If you’re looking for the best way to wirelessly connect your phone to your TV, then there are various different methods for doing so. Some of this will depend on what mobile device you’re using, as well as the method of connection too.
A decade ago, it wasn’t possible to be able to connect your smart phone to your TV. However, in more recent years, there have become more and more methods for you to do this properly, without having to worry about buffering issues and lag time either.
Whether you just want to connect the two so you can watch YouTube videos on your television, then there are various different methods that you can do this. So, let’s look at how you can connect your phone to your television.
How to connect a phone to a TV wirelessly: 6 different methods
If you’re looking to connect your phone to your TV, then there are a few different ways you can do this;
- Connect your phone to your TV via Chromecast.
- Use Miracast to connect the two devices together.
- Apple users can use Airplay to connect to their television.
- If you have a Fire stick, then a third party app can be downloaded that allows this connection.
- Opt for Samsung Smart View, or Samsung DeX if you can.
- As a last resort, use an adapter, USB cable and HDMI connector to set things up.
These are the easiest ways for you to connect your phone to your television if you want to do things wirelessly. As always, if you want good streaming quality, then you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got a strong connection to your wi-fi network.
Let’s look at these options in closer detail, as well as how you could do this with a wired connection if you wanted to as well.
Use Chromecast
One way that you can connect your phone to your television is by using Chromecast to do this. Of course, you’ll need to have Chromecast for you to do this. This could be either by using a Chromecast device/stick, or it can also be by having a smart TV with Chromecast built into it already.
If you don’t have a TV with this functionality, all you need to do is to plug the Chromecast stick into the back of your television and you’ll be able to “cast” what’s on your phone onto your TV. Usually they’re quite reliable, so you don’t need to worry about your Chromecast disconnecting.
You can do this either by connecting to an app on your phone, or you can just mirror your phones screen if you want to show something within your web browser. Screen mirroring is usually the preferred method, and it’s one of the main reasons why people opt for the Chromecast.
Miracast
Much like a Chromecast, Miracast is another way that you can connect your phone to your television and mirror your phone on a much larger screen. Unlike Chromecast, it’s a lot more commonly found in-built into smart TV’s, so you might already have it built into your television at home.
One of the key differences is that Miracast actually isn’t compatible with the Apple ecosystem, as they instead prefer to rely on Apple’s own Airplay. Aside from this, they’re very similar to one another, though a television is more likely to have Miracast built into it.
If you don’t have a smart TV, then you can still pick a Miracast adapter up for a pretty cheap price and plug it into your TV. Then, you’ll be able to connect the two together pretty easily. You’re typically going to want to use Miracast for screen mirroring.
Airplay
Whilst most people think that you can only connect to an Airplay device if it’s an official Apple TV, there are actually quite a few smart TVs out there that actually have Airplay built into them already. This is true for some Samsung, LG and Sony TVs, so it’s worth checking out if your TV has the ability to do this.
If it does, then all you’ll have to do is connect your iPhone to the television by using the Airplay through your phone. This is probably the simplest way to connect the two together, but unfortunately most TVs out there aren’t Airplay compatible.
Of course, Apple TV is a pretty popular one, but it’s not great if you’re using an Android phone to connect the two. If you’re an Android user, then there are other ways you can wirelessly link your phone to the TV.
Firestick
Although not the first method that people think of to connect your phone to your television, you can actually use a Firestick if you want to mirror your phones display on your TV.
How? Well, the best way to do this is with one of the third party apps that you can download onto your Firestick. A good example of this is Airscreen, which will allow you to connect the two together.
You can find a good screen mirroring app by simply searching for it with your Fire stick.
Samsung Smart View or DeX
If you’re lucky enough to have a Samsung smart phone and a Samsung smart TV, then you can likely connect the two of them together using Smart View. This works in a similar way to Apple’s Airplay, and it simply allows you to get the content from your phone onto the big screen.
You can only do this with newer Samsung phones like the Galaxy models, so bear this in mind if you’re going to give it a go. You can also look at using Samsung DeX if you have a Samsung S9 or newer. This gives you more than just a screen mirroring function, allowing you to use your TV screen with greater control.
Using a Wired Connection
As well as connecting the two together wirelessly, in some cases it might be best to connect them via a wired connection, depending on what you have access too. Here’s a few ways you can do this.
USB-C to HDMI
The easiest way to typically connect the two together is by using a USB-C to HDMI adapter to connect your phone and your television together. Of course, to do this you’re going to need a phone that connects via a USB-C connection, which some Android phones do. Then, you’ll just need to get yourself a HDMI cable too.
USB connection
Now, you generally can’t use a USB connection to connect your phone and TV together if you want to cast your phones screen onto your TV. But, you can do this to access the videos and photos that are on your phone, which might be all you need to do.
HDMI to Micro USB, Micro HDMI and USB over Displayport
Obviously this will again depend on the connection point on your phone, but you get the message. If you have an Android phone, then you can use an adapter to connect it to your televisions HDMI port.
If your phone has a Micro HDMI port on it, then you can use this to connect to your television directly. And similarly, if you have a USB-C cable that supports a Displayport connection, then you may be able to use this as well.
Conclusion
Overall, there are many different ways that you can connect your phone to your television both wirelessly and using a wired connection too.
Depending on which devices you’ve already got at home, different options here will be more suitable to you than others. But, there’s a way to do it with the majority of different casting devices out there.
