Comment by mintplant
2 years ago
This feature is also a lifesaver when your phone screen breaks! A mishap on the bus led to this happening with my old OnePlus phone, and with a USB C to HDMI adapter I was able to navigate around and salvage anything I needed from that device. I actually assumed this was the standard, so when the same thing eventually happened to the Pixel 6 Pro I got after that, I was distraught to learn that Pixels didn't support video-out at all. I ended up managing to get TalkBack (Android's audio assistance tool for the visually impaired) turned on, use that plus screenshots I referenced online to get USB debugging enabled and authorize my computer, and then use scrcpy [0] to control my phone over an ADB connection.
>Pixel 6 Pro I got after that, I was distraught to learn that Pixels didn't support video-out at all
Since Google switched from Qualcomm to Samsung SoCs starting from the Pixel 6, they lost a lot of performance and cool features compared to previous Qualcom driven Pixels.
As much as I hate Qualcomm for being an evil foss hating patent troll, their SoCs were a cut above the competition on all fronts, and phones with their SoCs performed and aged better. Hence why phones with their SoCs were more sought after than the same models with Samsung SoCs.
Shame Google had to ditch them. I heard starting from pixel 10 they'll roll out their own SoCs based on their own design fabbed at TSMC.
That has absolutely nothing to do with the SoC.
Qualcomm powered Nexus and Pixels never had a video output.
And the flagship Exynos line always supported the feature.
>That has absolutely nothing to do with the SoC.
It does, without it you don't get video output. You need the soc to have DisplayPort lanes and a phy to the USB-C port.
>Qualcomm powered Nexus and Pixels never had a video output.
No phones in that generation had video output.
>And the flagship Exynos line always supported the feature.
Google's Tensor is not a flagship Exynos, but more of a budget cut down "Walmart" version of it, made specifically only for Google.
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When my Pixel 6 Pro screen died, I could still hear the haptic feedback from button presses. So I plugged in a USB C to HDMI adapter, and I couldn't believe I couldn't see it on the screen! I needed to get access to my Google Authenticator (I had not saved the backup codes). That resulted in months of recovering accounts by taking my picture holding up handwritten signs and my ID. Of course I should have saved the backup codes, but it would have been really nice to have an alternate way to see my screen when my phone was otherwise still working.