4 issues you may 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 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 — all the things from the most affordable 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 number of flexibility in what customers can join, and — the truth is — you are not taking full benefit of your cellphone if you have not tried to plug in something extra subtle 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 am going to really begin with that one as a style of the probabilities.

Screens and lapdocks

Work from virtually anyplace

One thing that fries my mind in a small means 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 linked to a monitor or TV. It could actually’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when you could get some writing, spreadsheets, or displays finished, 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 cellphone display.

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 current flagship cellphone, akin to a Pixel 9 or 10, ought to be capable to run a number of apps without delay, together with video games.

There are a couple of catches right here. You might want a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter for some shows, and in a desktop atmosphere, you may in all probability wish to route all the things 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, keyboard, and trackpad in a single shot. Consider it as a laptop computer the place your cellphone supplies the processing.

Word that if you do not have a hub, you may as well 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 would depend on an Android cellphone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nonetheless, is that you may join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android cellphone, providing a means of transferring pictures, movies, music, and different information to and out of your cellphone’s inner storage. In reality, when you’ve obtained an motion cam or an expert digicam, you could possibly 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 increased, you may extra seemingly be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however may very well be inconvenient if you could 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 will in all probability need an improve when you’re utilizing your cellphone for skilled work, and even when you’re simply offloading PEV group ride footage frequently. USB 2.0 dates again to the 12 months 2000 — nobody ought 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 cellphone, 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 need not prop your cellphone up someplace, and you may all the time decide up your whole setup and go, a lot as when you 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 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 could do to modify 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 obtained a spare USB cable.

Some form of devoted controller is basically necessary when you care about gaming. Whilst you would possibly 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 may be taking part in have been by no means designed with touchscreens in thoughts.

An workplace or lounge TV

No media streamer obligatory

Google discontinued all of its Chromecast dongles in August 2024, which is a disgrace — they have been a extremely moveable means 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. For those who did not wish to use the bundled distant, you would 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 got is your cellphone, 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 at the start. When none of these items are an choice, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to immediately mirror your cellphone’s display, which can be ok when you’re making an attempt 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 cellphone 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 increased. 30Hz is practical, 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 cellphone and TV would be the limiting components, particularly since few video games run a lot quicker than 60fps.