How to connect the phone to the TV

In your smartphone, do you have photos and videos from your last vacation that you would like to see on a bigger screen, maybe the television itself? Or do you want to share your mobile screen to stream a movie or series in much higher quality? To do this, it suffices connect phone to TV: below we will explain how to do it.

How to connect phone to TV without cable

The best, and even the easiest, solution to connect your smartphone screen to your home TV is to use the wireless connection. The most popular technologies are Google Cast, Miracast, AirPlay and DLNA, all four of which work on Smart TVs.

Now let’s go into the details explaining how to connect the phone to the TV with each of them.

Important: For each option listed below, the smartphone and the TV must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Connect phone to TV with Google Cast

Google Cast is the protocol developed by Google that allows wireless transmission of audio / video content from one device to another. Several latest generation Smart TVs already incorporate this technology, which is the basis of the operation of the key Google Chromecast.

With Google Cast, unlike Miracast which we will talk about later, your phone no longer needs to simultaneously stream the same content you want to see on the TV screen. Once the Google Cast app is activated (here the complete list) starts on the mobile device and starts playing on the TV, you can continue to use the phone as you want. If you want, for example, you can keep the screen locked all the time, without affecting the viewing of audio / video content on the TV.

Here’s how to connect your phone to your TV with Google Cast:

1. Launch the Google Cast compatible app on your smartphone.
2. Tap the Google Cast icon in the top right (a screen with the Wi-Fi symbol).
3. Select the Smart TV in your home.
4. Tap on “To play”To start playback.

Find out more: What is Chromecast, how does it work, configure it and use it

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Connect phone to TV with Miracast

Miracast is still widely used to share the screen of a mobile phone on the television. However, compared to Google Cast, this is a more limited technology. On the one hand, it can be used only via Android devices, on the other hand he does the Smartphone dependent TV while the audio / video content is playing.

Now let’s see how to connect phone to TV with Miracast:

1. Tap “Screen Mirroring” in the smartphone’s notification panel.
2. Select the TV you want to broadcast the screen to.
3. Press “Allow” to activate the connection.
4. Wait for the video to start playing on the TV.

On the same subject: Best TV Boxes with Android and Windows (list always updated)

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Connect phone to TV with AirPlay

AirPlay is the solution designed by Apple to mirror the touch screen of iPhone, iPad or iPad to a Smart TV compatible with AirPlay (1st and 2nd generation) or Apple TV (check the requirements here). As you can guess, this only works with mobile devices made by Apple.

Here are the steps to connect iPhone to TV:

1. Open the control center and press “Duplicate screen”(The dual screen icon).
2. Select the TV you want to share your phone screen with.
3. Enter the AirPlay digital code that appears on the iPhone’s TV to enable sharing.

Here are some TVs that support AirPlay technology:

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Fire TV Stick

A great solution for connecting the smartphone to the TV, with the additional Amazon ecosystem built in is the Fire TV Stick, consisting of a dongle that must be connected to the HDMI socket of the TV, with which to stream content from the phone to the TV. . .

The only limitation is the availability of this feature only on Android devices and not on iOS. Here are the steps to follow:

1. We connect the smartphone and the Fire TV Stick to the same WiFi network
2. On the Fire TV remote, click the Home button
3. At this point we select the item Duplication (this item is present, only if there is no too old Android version on your smartphone)

With this dongle, we will also have the possibility of live streaming different content, from the portals of Prime Video and Youtube, as well as many other functions. We find Fire Tv Stick in 3 versions: Lite, 4K and Cube.

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Connect phone to TV with DLNA

DLNA, acronym of Digital Living Network Alliance, is a technology that enables the wireless transmission of multimedia content. Compared to the others described above, besides being the oldest, it is also the one with the most limitations.

One above all, it does not support mirroring. For this reason, it is essential to download an application that allows you to take advantage of DLNA technology. Among the many, we highlight BubbleUPnP, downloadable for free from the Google Play Store.

Here is the procedure to connect the phone to the TV with DLNA:

1. Download the BubbleUPnp app
2. Allow BubbleUPnp to manage multimedia content stored in the phone memory
3. Select the content you want to stream on the TV screen
4. Click on the screen sharing icon to activate the connection between the mobile device and the TV via DLNA

Find out more: Guide to Install and View IPTV Lists on Smart TV

How to connect the phone to the TV with the cable

The alternative to wireless connection is to use a cable. The most common option implies the presence in the television of an HDMI socket, but before buying the cable it is essential know the connector supported by the mobile phone. Below are the main choices available to you.

USB-C cable

In modern smartphones, the door Usb-c it has now become the standard solution to replace micro-USB. The transmission of the audio / video signal reaches very high speeds, up to 20 Gbit / s, a change of era compared to the 480 Mbit / s guaranteed in the past by the micro-USB port.

The connection it’s very simple: you just have to connect first the part of the cable with USB-C to the charging socket of the phone, then the other part HDMI to one of the homonymous ports of the television. Once done, the duplicate of the mobile phone screen will be immediate.

Recommended reading: Differences between HDMI, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt and USB-C

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MHL cable

The smartphone with micro-USB charging port can be connected to the TV using MHL technology. First introduced in 2009, it transmits the audiovisual signal from the smartphone to the TV using a micro-USB to HDMI cable.

You can check the compatibility smartphone and TV by consulting the list of supported devices on the official website mlhtech.org.

After confirming the compatibility of the two devices, purchase a passive MHL cable and plug the micro-USB end into the phone jack first, then take the other end and plug it into one of the HDMI ports on your TV.

Read also: Best TVs to buy (list always updated)

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SlimPort cable

If neither of the two solutions proposed above (USB-C and MHL) is supported by your smartphone, one last option remains: the connection in SlimPort. It’s a technology that can work on more TVs, including support for DVI, DisplayPort, and VGA, in addition to the regular HDMI port.

But before proceeding with the purchase of a SlimPort Adapter, check the compatibility of technology through cellphones and televisions at this address (by clicking on the link you will be taken to the official slimportconnect.com website).

To perform the link, first connect the end of the micro-USB cable to the charging port of the smartphone, then take an HDMI cable and connect one end to the port of the SlimPort adapter and the other to the HDMI port of the TV.

Conclusions and advice

Our guide on how to connect cell phone to tv ends here. Both types of methods described above, with and without cables, have their advantages and disadvantages.

With cable

Without cable

We hope we have helped you better understand how mobile-to-TV screen casting works, as well as the steps to follow to activate the link.