4 issues you possibly can 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 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 thing from the most affordable 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 a whole lot 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 may understand, typically changing a laptop computer in a pinch. I am going to really begin with that one as a style of the chances.

Screens and lapdocks

Work from virtually anyplace

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 characteristic that initiatives a Home windows-style desktop interface once you’re linked to a monitor or TV. It may well’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when it’s essential to get some writing, spreadsheets, or shows carried out, 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.

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, similar to a Pixel 9 or 10, ought to be capable of run a number of apps directly, together with video games.

There are just a few catches right here. You could want a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter for some shows, and in a desktop setting, you will 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. A substitute for 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.

Be aware 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 can rely on an Android cellphone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nevertheless, is you could join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android cellphone, providing a method of transferring pictures, movies, music, and different information to and out of your cellphone’s inside storage. In reality, in case you’ve obtained an motion cam or an expert digicam, you could possibly switch content material straight.

Do take note of the USB speeds of your cellphone, 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 possible be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however could possibly be inconvenient if it’s essential 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 may take 40 seconds at 10Gbps will stretch out to almost 14 minutes. You will most likely 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 frequently. USB 2.0 dates again to the yr 2000 — nobody needs 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 possibly can 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 need not prop your cellphone up someplace, and you’ll at all times choose up your whole setup and go, a lot as in case you have been enjoying on a Switch 2 or Steam Deck. You could 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 potential enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All it’s essential to do to modify between gadgets is clamp within the new one, so long as it matches the controller’s most dimensions. You could even be capable of 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 obligatory in case you care about gaming. Whilst you may 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 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 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 way in which you prefer it. When you did not wish to use the bundled distant, you can venture 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 simple to stuff in a bag or pocket.

If all you’ve is your cellphone, many TVs now have Google Forged built-in, and you might also be capable of use Samsung DeX or Android 16’s Desktop Mode, as I discussed in the beginning. When none of this stuff are an choice, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to straight mirror your cellphone’s display, which can be ok in case you’re attempting to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at dwelling. As a bonus, this can allow you to play media that may 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 help 4K decision at a 60Hz refresh charge or increased. 30Hz is purposeful, 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 cellphone and TV would be the limiting components, particularly since few video games run a lot quicker than 60fps.