I’ve got a thumb drive I’m trying to connect to my Teracube 2e. So far as I can tell–by using the “files” program–it isn’t interfacing. It does interface with my laptop, which tells me it is formatted as exFAT.
Android supposedly has support for exFAT since 2022 or so.
Maybe it varies by device but in my experience the necessity for OTG still exists. Sometimes an OTG adapter will allow a “standard” USB stick to read / write, but best is a drive sold as OTG. Your mileage may vary.