4 issues you possibly can 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 machine 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 part from the most affordable attainable finances 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 lots of flexibility in what customers can join, and — in actual fact — 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 will truly begin with that one as a style of the probabilities.

Screens and lapdocks

Work from nearly wherever

One thing that fries my mind in a small manner is that for a few years now, Samsung’s Android telephones have supplied DeX, a characteristic that initiatives a Home windows-style desktop interface while you’re related to a monitor or TV. It will probably’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when it’s essential get some writing, spreadsheets, or displays performed, it may be a lifesaver. I do know I would not try and 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 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 without delay, together with video games.

There are just a few catches right here. You might want a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter for some shows, and in a desktop setting, you will in all probability wish to route every part by means 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.

Observe that if you do not have a hub, it’s also possible to join mice and keyboards to your telephone through Bluetooth. Simply do not anticipate 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 which you can join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android telephone, providing a manner of transferring pictures, movies, music, and different information to and out of your telephone’s inner storage. In reality, if you happen to’ve bought an motion cam or knowledgeable 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 increased, you will extra seemingly be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however may very well be inconvenient if it’s essential 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 will take 40 seconds at 10Gbps will stretch out to almost 14 minutes. You may 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 12 months 2000 — nobody needs 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 possibly can at all times 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 just a few causes. The obvious one is comfort — you needn’t prop your telephone up someplace, and you may at all times decide up your whole setup and go, a lot as if you happen to have been taking part in on a Switch 2 or Steam Deck. You might 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 attainable enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All it’s essential do to change between gadgets is clamp within the new one, so long as it matches the controller’s most dimensions. You might even be capable to play Home windows video games utilizing your controller so long as you have bought a spare USB cable.

Some form 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 basic sport emulator, lots of the titles you will be taking part in have been by no means designed with touchscreens in thoughts.

An workplace or lounge TV

No media streamer needed

Google discontinued all of its Chromecast dongles in August 2024, which is a disgrace — they have been a extremely moveable manner 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 mission 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 choice, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to instantly mirror your telephone’s display screen, which can be ok if you happen to’re attempting to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at house. As a bonus, it will allow you to play media that will 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 assist 4K decision at a 60Hz refresh price or increased. 30Hz is purposeful, however will not be capable 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 seemingly that your telephone and TV would be the limiting components, particularly since few video games run a lot sooner than 60fps.