➤ What is USB OTG and how to use this technology on Android 🕹

To connect any USB device to your Android smartphone, it is necessary to have a particular technology called USB OTG. In this guide we will see What is OTG and how to use it on Android? to connect external hard drives, USB sticks, controllers, cameras and many other different peripherals.

Article Index

What is USB OTG?
What can you do with OTG?
How to recognize if your smartphone is compatible
Which OTG adapter/cable to buy?

What is USB OTG and how to use this technology on Android

What is USB OTG?

OTG It is the acronym for On the progress, or a technology that allows Android smartphones and tablets to offer OTG support for a whole series of devices connectable via USB (and a special adapter) to the socket normally used to charge the device. If your smartphone supports OTG, you can use the USB port to connect a special adapter (which you will see later in the guide) and connect one of the devices compatible with the Linux kernel (which is the heart of the Android system).

To use OTG, at least Android 4.4 is required, but the newer the Android version, the better the chances that the connected USB device will be recognized.

What can you do with OTG?

Below we have grouped all the devices that can be connected to an Android smartphone with OTG support, to specifically understand the advantages of this technology:

External hard drives and USB flash drives- You can connect external data storage devices and access their contents, so you can copy, move and delete them directly from the device's file manager.
endoscope e webcam: This is one of the initial uses for which this technology was most used, taking advantage of the smartphone screen and the microcamera of an endoscope, to inspect hard-to-reach places.
Play with a controller: By connecting a USB controller (even the Xbox one) to the device, you can play Android games with a controller as if you were on a real console.
Use keyboard and mouse: to OTG you can connect a keyboard or a mouse (but also both with the appropriate adapters) to transform your smartphone into a small PC with a pointer.
Print directly- If you connect your smartphone via OTG to a USB cable for the printer, you can print directly to it without using WiFi, for maximum print quality.
Check the SLRs: If your reflex is compatible, you can connect it via OTG to your smartphone, to obtain an additional screen to control it and view the photos taken.
Charge another smartphone or other device: Using an OTG adapter, you can recharge other peripherals with your smartphone battery, such as another mobile phone, a power bank, an action cam, a smartwatch and much more.
Connect to the Internet using a network cable: If you can only connect via network cable, a specific OTG adapter for this purpose could be very useful.
external microphone: Imagination sets no limits to the possible uses, such as using an external microphone, to record what you want at a certain distance from the smartphone or with higher quality.

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What is USB OTG and how to use this technology on Android — Check the photos of your reflex on your smartphone.

Obviously, not all of these scenarios are applicable, you will first need to check your Android smartphone's compatibility with USB OTG and then hope that the drivers built into the Android kernel are updated enough to support all the features described above. However, support for external storage devices is almost always available, so you can take advantage of this feature in many everyday scenarios.

How to recognize if your smartphone is compatible

To check if a smartphone has this technology, before purchasing an OTG adapter, we can use the free USB OTG Checker application to check it. Once the application is installed and started, depending on the result, the application will return one of the two results that you can see below, about the presence or absence of the OTG function.

What is USB OTG and how to use this technology on Android

With this app you will immediately find out if OTG is enabled on your Android device, so you can immediately use it with the appropriate adapter. If the check fails, it means that the smartphone manufacturer has preferred to block this functionality, preventing it from being exploited (although it may be available at the hardware level, it cannot be exploited at the software level). In this scenario I recommend using a custom ROM to recover the OTG capabilities of your Android smartphone.

OTG cable: which one to buy

Having explained the potential of this technology, how to check if it is present on your smartphone and what it can do, let's now see how to exploit it by purchasing a OTG cable. Normally the prices of these cables are very low and range between 5 and 10 euros. For various reasons, it is always better to purchase a product that is characterized by excellent build and assembly quality. These factors will logically end up having an impact on the final price, but your expense will be well amortized, since you will have a product that connects safely to the USB port of your smartphone or tablet, without shaking or false contacts and that will not be easily damaged by wear.

The cable is often also called an adapter. USB OTG adapter, connects as mentioned above to the USB socket normally used for charging. However, given the existence of two different types of USB connectors, it is best to first identify which one you have.

What is USB OTG and how to use this technology on Android There are two types of USB that may be present:

USB Type C: that is, the most recent USB port model, which can be inserted in any direction, since the rotation is always the same. We find it present in all current top-of-the-range smartphones from Samsung, Huawei, LG, etc. Format that is replacing the old micro USB format;
Micro USB: the most widespread on lower-mid-range and older Android smartphones; The cable can only be connected in one direction, since its shape is that of a trapezoid, as you can also see in the photo.

What is USB OTG and how to use this technology on Android

Once you've identified the type of USB to connect to your device, below you'll find the best OTG cable adapters you can find on Amazon, with notable build quality and the highest review score from buyers.