4 USB Gadgets iPhone Owners Swear By

If you have a USB-C iPhone (iPhone 15 series and later), there are many useful — and even some weird — gadgets that you can plug into your device. But as much as there are many options available, it can be hard to know what's really useful and what's bogus. 

Fortunately, you can't go wrong with recommendations from other iPhone users who took the bold step to try out these different USB gizmos. Based on product ratings on Amazon, we've compiled a list of the top iPhone USB gadgets that other users recommend. 

The list includes useful gadgets that can help you get more from your iPhone, such as a flash drive — not the usual iPhone accessories like power banks, charging cords, and adapters that you'll find on almost every online listicle. If you need more details about how we picked these products, the full methodology is available at the end of the article.

Your iPhone packs a ton of power and is a capable device when it comes to mobile gaming. But using touch screen controls isn't always the best for certain types of games like action-packed RPGs. Backbone's One Mobile gaming controller addresses that by giving you a familiar layout to play such types of games. The device includes an interface that takes inspiration from full-sized controllers with a D-pad, joysticks, and buttons, so you'll be right at home with it. 

This controller is compatible with USB-C iPhones, starting with the iPhone 15 series. It's also adjustable; thus, you can fit any model from the iPhone 15 to the iPhone 17. You can use the controller to play mobile games on your iPhone (from the App Store or Apple Arcade). Alternatively, you can also play games from external sources like Steam and Xbox Cloud Gaming. The Backbone companion app allows you to pull your games from different sources into a single interface, turning your iPhone into a gaming console.

Backbone One has a 4.2 rating from over 34,000 reviews on Amazon. Users love it for its responsive controls, solid build, ease of use, small form factor, and lower battery use. One user even praised how it makes your phone feel like a handheld console. The only issue that some users experienced is incompatibility with their phone case, so you should consider removing yours before connecting the controller. The Backbone One Mobile Gaming Controller is on Amazon for $119.99. You can choose between the Xbox and PlayStation editions of the controller depending on your preference.

Although you can't plug a microSD card into your iPhone, a USB-C flash drive can help you get more storage for your videos, pictures, and files. All without having to pay for iCloud or other cloud storage services. It's also handy for transferring files between your iPhone and a laptop without using an adapter. 

This Type-C Flash Drive from Samsung uses USB 3.2 Gen 1 and hence supports read and write speeds of up to 400MB/s and 100MB/s, respectively. At these speeds, it can transfer a 4GB file in less than 15 seconds. With its USB-C port, it's also a great USB-C gadget for Android phones. The flash drive is waterproof and is also built to withstand shocks and temperature. With these durability features, it'll serve you for a while. 

The drive comes in four different storage variants, including 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. You can also pick between the shiny blue color and titan gray. With a rating of 4.6 from over 15,000 reviews, many users love it for the speed. Others also praise the drive for its small footprint, ease of use, and impressive build quality. You can buy the Samsung USB-C flash drive on Amazon, ranging from $15.99 (64GB) to $71.99 (512GB).

The Hollyland Lark M2 microphone is another great USB gadget that iPhone users love. The microphone is compact and lightweight, with just 9g of weight, and can be plugged directly into any iPhone — it has both a Lightning and USB-C version. As small as it looks, it can record up to 24-bit 48kHz audio, hence it can capture all the details and doesn't heavily compress the file. What's cool about the Hollyland Lark M2 mic, though, is that it has noise-reduction capabilities. 

That way, even if you're recording audio or a video in a noisy environment, the mic will ensure there's minimal background noise. The mic offers up to 10 hours of recording on a single charge, which should be more than enough for a full day of recording. Besides, the mic includes a charging case that provides a backup if you need a boost. 

With a 4.7 rating from over 8,000 reviews, the Hollyland Lark M2 is one of the top-rated options on the market. iPhone users love it for its amazing sound quality, small size, plug-and-play connection, excellent battery life, and long range. The Hollyland Lark M2 Wireless Microphone normally costs $76 but is currently selling at $60 on Amazon.

iPhones are powerful devices, but the small screen can be suboptimal if you need to get some serious work done. The KYY Portable Monitor breaks that barrier by allowing you to use your iPhone on a bigger screen. The monitor features a 15.6-inch 1080p display with HDR support. Compared to your iPhone's screen size, it provides bigger screen real estate to catch the latest episode of your favorite TV show without reaching out for a tablet. 

You can connect your iPhone to the monitor using one of the available USB-C ports. While it may seem to have a large footprint, it's surprisingly thin and only weighs 1.7 pounds (slightly heavier than a 13-inch iPad Pro), thus easy to carry around. It comes with a cover that doubles as a stand, making it simple to place on any flat surface. 

The KYY Portable Monitor is loved by many, with an average rating of 4.4 from over 11,000 reviews on Amazon. Several users praise its quality, portability, ease of connection, and value for money. The KYY Portable Monitor normally costs $99.99, but you can snag it at a 34% discount on Amazon for $66.48 if you act fast.

All the products on this list are a result of extensive research on the best USB gadgets that you can use on your iPhone. We used Amazon as our source and only selected products with excellent ratings of at least 4.2 stars from over 8,000 reviews, based on iPhone users and other Amazon shoppers. 

That way, we minimize the chances of falling prey to fake glowing 5-star reviews from a handful of users. We also considered what users say about each product, most importantly, whether it delivers on its promise.