You might imagine that if you connected your Google Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro to an external display via USB-C, the phone’s screen would be mirrored, but until recently, nothing at all would happen. But if you have the latest Android beta, screen mirroring via USB-C is possible.
This was noticed by Android Authoritywhich notes that this feature has always been possible at the hardware level, but for some reason Google previously blocked it at the software level, perhaps so that Pixel 8 owners would instead take advantage of Google’s Wireless Cast feature to mirror the screen.
Anyway, if you download Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2, you can now mirror your screen via USB-C.
No match for DeX – at least not yet
This is still a step behind what Samsung allows on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24, with the company’s DeX mode offering a desktop-like experience on external displays. But you can actually enable a simple desktop environment on the Pixel 8 by selecting ‘force desktop mode’ in Android’s developer options.
Do this, and instead of mirroring your phone’s screen, the external display will show an interface designed more for large screens, albeit a very simple one designed for use by developers rather than end users .
However, the site reports that Google has long been working on improvements to this desktop mode, and Android Authority theorizes that enabling display mirroring in this beta could be a step toward launching a polished, DeX-like desktop mode for users like part of Android 15.
That timing is just speculation, though, and it’s even possible that enabling display output via USB-C in this beta was a mistake – one that may be fixed in the next update.
So we can’t know anything for sure yet. But hopefully this feature is here to stay, and perhaps it’s also a sign of bigger, better, Samsung-rivaling features to come.
