By Adnan Ahmed
There’s a lot that smartphones can do now, beyond just connecting us with our loved ones or capturing moments worth cherishing in 4K. With the ever-expanding Google Play Store and Apple App Store, there are all sorts of apps that extend the functionality of your phone. Hardware-wise, it might seem like we’ve reached peak smartphone — with every release looking like the same rectangular slab of glass and metal with a giant display and a fast processor.
Another common hardware choice found on most phones is the USB-C port. Android phones have had USB-C for nearly a decade now, with Apple finally following suit with the iPhone 15 series. USB-C is faster for both charging and data transfer, reversible, capable of audio and video output, and most importantly — universal. In recent years, it’s usually a questionable purchase if a product you’re eyeing uses the older Lightning or Micro-B interface for charging or connectivity.
Most laptops, power banks, smartphones, and earphones now rely on USB-C for charging — as do many other gadgets. Thanks to how widespread the standard has become, there’s a good chance that you can simply plug in a product to your phone’s USB-C port and start using it. For this read, we’ve highlighted a few such gadgets that work well with your phone and can extend its use in ways that might surprise you. An explanation for how and why we recommended the products on this list can be found near the end of the read.
SD card expansion on phones is dearly missed, and while the base storage capacities have gone up over the years, upgrade options at the time of checkout can get expensive. A viable remedy to dealing with larger files on your phone is to offload them onto an external storage drive — more specifically, an SSD. Solid-state drives are faster, smaller, and more reliable than traditional mechanical hard drives.
Most of the newer SSDs make use of USB-C connectivity, which allows for fast read and write speeds. You can even record iPhone videos directly to an SSD, which saves you from the hassle of moving around files each time you need to create more space on your phone. An external SSD can be used like any other expansion drive when connected to your phone. You can access photos, videos, documents, and any other file type stored on the drive.
While you can connect most of the external drives to your phone via USB-C, there are certain external storage devices for smartphones that work better, thanks to their portable size. The Samsung T7 Portable SSD is a popular option, with over 34,000 reviews and a 4.7-star rating on Amazon. It costs $159.99 for 1 TB of storage, with higher capacity options available. The Samsung Type-C USB Flash Drive at $34.99 for 256 GB of storage space is a cheaper and smaller alternative if you don’t mind the comparatively slower transfer speeds.
More utilitarian gadgets like high-capacity and fast-charging capable power banks will bring immense value when paired with your phone, but there are several other quirky devices that work with the USB-C port on your device. USB-C microphones can help your smartphone capture better audio, especially in the context of interviews or outdoor recordings. At $22.99, the Maono USB-C Lavalier Microphone has over 1,000 reviews and a 4.3-star rating on Amazon and features an easy plug-and-play setup for Android and iOS devices.
Please read more at the below link:
https://www.slashgear.com/1786384/devices-plug-into-phone-usb-c-port/