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

As a platform, Android’s key energy 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 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 part from the most affordable potential finances 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 a number of flexibility in what customers can join, and — in reality — 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 understand, typically changing a laptop computer in a pinch. I will really 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 tasks 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 worthwhile to get some writing, spreadsheets, or displays achieved, 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 suitable, the mode switches right into a tablet-style interface with assist for a number of app home windows and a taskbar. Any latest flagship cellphone, similar to 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 will in all probability wish to route every part 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 offers the processing.

Be aware that if you do not have a hub, it’s also possible to 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 would not have a way of charging concurrently.

Exterior SSDs and card readers

Prepared to dump (and onload)

Gone are the times when you might rely on an Android cellphone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nonetheless, is that you could join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android cellphone, providing a manner of transferring photographs, movies, music, and different recordsdata to and out of your cellphone’s inside storage. In reality, should you’ve bought an motion cam or knowledgeable digicam, 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 information transfers as much as 10Gbps or greater, you will extra doubtless be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however could possibly be inconvenient if it’s worthwhile 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 will in all probability need an improve should you’re utilizing your cellphone for skilled work, and even should you’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 all the time pair a Bluetooth controller along with your cellphone, 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 cellphone up someplace, and you may all the time choose up your complete setup and go, a lot as should you had been enjoying 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 embrace the bottom potential enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All it’s worthwhile 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 of play Home windows video games utilizing your controller so long as you have bought a spare USB cable.

Some type of devoted controller is basically necessary should 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 basic recreation emulator, most of the titles you will be enjoying had 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 had 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 way in which you prefer it. In the event you did not wish to use the bundled distant, you might undertaking 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 simple to stuff in a bag or pocket.

If all you could have is your cellphone, many TVs now have Google Solid built-in, and you might also be capable of use Samsung DeX or Android 16’s Desktop Mode, as I discussed at first. When none of this stuff are an choice, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to immediately mirror your cellphone’s display screen, which can be ok should you’re making an attempt to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at house. As a bonus, this may 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 assist 4K decision at a 60Hz refresh charge 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 stage, it is extra doubtless that your cellphone and TV would be the limiting components, particularly since few video games run a lot sooner than 60fps.