Difference between `adb pair` and `adb connect`?

Question

What's the difference between adb pair … and adb connect …? (When used to communicate with a device that's made itself available for debugging over Wi-Fi.)

The help page says:

• adb connect: "connect to a device via TCP/IP"
• adb pair: "pair with a device for secure TCP/IP communication"

From this is sounds like pair is better but … how? What are the pros and cons? (Aside from only being available on Android 11+ devices.)

Answer 1

adb pair is used for wifi pairing your device with Android >= 11, while adb connect can be used to connect directly to a device with Android <11 over wifi.

From the documentation for wifi pairing with Android >= 11 it says:

To use wireless debugging, you must pair your device to your workstation using a QR Code or a pairing code.

If your phone uses Android <11 then you can use the connect command and the steps from the documentation.