The android phone can be used in USB host mode to power an arduino, pen drive, mouse.
Is it possible to use the android phone to power a raspberry pi?
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1What phone do you use? – Morgan Courbet Sep 16 '14 at 12:19
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1It would need to supply 5v 2A, arduinos need considerably less. You would need to test each model you want to use as I doubt the specs cover this. – rob Sep 16 '14 at 12:19
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It depends on the specific phone (how much power it can deliver), however I would say that for most phones, the answer will be no – user2813274 Oct 17 '14 at 13:20
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It would also depend on which Pi. An A+ draws the least power. – Dennis Williamson Dec 16 '14 at 20:22
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1You'd have a hard time needing a full 2A, without any USB devices, 1A (1000ma) will do for a short time. – TomG Dec 18 '14 at 00:34
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The newer RPI needs 2A but only because it can pull very slightly more than 1A at peak. Older Pi's won't even max out 1A at peak load – Jon Story Apr 10 '16 at 17:20
4 Answers
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Even if a USB OTG Host such as a phone would supply the current needed to run the RPi you'd have to consider the over-all power consumption of the RPi compared to the batteries of your phone. Find values at How much energy does the raspberry pi consume in a day?
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It very much depends on what you're using your RPi for, how much current it's drawing, and how much power the phone supplies.
The simplest and 'correct' answer in terms of what you 'should' do is that no current phone provides sufficient power to meet the Raspberry Pi minimum requirements, so you are always at risk of problems.
In reality, it's certainly possible to power a raspberry Pi from a much lower power, power source. It's not advisable, however, if you require stability and reliability. Eg if you're doing it for anything other than experimentation/education purposes.
Jon Story
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I did it with my phone (POCO X3 PRO) and it worked fine. Note: I am using a Pi Zero 2 Not a Pi 4
sheepsbleat
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Until this answer is posted,No. Yes an Android device can act as a USB host but it won't supply enough power to power up a RPi. If you require a connection between RPi and a host Android device via USB you need some work around for supplying power into RPi
Edit 1 : These answer not applicable to all Android Device,since some of OEM allow their devices to act as Host.
Tommy Aria Pradana
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I tried to connect the Rpi to Moto e..the Rpi did power up...but it didn't work with nexus 4... I guess some oem has denied the phone from acting as usb host...what are the external power source options available? – Prajwal Sep 17 '14 at 06:41
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Then maybe i need to edit my answer. yes,not all OEM allow their Android Device.Maybe device with USB OTG will work – Tommy Aria Pradana Sep 17 '14 at 11:55
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For the external power,you can use common adapter for RPi or other extreme approach,connect the USB Vcc (on the cable or directly into RPi USB pin)directly into a power source.But i don't know it is safe or not or it is will work or not – Tommy Aria Pradana Sep 18 '14 at 01:50