an Android telephone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nevertheless, is that you may join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android telephone, providing a approach of transferring photographs, movies, music, and different information to and out of your telephone’s inner storage. The truth is, in case you’ve bought an motion cam or an expert digital camera, you could possibly switch content material straight.

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 possible be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however could possibly be inconvenient if it’s good 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 might take 40 seconds at 10Gbps will stretch out to almost 14 minutes. You may most likely need an improve in case you’re utilizing your telephone for skilled work, and even in case you’re simply offloading PEV group ride footage regularly. USB 2.0 dates again to the yr 2000 — nobody ought to be together with it on fashionable {hardware}. I am taking a look at you, Apple.

Recreation controllers

Who wants a console?

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Spine

Though you may all the time pair a Bluetooth controller along with your telephone, a USB-C primarily based “vice” controller just like the Spine One or Razer Kishi V3 is often 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 in case you 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 embody the bottom potential enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All it’s good to do to change between gadgets is clamp within the new one, so long as it suits the controller’s most dimensions. It’s possible you’ll even be capable of play Home windows video games utilizing your controller so long as you’ve got bought a spare USB cable.

Some kind of devoted controller is actually obligatory in case you care about gaming. Whilst you would possibly be capable of 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 recreation 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 obligatory

Google discontinued all of its Chromecast dongles in August 2024, which is a disgrace — they have been a extremely transportable approach of bringing your favourite media streaming apps to any TV. You’d plug one into an HDMI port and increase, Google TV simply the best way you prefer it. For those who did not wish to use the bundled distant, you possibly can venture absolutely anything onto a TV utilizing Google Solid. The Chromecast has since been changed by the Google TV Streamer, however that is not almost as straightforward to stuff in a bag or pocket.

If all you’ve gotten is your telephone, many TVs now have Google Solid built-in, and you may additionally be capable of use Samsung DeX or Android 16’s Desktop Mode, as I discussed at the start. When none of these items are an choice, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to straight mirror your telephone’s display screen, which can be adequate in case you’re attempting to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at house. As a bonus, this can allow you to play media that might 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 easy expertise, all three of those ought to help 4K decision at a 60Hz refresh fee or greater. 30Hz is practical, however will not be capable of sustain with graphics working past 30 frames per second. Some adapters are already able to 4K at 144Hz. At that degree, it is extra possible that your telephone and TV would be the limiting components, particularly since few video games run a lot quicker than 60fps.