When reading reviews or descriptions of smartphones, you may come across a mention of OTG support. What technology is it?
The designation “OTG” is rarely found on a box with a tablet or smartphone. Don’t focus on this technology, electronic equipment manufacturers, and advertising your products. However, this function is very important. Its support can significantly facilitate the use of the device, and the lack of such – complicate. In short, let’s find out what OTG has on the phone.
Table of Contents
Purpose of the Protocol
OTG-enabled devices allow you to connect various peripherals and laptop-style USB flash drives to them. At the same time, the tablet or smartphone does not have a full-size USB port – connection is via micro-USB or USB Type-C. It is obvious that an adapter is required for these purposes. It can be present in a box with a smartphone. But much more often the OTG adapter is bought separately.
Which devices can be connected to a smartphone in this way? Yes, the most different:
- USB drive – it does not have to be a USB flash drive, it is possible to connect an external hard drive (it all depends on the voltage at the connector outputs);
- The keyboard is a good way to get rid of the virtual keyboard when working with documents, hiding some useful space;
- Mouse – sometimes useful when working with a tablet;
- Camera or video camera – you can upload a photo or video on Android, then process and upload it to the social network;
- A printer is a great way to print documents quickly if your device doesn’t support wireless data transmission.
In short, OTG technology can be very useful. What’s more, you never predict when exactly the moment will come when you will need to use such a function.
OTG cable
As mentioned above, an OTG adapter is required to connect peripherals. On the one hand, there is an input for a full-size USB plug, and on the other – an output from micro-USB. Almost always the adapter has about 10 centimeters of string. This is due to the fact that cable makers need to tie several contacts together – these are the requirements of the OTG protocol.
These adapters cost a little bit. You will certainly find an adapter in the nearest store at a price of 150-300 rubles. And on all kinds of AliExpress and GearBest such things can be bought even cheaper. In short, it is unlikely to face the problem of buying an accessory, even in a very small village.
How to check if your smartphone supports OTG
The OTG function is not available on all Android devices. Most often without the cheapest smartphones. However, devices with a medium budget also do not always recognize the OTG cable with peripherals connected to it. How to check if the device supports this protocol? To do this, you can go to the manufacturer’s website after learning about the characteristics of the device. However, it is much easier to download USB OTG Checker or a similar tool from Google Play. After starting, you will receive an information message about the absence or presence of OTG support. For example, the tested DOOGEE BL7000 allows us to connect peripherals. But the cheaper DOOGEE X30 does not support this technology.
Most often, the protocol is used to transfer any files from a flash drive to a smartphone. In most cases, after connecting a USB drive, the operating system itself offers to run a specific application. But you can use any other – for example, a file manager.
Summarizing
We recommend buying smartphones with OTG support. Especially if the device has a very small amount of permanent memory. And certainly such a protocol should be embedded in the tablet used to work with documents. Even if you think that in the coming days you will not need the possibility of connecting peripherals. Again, the need to use the OTG function may appear at any time.
