I was experimenting with connecting an external monitor to a Pixel 9 Pro Fold. First of all it works. When you unfold the phone, the external monitor in mirroring mode gets more screen real estate which is quite nice. Appears to be stable, unlike the experimental desktop mode and doesn't require enabling developer options which would be bad for security.

Now, the problem I have is the picture quality on the external monitor is not great, in particular the fonts are not smooth at all. For example if you look at a letter W, it's pixelized and the text looks ugly overall.

Did anyone experience the same issue or it's my monitor? The monitor seems okay but not great when connecting it to a macbook. Yet connected to a Pixel phone the text quality is much worse than with a macbook.

For context why I am playing with this is I want to have a desktop-like setup with MTE which Pixel Tablet doesn't have.

    I have a pixel 9 pro fold and will test and report back tomorrow

    evalda Works perfectly fine on my monitor at work it's a dell, USB-C - USB-C.
    I didn't have any bad quality or pixelation. The monitor display my phone as if it was the phone screen it self. Sorry forgot to respond yesterday

      Looks great on my monitor. I bought this monitor and it's actually quite nice. Aspect ratio allows more screen real estate when open. It's really light and durability is a concern, but I recently took it on a business trip and used as my second screen for 10 hours a day. Nicer than my X1 carbon screen.

      https://a.co/d/bmjI30W

        evalda It could be a limitation of the cable. Are you connecting it with a USB-C cable? A USB-C to HDMI cable is an active cable converting DisplayPort to HDMI and may be lossy.

          I always wondered whether there is a difference in terms of quality/capability for video output between a USB-C cable that I got with my DELL display and the Pixel original USB-C cable. The former one is thick and stiff, and the later one is thin and flex. Does this matter whatsoever? Thanks for your insights!

            There are many differences between USB-C cables.

            876fi I always wondered whether there is a difference in terms of quality/capability for video output between a USB-C cable that I got with my DELL display and the Pixel original USB-C cable. The former one is thick and stiff, and the later one is thin and flex. Does this matter whatsoever?

            The included cable is likely USB 2.0 like it was for previous generations (it looks the same and there's no indication they changed it).

            Thickness can matter, but it also depends on the materials used and other details. As a general rule, you can assume that a thicker cable will have thicker wires inside, but it could also be down to insulation thickness and material as well as braiding.

            Some cables have ticker wires for e.g. the power lines. There's also a difference in which of the USB-C pins are connected and what chips are used in the cable (yes, cables have chips).

            Also, a lot of the brand cables are not really good. Some are. Some will have a higher voltage drop and resistance. Some are just incorrectly designed and some are just poor quality.

            I found Ugreen and Anker to do well in online lab test reviews and Baseus to do poorly. I wish we had more of those tests, because many brands and models haven't been tested yet. I personally prefer Ugreen on the basis of lab test reviews, both chargers and cables.

            And beware, most 100 or 240 W cables are actually USB 2.0. If it says "480 Mpbs", "USB 2.0" or just outright doesn't mention transfer speed - then you can be sure it's only USB 2.0. Personally, I think it's wise to invest in a proper high-speed cable when investing in 240 W cables, to make the purchase last as long as possible.

            My Pixel 8 Pro can transfer at higher speeds than USB 2.0 and you need that for SSDs, hubs, docks etc. as well.

            Unfortunately, marketing tricks people into buying a bunch of crap. :/

              BraveDuck Works perfectly fine on my monitor at work it's a dell, USB-C - USB-C.
              I didn't have any bad quality or pixelation. The monitor display my phone as if it was the phone screen it self.

              That's great, thank you for reporting! Would you mind sharing which Dell model that monitor is?

                nunyo Looks great on my monitor. I bought this monitor and it's actually quite nice.

                Great, thank you for sharing! I noticed that monitor has 2 USB-C and one USB-A ports, do you know if it works as USB hub, meaning you can plug keyboard and mouse into other USB ports and use them with the phone?

                GrapheneOS It could be a limitation of the cable. Are you connecting it with a USB-C cable? A USB-C to HDMI cable is an active

                Thank you, it could be the reason. I tried USB-C to HDMI and USB-C to DisplayPort cables with the same result. My monitor doesn't have USB-C port, I will try to get a monitor with USB-C port.

                Eudyptula I think it's wise to invest in a proper high-speed cable

                Thank you! If you know a good high-speed cable, could you please post a link?

                  evalda I will find out exactly what model and will report back to you 😃

                  a month later

                  evalda

                  Sorry for the late reply, here's a little list. It's black friday sale right now so it's a good time to buy. Current prices listed below (will change if you read this at a later point).

                  USB-C to USB-C (100 W & 10 Gbps+)

                  $9.99 Cable Matters 201025

                  USB-C to USB-C (240 W & 10 Gbps+)

                  $13.59 Ugreen 80150 (braided) (10 Gbps)

                  $14.39 Cable Matters 201045 (20 Gbps)

                  $15.99 Cable Matters 201304 2 meters (USB4) (20 Gbps)

                  USB-C to DP male

                  $15.19 Cable Matters 201036

                  $23.99 Cable Matters 201336 (premium materials)

                  $17.49 Ugreen 25158

                  USB-C to DP female (adapter)

                  $15.99 Cable Matters 201086