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 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 cost effective potential 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 variety of flexibility in what customers can join, and — actually — 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 understand, generally changing a laptop computer in a pinch. I am going to 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 approach is that for a few years now, Samsung’s Android telephones have supplied DeX, a characteristic that tasks a Home windows-style desktop interface once you’re related to a monitor or TV. It may possibly’t go toe-to-toe with Home windows 11, but when it’s essential to get some writing, spreadsheets, or shows 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 by way of 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 latest flagship telephone, reminiscent of 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. Chances are you’ll want a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter for some shows, and in a desktop atmosphere, you may in all probability need to route all the things by a USB-C hub for the sake of connecting a mouse, keyboard, and energy provide. An alternative choice to 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 telephone offers the processing.

Observe that if you do not have a hub, it’s also possible to join mice and keyboards to your telephone by way of 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 depend 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 approach of transferring photographs, movies, music, and different recordsdata to and out of your telephone’s inner storage. The truth is, in case 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 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 may very well 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 just about 14 minutes. You may in all probability need an improve in case you’re utilizing your telephone 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 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 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 normally preferable for just a few causes. The obvious one is comfort — you needn’t prop your telephone up someplace, and you’ll at all times choose up your total setup and go, a lot as in case you had been taking part in on a Switch 2 or Steam Deck. Chances are you’ll 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 potential enter latency, and my favourite watchword for this text, flexibility. All it’s essential to do to change between units is clamp within the new one, so long as it matches the controller’s most dimensions. Chances are you’ll even be capable of play Home windows video games utilizing your controller so long as you’ve got bought a spare USB cable.

Some form of devoted controller is actually necessary in case you care about gaming. When 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, lots of the titles you may be taking part in had been by no means designed with touchscreens in thoughts.

An workplace or front room TV

No media streamer obligatory

Google discontinued all of its Chromecast dongles in August 2024, which is a disgrace — they had been a extremely transportable approach of bringing your favourite media streaming apps to any TV. You’d plug one into an HDMI port and increase, Google TV simply the best way you prefer it. In case you did not need to use the bundled distant, you possibly can challenge absolutely anything onto a TV utilizing Google Forged. The Chromecast has since been changed by the Google TV Streamer, however that is not practically as straightforward to stuff in a bag or pocket.

If all you could have is your telephone, many TVs now have Google Forged built-in, and you may additionally be capable of 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 immediately mirror your telephone’s display screen, which can be ok in case 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 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 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 greater. 30Hz is practical, however will not be capable of sustain with graphics operating 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 elements, particularly since few video games run a lot sooner than 60fps.