When family or friends come over, you might want to screen mirror your phone to your TV so that everyone can have a better viewing experience. Also, you may desire a personal viewing experience of your phone’s content on a much larger screen.
There are several methods to connect your smartphone to a smart TV. You can choose to connect your smartphone to your TV via cables or opt for screen mirroring your phone.
Using Wired Connection
There are different types of cables that you can use to connect your smartphone to your TV. You can also use adapters with female ports and a corresponding cable to connect your phone and TV. However, the one you might want to use will differ depending on the port available on your smartphone.
Your smartphone will feature one of three different types of ports. If you use an older Android phone (manufactured prior to 2018), it will have a micro USB port.
If you use newer models of Android phones, they will have a USB C port. Lastly, all iPhones currently only use lightning ports.
So, let’s see which type of cable is appropriate for your needs and how you can use it to connect your smartphone to a TV.
USB to USB-C/Micro USB/Lightning
You can easily connect your smartphone to your Smart TV using a simple USB cable that is compatible with your smartphone’s port. To do so, you will first need to connect your smartphone and smart TV using the appropriate cable.
After hooking both of the devices up, make sure your smartphone is set to File transfer from the USB Preferences notification that pops up. Then you can simply start browsing and watching the contents of your smartphone on the TV.
However, this method does not support screen mirroring, and you can only browse and view the locally stored contents of your smartphone. This method is pretty much similar to connecting your smartphone to a PC and viewing its contents there.
USB-C to HDMI
Using the USB-C to HDMI cable, you can directly start screen mirroring your smartphone to your TV. You will need to simply plug the two devices using this cable, and set the appropriate HDMI channel on your TV.
However, there is a key requirement for this method to work—the USB-C port on your smartphone has to either support HDMI Alt mode or Thunderbolt 3 and newer. So, before you go on to buy a USB-C to HDMI cable, make sure your device supports this feature.
You can either go to your device manufacturer’s website or go through your device manual to check if you meet the requirements.
USB-C to DisplayPort
The USB-C to DisplayPort cable is similar to USB-C to HDMI. Using this cable, you can directly screen mirror your smartphone to your TV. You just need to plug in the DisplayPort head to the corresponding port on your TV and connect the USB-C head to your smartphone.
After setting the right input channel on your Smart TV, your TV should automatically start displaying the contents on your smartphone’s screen.
However, before going on to buy this cable, make sure your Smart TV has a DisplayPort available and your smartphone supports either DisplayPort Alt mode or Thunderbolt 3 and newer. You can check with the manufacturer’s website or your device manual.
Lightning to HDMI
If you instead want to connect an iPhone to your Smart TV, you can use the lightning to HDMI adapter to do so. Simply connecting the two devices, and setting the right input channel should directly start screen mirroring your iPhone to your TV.
Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL)
If you use an older Android phone with a micro USB port, you can use an MHL cable to screen mirror the contents of your smartphone to your TV. However, this cable also has some specific requirements.
To use an MHL cable to connect your smartphone and TV, both of your devices have to be MHL compatible. You can check if your smartphone is MHL compatible on the official MHL website, and an MHL-compatible TV will have an HDMI port labeled MHL.
Screen mirroring your smartphone to a TV with an MHL cable is pretty much the same as all the above methods. Simply connect your two devices using the MHL cable, and set the appropriate input channel.
Using Wireless Connection
You can also screen mirror your smartphone to your TV using a wireless connection. In fact, Android and iOS both have integrated features to screen mirror wirelessly to another device. Furthermore, you can also use screen mirroring devices or third-party applications to do so.
Screen Mirror on Android
Most newer models of Android phones allow you to wirelessly screen mirror to another display device. While the steps can vary a little depending on your device manufacturer and Android version, the steps are pretty similar on all Android devices.
- Make sure your smartphone and Smart TV are connected to the same wifi network.
- Scroll down from above in your Phone to open the notification center.
- Locate the screen mirroring option and tap on it. (It can also be named Smart Mirroring or Smart View.)
- Select Screen Cast.
- You might need to click on the vertical ellipsis icon and select Enable wireless display.
- Tap on your Smart TV name that pops up to start screen sharing.
Screen Mirror on iPhone
You can also screen mirror on an iPhone by using the Airplay feature. However, you will need an Apple TV or Airplay-supported TV to screen mirror from iPhone to smart TV. Here’s how you can do so:
- Make sure you are connected to the same network on your iPhone and Smart TV.
- Scroll down from the top right of your iPhone to open the notification center.
- Tap on the Screen mirroring icon.
- Select your Smart TV name that pops up.
Using Streaming Devices
Another way you can screen mirror your smartphone to your Smart TV is by using streaming devices like Google Chromecast, Firestick, or Roku. Such devices will usually have a dongle that you can plug into your TV.
After connecting to the dongle with a wireless network, you can start screen mirroring your smartphone’s display to your Smart TV.
Using Third-Party Applications
Lastly, you can also use third-party applications to wirelessly screen mirror your smartphone’s content to your Smart TV. There are a variety of apps that provide this feature for both Android phones and iPhones.
If you want to connect an Android device to your TV, you can use apps like Cast to TV, Mirroring360 Sender, and EZMira. For iPhones, you can use Screen Mirroring – TV Cast, Mirroring360, and Screen Mirroring App.
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