While your phone is capable of doing an awful lot on its own, it can do even more with the right accessories: take better photos and videos, store more files, last longer on a single battery charge, and even double as a makeshift computer.
Get more file space with a storage card
Whether it’s for all your photos and videos, or the Netflix shows you need to download ahead of a long flight, extra storage space on your phone is always welcome. The easiest way to expand your phone’s capacity is via a microSD card that you simply insert into your handset as if it were another SIM card. The bad news is that not all manufacturers make it easy for you—you won’t find an SD card slot on an iPhone, or the Google Pixel, for example. Other companies will let you expand your phone’s memory, but will restrict your options to their own technology. Such is the case of the most recent Huawei phones, for which you’ll need to buy the company’s own Nano Memory cards, which can be more expensive than the standard microSD ones.
Upgrade your camera with a clip-on lens
Smartphone cameras are getting better all the time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to improve them. Clip-on lenses can help you do just that.
Take steady shots with tripods and gimbals
Speaking of getting better pictures and video from your phone, bringing a compact tripod or gimbal along can help massively in reducing camera shake in all situations—from filming the kids on vacation to getting the perfect wildlife shot in your garden.
Make it last with a battery pack
Even the latest and greatest smartphones struggle to make it much beyond a day in terms of battery life, and as handsets start to age, they’ll run out faster. Two accessories can help out here: portable battery packs and battery cases, which will help protect your handset and keep it running longer.
Get a bigger display
On the subject of Galaxy phones, the S series phones from the S8 onwards include a feature called Samsung DeX—the ability to run a desktop-like operating system when hooked up to a larger screen such as a monitor or a TV. It’s still just Android and all the content and tools you already have in your phone, but you’ll be able to run apps side by side in separate windows, and have more space to work in. If, on the other hand, you’re an iPhone user, AirPlay is the best way to get your phone’s display mirrored on a TV or monitor. The Apple TV will do the job nicely, though a growing number of televisions now come with AirPlay built in and will allow you to display your iPhone even without an Apple TV.
Charge your devices wirelessly and fuss-free
A growing number of phones now support wireless charging, but not many come with wireless charging pads built in. If yours did, you might find that you can get a third-party model that charges your device faster, or can even charge two devices at the same time.
A serious smartphone gamer? Get a proper controller
By now, you’re probably addicted to at least one of the hundreds of thousands of games available for Android and iOS, but trying to tap controls and buttons on the display isn’t always the most comfortable way to play. They can be hard to hit, offer no tactile feedback, and often obscure your view of the action. But this is a problem you can solve easily by investing in a gaming controller for your phone. These devices typically look like a traditional console controller, but they attach to your handset via a cable or Bluetooth connection, so you can keep your fingers away from the display while shooting down enemies, or navigating racing tracks at high speed. The Ipega PG-9068 ($22 on Android) is a good option for Android users, coming with a clamp at the top for holding your phone in place (it should work with just about every handset on the market). You get two joysticks, a d-pad, and four buttons to map to your games. Note that whatever game you’re playing, it must support controller accessories, so make sure to check your game’s compatibilities before buying one. Meanwhile, the SteelSeries Nimbus Wireless Gaming Controller ($50 from Apple) can add some extra accuracy and precision to your iPhone gaming. As a bonus, it’s also able to connect up to games on the iPad and Apple TV.
