OTG USB support for Samsung Galaxy S4 Active SGH-i537

[oidfevr]

OTG is what makes a phone a real hand-held PC, it is really important...
Please tell me if this specific model has full OTG functionality:
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active SGH-i537
I have read item descriptions for OTG cables which mention some other sub-models of the Galaxy S4, and I know that these submodels (i1337, mini, zom, GT-i9505G, SGH-M919 etc.) have some significant differences between them, so I need to know if this one DOES have OTG functionality with available after-market cables to buy (hoping it does not require a proprietary Samsung cable!)
If you have used OTG on this phone, please give info on the OTG brand or cable supplier.
Thank you!

 

[Rukbat]

If you don't get an answer (and I don't have that model phone, so I can't tell you), you can buy OTG cables on eBay for about 99 cents shipped, so it's not a big loss if it doesn't work.

 

[B. Diddy]

These specs say yes: Samsung Galaxy S4 Active SGH-i537 Specs and features - Phone More

 

[oidfevr]

Thank you for your reply. So I did get a USB card reader with a flash drive slot, and opened a text file from my flash drive clicking on it in the File Manager on the S4 Active.
But when I wanted to save it back to the flash drive, it could not, it could only save in the "emulated SD card" on the phone. Then I installed the text editor by Byte Mobile, which said it can use a USB flash drive, but same problem, except I got an error message that the editor needed file extensions to access the flash drive, from Byte Mobile too. I got that, but it still cannot save files to the external USB flash drive, though it can open and edit them.

Is the problem from Android, or from Samsung? I'm running Android 5.1 in the original AT&T OS, afaik the phone has not been modded or even rooted.
I don't like using the cloud, I really need for the USB external access on Android to match what we have been able to do in Windows for years, with much older and less performing hardware... what is the problem that Android is stumbling upon in this area? Or are there some settings I am not aware about that are preventing saving files externally?

 

[dianatanner]

B. DIDDY Those specs say for the OTG ON-THE-GO 1.3. Most OTG cables are OTG ON-THE-GO 2.0.

 

[dianatanner]

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. Mine is model SGH-I537. There is also a model SGH-I9295. The other models you mentioned are not Actives but I am not addressing that. Regarding this dilemma, I have same problem so I will share what I have found. I called Samsung and was told that OTG is NOT supported on these phones. I told them that I had heard otherwise and their solution was to take the phone with me to a Best Buy and have them try the different cables they have. I guess Samsung really doesn't know and was just trying to get rid of me. I'd bet a whole paycheck that Best Buy wouldn't have the solution. Being a person who digs further, I found a website which has Specifications Charts for all the models at Phonemore.com. The URL for the SGH-I537 is:
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active SGH-i537 - Specs - Phone More
All of their charts for all the Actives indicate that they are compatible, but with OTG on-the-go 1.3. Somewhere I found the cables and all the cables I could find on eBay and elsewhere are not labeled as anything, but they are OTG on-the-go 2.0. This is because of the older technology that was around when these phones were produced. I found this somewhere on Wikipedia. So now I am searching for anywhere that sells or knows of anyone who does sell the OTG on-the-go 1.3. I have sent a message regarding this to Phonemore.com because other than that or until I read about or come up with another idea, that's my last resort. I will update when/if I have more information.

 

[B. Diddy]

@dianatanner, thanks for that detailed info! I had only looked for evidence of any OTG compatibility, and didn't pay attention to the version. I had also assumed that OTG 2.0 cables would be backwards compatible with earlier versions (just like current Bluetooth devices have at least basic compatibility with older Bluetooth versions), but I guess that's not the case.:-\