With the evolution of processing, our Android smartphones and tablets are almost as good as our desktops or notebooks. To use our everyday device as a computer, the practicality of a mouse and keyboard is lacking. Let's see how to make this connection using cables.
To do this, you obviously need a mouse and a keyboard with a USB port, which can be the most common and cheap you can get, it will not make a difference. Then we need to confirm your USB-on-the-go (OTG USB) compatible device. Alis, we have interesting articles about it, see below:
To check compatibility, you can use an app on your smartphone or tablet. There are several in the Play Store, but we recommend the free and simple USB OTG Checker.
USB OTG Checker – OTG Compatible Device?
No need to give any permission, and as soon as you open the application it already shows OTG compatibility. The app explains that it searches the system if the necessary libraries are available: USB Manager, USB Host and USB Device List. If you have any devices connected, it already identifies you in a list.
USB OTG Checker / AndroidPIT (screenshot)
Another way is to check the manufacturer's datasheet on the internet or in the handset manual. This feature is more common than you might think, and it has existed on Android since version 3.1 (Honeycomb). So in theory you can connect any mouse or any wired keyboard to any Android as long as it supports USB OTG.
Now you also need a so-called OTG cable. A few manufacturers ship one of these in the box, such as Asus, Samsung, and Sony, but it's not very easy to find it that way. To buy one, computer and e-commerce stores like Mercado Livre sell and cost from 10 reais.
It's easy to get an OTG cable / AndroidPIT
An important observation. Be sure to buy an OTG cable according to the connection of your smartphone or tablet. If you use Type-C USB and buy a micro USB, the chances of working even with an adapter are slim. We performed the tests here and contacted that.
Overall, everyone has similar functioning. Some will have cable, others will be smaller and with curved connections, still others will have reinforced cable .. Anyway, there are models for all tastes. Keep in mind that you may want to connect and disconnect devices to USB often, so avoid very fragile cables.
Any mouse or usable keyboard. Of course, buttons and other "exotic" features (mouse button volume, etc.) may not work, but the basic functions are still usable.
Connecting and using
Finally, the easy part. Connect the USB OTG cable to the peripheral and then connect it to the smartphone. Ideally, everything starts working at the same time. The mouse arrow appears on the smartphone screen, and the keyboard works on any text input.
Tip: We only have a USB connection on the smartphone, so if you want to use mouse and keyboard at the same time, have a keyboard with extra USB port. In addition to using the mouse, you can use one of those wireless ones that come with a dongle. We tested it here and it worked perfectly.
literally connect and use / ANDROIDPIT
Resuming:
- Download USB OTG Checker to determine if your smartphone is compatible;
- Buy a USB OTG cable;
- Connect a mouse and / or keyboard.
Note that USB-on-the-go can also connect mass storage devices such as hard drives to your Android device. Check out the article below:
Have you connected a mouse or keyboard to your Android?
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