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

As a platform, Android’s key power is arguably flexibility. The software program on one system can look radically completely 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 — all the things from the most cost effective attainable 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 a whole lot of flexibility in what customers can join, and — in actual fact — you are not taking full benefit of your cellphone if you have not tried to plug in something extra refined than a charger. Not that it is required — it is simply that your cellphone can deal with much more than you would possibly notice, 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 virtually wherever

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 initiatives a Home windows-style desktop interface once you’re linked to a monitor or TV. It could possibly’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when you should get some writing, spreadsheets, or displays performed, 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 cellphone display screen.

What’s good is that Google lastly determined to bake this into Android 16 through Desktop Mode. In case your cellphone 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 cellphone, equivalent to a Pixel 9 or 10, ought to have the ability to run a number of apps without delay, together with video games.

There are just a few 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 wish to route all the things by way of a USB-C hub for the sake of connecting a mouse, keyboard, and energy provide. A substitute for it is 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 cellphone gives the processing.

Observe that if you do not have a hub, you may also join mice and keyboards to your cellphone through Bluetooth. Simply do not count on your cellphone 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 possibly can rely on an Android cellphone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nonetheless, is you could join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android cellphone, providing a method of transferring photographs, movies, music, and different information to and out of your cellphone’s inside storage. In reality, in case you’ve bought an motion cam or an expert digital camera, you might be able to switch content material immediately.

Do take note of the USB speeds of your cellphone, cable, and something you join, nonetheless. Whereas some telephones and equipment could also be able to knowledge transfers as much as 10Gbps or increased, you may extra doubtless be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however could possibly be inconvenient if you should 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 just about 14 minutes. You may in all probability need an improve in case you’re utilizing your cellphone for skilled work, and even in case you’re simply offloading PEV group ride footage regularly. USB 2.0 dates again to the 12 months 2000 — nobody must be together with it on fashionable {hardware}. I am you, Apple.

Sport controllers

Who wants a console?

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Spine

Though you may at all times pair a Bluetooth controller together with your cellphone, a USB-C primarily based “vice” controller just like the Spine One or Razer Kishi V3 is normally preferable for just a few causes. The obvious one is comfort — you needn’t prop your cellphone up someplace, and you may at all times choose 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 cellphone in a rush, however some extra superior fashions sport their very own batteries.

Different perks embody the bottom attainable enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All you should do to change between units is clamp within the new one, so long as it suits the controller’s most dimensions. It’s possible you’ll even have the ability to 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 basically necessary in case you care about gaming. When you would possibly have the ability 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 recreation emulator, most 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 crucial

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 growth, Google TV simply the best way you prefer it. For those who did not wish to use the bundled distant, you possibly can challenge absolutely anything onto a TV utilizing Google Forged. 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 will have is your cellphone, many TVs now have Google Forged built-in, and you may additionally have the ability to use Samsung DeX or Android 16’s Desktop Mode, as I discussed at the start. When none of this stuff are an possibility, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to immediately mirror your cellphone’s display screen, which can be adequate in case you’re making an attempt to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at dwelling. 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 cellphone 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 charge or increased. 30Hz is practical, however will not have the ability to sustain with graphics working past 30 frames per second. Some adapters are already able to 4K at 144Hz. At that stage, it is extra doubtless that your cellphone and TV would be the limiting elements, particularly since few video games run a lot sooner than 60fps.