Last Updated on July 8, 2017 by Larious

A fast trendy technology device called USB On-The-Go (USB OTG), makes your Android device more powerful than you thought. This allows you to connect other devices to your smartphone and the possibilities are almost endless. But not all phones support USB OTG.

What Is USB OTG?

USB OTG is a hardware and software standard that allows you to connect a device to your smartphone or tablet through the USB Type-C or micro USB port. Almost anything that uses a USB connector can be plugged into your Android device with USB OTG, at which point you would be able to control the second device using your smartphone, or vice versa.

Some good example uses for USB OTG include plugging a flash drive into your phone for extra storage.

One of the common questions at this point in time will be if your device supports USB OTG. Well, there are plenty ways to determine the same, starting at the manual for your gadget. Another simple way to find out is looking for the USB OTG logo approved by the USB Implementers Forum.

How to check USB OTG support for your Android phone?

You can use Easy OTG Checker, a simple app to check whether your phone supports USB OTG or not. Here’s how:

Step 1: Install and fire up Easy OTG Checker, and connect a USB OTG device (e.g. SanDisk Ultra USB OTG) to the phone. Now, tap the “question mark” button.

Step 2: Easy OTG Checker will take a few seconds to check your Android phone’s USB OTG compatibility, and then display the result. Apart from that, the app also displays system information such as the device’s make/model, and Android version. Here’s the result, as displayed on a USB OTG supported Android device:

And here’s the result, as shown on a non USB OTG compatible device:

That’s all there’s to it. Can’t get any simpler than that, right?

You can check out USB OTG Checker  Also checkout USB Host Diagnostics

So what does it mean for your phone To Have OTG

• With USB OTG and given that your phone supports the same, it will now become easy to:
• Connect flash drives and other external hard drives directly to your phone. Now copy music and movies directly into your phone or save your phone pictures into an external hard drive without fuss.
• Play video game of your phone and using an appropriate game controller handset. Think Xbox 360!
• Control your screen using a keyboard and a mice
• Connect your phone directly to a printer and print directly through USB
• Take control of your DSLR camera and action camera. Be a more technically strong photographer!
• Record music into your phone from a midi piano keyboard
• Calling home? Connect your smaller phone screen to a tablet for a better video experience.

Though there would be plenty occasions when a laptop will be an irreplaceable device, there would be plenty other cases, where you can travel lighter. Better functionality and greater efficiency makes sure that the job gets done without much fuss. Try USB On-The-Go and you will be glad. Well, it doesn’t cost too much too!

What is your best use for USB OTG? Share your feedback in the comments