5 Of The Best Uses For Your Samsung Phone’s USB Ports That Aren’t Charging – BGR

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Samsung has established its lineup of smartphones as one of the most popular and most versatile among Android options. There is a Samsung phone for every type of user, with the flagship Galaxy S series competing with phones like the Apple iPhone and Google Pixel. Then there’s the budget-minded Galaxy A lineup, offering an affordable way to get into the Samsung software ecosystem. With these phones, Samsung delivers impressive displays, powerful cameras, solid performance, and USB-C connectivity across the board.

It’s well known that the USB-C port on a phone is a way to charge the device. But USB-C is an incredibly versatile technology. It delivers fast transfer speeds in addition to fast-charging capabilities, and the port’s reversible design means you don’t have to worry about the cable’s positioning when connecting a device. There are several additional ways to utilize a Samsung phone’s USB-C port, and it doesn’t take much know-how to tap into some incredibly powerful functionality. So whether you’re an entry-level user, a creative professional, or even an audiophile, let’s explore some of the ways to get more out of your Samsung phone’s USB-C port.

Video chats have become commonplace, and whether you’re connecting with friends, family, or colleagues, the quality of the image matters. Budget devices like Chromebooks often have low quality webcams, if they even have a built-in camera at all. Even the best laptops can be limited when it comes to built-in webcam capabilities, as the thin design of these devices restricts the size of such hardware. An external webcam is one way to improve upon the quality of your Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet chats, and because of its USB-C port, a Samsung phone can do the job.

The camera systems in Samsung Galaxy phones feature advanced sensors, powerful image processing, high resolutions, and lenses that are much larger than what’s often built into laptop displays. You can use your Galaxy phone with other Galaxy devices wirelessly, but connecting the phone to a laptop or desktop PC with a USB-C cable will provide you with better image quality and a more stable connection. This setup works through Microsoft’s Link to Windows feature, and once you’re set up, you’ll be able to use your Samsung phone in all of the same ways you can use a traditional webcam.

Wireless headphones are incredibly convenient when you want to listen to music, but Bluetooth connectivity has its limitations. The low bandwidth capacity of a Bluetooth connection requires compression when listening to music. This means you’re not hearing songs the way they were originally recorded. Such a trade-off may not matter to casual listeners, but if you want to maximize the potential of a quality set of headphones. Also, if you want to listen to your favorite tunes the way the musicians meant for them to be heard, high-resolution audio playback is available through your Samsung phone’s USB-C port.

You can connect your Samsung phone directly to a set of wireless headphones with a USB-C port, or to traditional wired headphones using a 3.5-millimeter DAC to USB-C converter. You likely will need to adjust some playback settings in your music app of choice, but lossless, high-resolution audio files will be able to transmit through the USB-C connection. High-res audio delivers greater dynamic range, enhanced clarity and detail, and a better representation of a song’s original recording. This opens up a whole new world for audiophiles and Samsung users subscribed to high-res streaming services like Amazon Music HD and Spotify Premium.

Samsung phones are equipped with impressive camera systems that make capturing high-quality photos and videos incredibly easy. Features like timelapse videos, portrait mode, and night photography make it all the more enticing to be constantly capturing the world around you. One problem with shooting all of those photos and videos is that you can amass a large media library in a relatively short amount of time. If you’re a professional, all of that content needs to be kept safe, and if you’re an amateur, all of those memories need to last.

USB-C delivers transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps, which makes your Samsung phone’s USB-C port a great way to back up all of the content you capture. The speeds you can reach with USB-C are much faster than wireless options like cloud backups, which will be limited to your Wi-Fi network’s speeds at best, and your cellular plan’s speeds at worst. USB-C is a much more practical option for backing up your digital world, and all it requires is a USB-C cable and an external SSD or hard drive to house all of your photos and videos. You can even use these devices to back up other assets on your Samsung phone, like music files, contacts, and documents.

Using your Samsung phone for productivity is fine when on the go, but the display likely isn’t large enough for deep work, or for sharing photos and videos with a group. Professional tasks like creating presentations and editing documents can feel cramped and counterproductive, even if you have one of the larger phones in Samsung’s Galaxy lineup. The USB-C port can solve this problem as well. With a USB-C to HDMI adapter, you can connect your phone to devices like TVs and projectors, instantly turning its display into one that’s much larger and much more capable for instances of sharing media.

Samsung takes this capability a step further for those with flagship-level Galaxy phones. Phones such as the Galaxy S25 lineup and Galaxy foldables can be integrated into a desktop PC setup through an interface called Samsung DeX. This effectively turns your Galaxy phone into an extension of your PC monitor. You can move apps freely across screens and even create various workspaces to maximize your productivity. While DeX works in tandem with PCs over a USB-C or wireless connection, it also allows you to connect your phone wirelessly to a smart TV.

Wi-Fi and cellular networks are convenient, but they aren’t necessarily the fastest or most reliable way to access the online world. Wi-Fi networks can get congested, and cellular data service can fluctuate throughout the day. Your Samsung phone might not seem like the kind of device that can benefit from a wired Ethernet connection, but its USB-C port allows you to connect in such a way. Tasks like video streaming, gaming, and updating your phone’s OS can go much more smoothly when utilizing a direct, wired connection to the internet.

With a USB-C to Ethernet adapter, you can plug an Ethernet cable directly into your Samsung phone. Several name brands make such an adapter, and there are many off-brand adapters available for budget shoppers. The Anker USB-C to Ethernet adapter is a well-priced option that delivers speeds of up to 1Gbps, and it’s compact enough to keep in a drawer, a backpack, or a pocket when on the go. You will also need to ensure you have access to a functional Ethernet wall jack. But whether you’re in a hotel with spotty Wi-Fi or simply have an important download ahead of you, your Samsung phone can be made a stable, speedy internet device through its USB-C port.