4 issues you’ll be able to 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 little thing from the most cost effective 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 a number of flexibility in what customers can join, and — in truth — you are not taking full benefit of your telephone if you have not tried to plug in something extra subtle than a charger. Not that it is required — it is simply that your telephone can deal with much more than you may notice, generally changing a laptop computer in a pinch. I am going to truly begin with that one as a style of the chances.

Displays and lapdocks

Work from nearly wherever

One thing that fries my mind in a small approach is that for a few years now, Samsung’s Android telephones have supplied DeX, a characteristic that initiatives a Home windows-style desktop interface once you’re linked to a monitor or TV. It might’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when it’s essential get some writing, spreadsheets, or shows finished, 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 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 help for a number of app home windows and a taskbar. Any current flagship telephone, similar 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 could want a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter for some shows, and in a desktop setting, you may in all probability wish to route every little thing via 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 screen, keyboard, and trackpad in a single shot. Consider it as a laptop computer the place your telephone offers the processing.

Observe that if you do not have a hub, you may as well 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 does not have a way of charging concurrently.

Exterior SSDs and card readers

Prepared to dump (and onload)

Gone are the times when you may rely on an Android telephone having a microSD card slot. Some comfort, nevertheless, is which you could join nearly any exterior SSD (solid-state drive) or card reader to an Android telephone, providing a approach of transferring pictures, movies, music, and different information to and out of your telephone’s inside storage. In reality, for those who’ve obtained an motion cam or knowledgeable digital camera, you could possibly 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 information transfers as much as 10Gbps or greater, you may extra seemingly be working 5Gbps. That is nonetheless quick, however could possibly 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 might take 40 seconds at 10Gbps will stretch out to just about 14 minutes. You will in all probability need an improve for those who’re utilizing your telephone for skilled work, and even for those who’re simply offloading PEV group ride footage frequently. USB 2.0 dates again to the yr 2000 — nobody ought to be together with it on trendy {hardware}. I am you, Apple.

Recreation controllers

Who wants a console?

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Spine

Though you’ll be able to all the time pair a Bluetooth controller together with your telephone, a USB-C primarily based “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 telephone up someplace, and you’ll all the time choose up your complete setup and go, a lot as for those who 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 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 units is clamp within the new one, so long as it matches the controller’s most dimensions. You could even be capable to play Home windows video games utilizing your controller so long as you’ve got obtained a spare USB cable.

Some form of devoted controller is basically obligatory for those who 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 traditional recreation emulator, lots of the titles you may be enjoying have been by no means designed with touchscreens in thoughts.

An workplace or lounge TV

No media streamer crucial

Google discontinued all of its Chromecast dongles in August 2024, which is a disgrace — they have been a extremely moveable approach 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. If you happen to did not wish to use the bundled distant, you may challenge 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’ve is your telephone, many TVs now have Google Solid built-in, and you may additionally be capable to use Samsung DeX or Android 16’s Desktop Mode, as I discussed initially. When none of these items are an possibility, although, a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter ought to allow you to instantly mirror your telephone’s display screen, which can be adequate for those who’re attempting to host a presentation at work, or watch a film at house. 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 telephone 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 price or greater. 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 degree, it is extra seemingly that your telephone and TV would be the limiting components, particularly since few video games run a lot quicker than 60fps.