How Connect Phone To Tv Using Usb

How to connect your telephone to the TV

From HDMI to USB and everything in between, hither's how to connect your phone to the Television receiver so that you can bear witness off those stunning vacation snaps

(Image: © Getty Images)

Wanting to connect your phone to the Goggle box? So you lot've come to the correct identify. While a lot of us are put off this job thinking it's going to be too time consuming and complicated, the reality is it'south a lot less hassle than you think. Many of united states have more smart devices in our homes than e'er before, simply nosotros don't know how to hands share content betwixt them. Only thank you to this guide, you'll be a pro in no time.

Connecting up the all-time TV with your smartphone or the best tablet opens upwards a whole range of ways to stream and cast things from your mobile device to the big screen of your TV. Why might you lot want to practice this nosotros hear you ask? Well, for starters, it's a great manner of showing off all those stunning vacation snaps to your friends and family unit without them all having to crowd around your telephone.

And when it comes fourth dimension to connect your telephone to the Television, you'll be pleased to learn that the benefits don't stop there. Permit'south say you've were engrossed in one of the best Netflix shows on your commute home from piece of work and want to finish watching it when you get in the door. Instead of having to fast forward through Netflix on your TV to get to the right spot, you can cast it direct from your phone to your TV and choice up correct where y'all left off. It'southward besides platonic for streaming a YouTube clip of video file in higher resolution that your telephone can handle.

Nowadays, most new TVs are smart TVs, which means they come connected to the internet and pre-installed with apps like Netflix and YouTube. You can also even add one of the best streaming devices to your Idiot box if at that place's annihilation missing and you want to get your hands on most of the video or broadcasting content you could ever want to access.

But streaming from the best phone or your tablet brings you even more than. If you desire to view files, use an app that'southward only available on mobile, or would rather keep a play session on your telephone going – rather than get upward the corresponding app on the TV – nosotros've got the answers for y'all here. Below, you'll find everything you need to know to connect your phone to the TV, either over a wired connection or wirelessly. And if you're looking for a like guide for your laptop, cheque out our instructions for how to connect my laptop to the TV.

Connect to the TV with HDMI

The most reliable fashion to connect your phone to the TV is with an HDMI cable. Practically every Television set will have an HDMI port of some sort, which is used to transfer both sound and video from the same source. (Some TVs are starting to get HDMI 2.1, but you simply need the more common HDMI 2.0 standard if y'all're not handling 8K content.)

Your phone won't take an HDMI port, simply there are handy adaptors that volition bolt HDMI ports onto your phone'south USB Type-C, micro USB, or lightning ports.

Some Android tablets will have mini HDMI or micro HDMI ports, which can connect directly to HDMI over a single cablevision. Whatever port you're hoping to connect from, make sure your cable is compatible with that connection.

HDMI cable (Paradigm Credit: iStock) (Paradigm credit: iStock)

Connect to the Television set with USB

Seems straightforward plenty? Most smartphone charging cables end with a USB connector, to easily link upwardly with laptops or power adaptors – but if your TV has a USB port, this is a simple way of getting your files onscreen.

Yous're technically transferring files to open on the Goggle box, rather than transmitting your phone's display, though, so this is better for looking at your own photos and videos than anything else.

Like on a laptop or desktop PC, you should then exist able to caput to 'Source' on your smart TV platform, and select USB. You lot should get a prompt on your smartphone screen that enabled you to transfer files (rather than merely accuse the device through your Tv).

USB cable — USB Cable (Prototype Credit: Future Publishing) (Image credit: Future Publishing)

Connect to the TV with wireless casting (Android)

If you lot don't want to fuss over any wires or cable, in that location's always the option to connect your phone to the TV using casting.

Casting is the process of wirelessly streaming content from your phone or tablet, past connecting to the same WiFi network as your tv set. Smartphone apps like AllCast will be able to bandage directly to the TV for you, though near modern Android phones (Android 4.two onwards) and Windows devices (Windows eight.1 onwards) will support the Miracast casting standard.

With Miracast, you simple head to your phone's Display settings, check under Cast, and select Enable Wireless Display to check for nearby devices to cast to.

You tin can also use a streaming device similar the Google Chromecast or Roku Streaming Stick, which plug into your TV's HDMI port, and can be continued to wirelessly by devices running Android iv.four.2 and above.

Google Chromecast and USB plug-in — Google Chromecast plugs straight into your Boob tube'due south HDMI port (Image Credit: TechRadar)

Connect to the Goggle box with AirPlay (iOS)

On Apple tree devices, yous'll be able to utilise AirPlay: Apple's proprietary technology for casting audio and video wirelessly.

Naturally, AirPlay is designed to piece of work between Apple devices only, simply if y'all're sending content from the best iPhone or the best iPad to your Apple Goggle box, AirPlay will take you sorted. If both devices are connected to the same WiFi network, they'll automatically detect each other, and y'all'll be able to select the AirPlay connection in your phone's settings, the same way you lot would with Bluetooth for connecting to the all-time wireless headphones.

Henry is a freelance technology journalist. Before going freelance, he spent more than iii years at TechRadar reporting on TVs, projectors and smart speakers as the website's Domicile Picture palace Editor – and has been interviewed live on both BBC World News and Aqueduct News Asia, discussing the future of send and 4K resolution televisions respectively. As a graduate of English language Literature and persistent theatre enthusiast, he'll usually be found forcing Shakespeare puns into his technology articles, which he thinks is what the Bard would have wanted. Bylines also include Border, T3, and Little White Lies.