Which devices do and do not support USB Host mode?

Question

Could someone please provide a comprehensive list of which devices do and do not support USB Host mode out of the box with no rooting, OS rebuilding, or cable hacking required?

Answer 1

"Provide a comprehensive list?" Pretty tall order there, pardner ;)

Nevertheless, support for USB Host Mode is available on Android 3.1 or higher:

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/usb/host.html

Here's an extremely interesting article about interfacing an Arduino to an Android:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2011/05/android-adds-usb-host-mode-open-hardware-development-with-arduino/

And you can Google for specific Android 3.1++ devices that support USB Host Mode (including, of course, the Xoom tablet)

'Hope that helps

Answer 2

There is a pretty good chart, based on user submissions from actual devices here:

http://usbhost.chainfire.eu/

You can read the forum thread for more details on the methods for data collection: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1493325

Answer 3

EDIT: I have found a very helpful answer which worked for me (on Yarvik TAB464) and enabled a full USB host mode: Android USB host and hidden devices - however I expect it to work on rooted tablets only :( (it seems that the Yarvik tablet comes pre-rooted).

OLD ANSWER: This is pretty frustrating. Many tablets claim to support USB HOST mode, but only a selected subset of the devices are supported: mouse, keyboard, mass storage and that's it. For example, http://www.yarvik.com/en/products/tablets/tablets_10/TAB464/ claims to support USB HOST mode; a mouse connected to the tablet works, but owner.getPackageManager().hasSystemFeature("android.hardware.usb.host") returns false and UsbManager.getDeviceList() returns always empty map, so it certainly does not support all USB devices (both 4.0.3 and 4.0.4 versions of Android provided by Yarvik). Installing Cyanogen on the device may perhaps help but this is something I would like to avoid, because of possible stability issues.

Also, Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet does not work, according to Android Usb Host Problem with Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet

There is only a handful of devices which actually support full USB HOST functionality out-of-the-box, but I have yet to see a complete, up-to-date list with all items actually verified. I confirm that the ASUS Transformer TF101 has full USB HOST mode, however I tested it on a rooted device only, not on the "vanilla" firmware.

Here is another list of devices with full USB HOST mode, but please take it with a grain of salt:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2114206

• The Toshiba Thrive has one full USB port.
• Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet has a full USB port.
• Acer Iconia Tab A500 one full USB port.

Answer 4

I was also struggling to find which of the devices support USB hosting. After trying various devices it is clear that just having Android 3.1 or higher does NOT guarantee that your phone support USB Hosting.

I came across this Google Spread Sheet which lists various devices with USB Hosting.

You can also contribute to this list by submitting your responses through this Google Form.

Hope this helps !