4 Ways Your Android Phone Can Connect To A TV

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Your Android phone is capable in many different ways. While it was originally designed for communication, it now doubles as a portable camera, gaming hub, and even a lightweight alternative for a computer. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When paired with other devices, your Android becomes a much more powerful tool.

But beyond the typical Android accessories like headphones, gaming controllers, and external SSDs, one device you probably didn’t think about pairing with your Android phone is your TV. Yes, your smart TV works just as fine on its own, but it can significantly enhance how you use your phone. When you connect your phone to your TV, you generally get two experiences: extending your phone screen to the TV and using your phone as the TV remote control.

Extending your phone screen means you now have more screen real estate to display your apps and media. Meanwhile, controlling the TV from your phone means you can ditch the real remote that always gets lost anyway. We’ll walk you through the specific ways you can connect your Android phone to your TV to make the most out of it.

The easiest and generally most reliable way to connect your Android phone to a TV is with an HDMI-to-USB-C cable. Yes, you can actually use your Android device’s USB-C port to watch Netflix on your TV. All you need to do is get an HDMI-to-USB-C cable, plug the USB-C end into your phone, and connect the HDMI end to any HDMI port on your TV. Then, go to your TV settings and change the HDMI input to the source your Android is attached to. Your entire phone screen should then be displayed on the TV. If you only have an HDMI-to-HDMI cable, you can still connect your phone to a TV with an HDMI adapter like the Anker PowerExpand+. 

On some devices, you won’t automatically see anything when you finish setting up. Instead, you’ll be prompted to perform an action first. For instance, you’ll need to tap Mirror display on the popup that appears on Google Pixels. On Motorola phones, you get choices on what viewing experience to enable: Mobile Desktop, TV, Video chat, Game, or Mirror display. Meanwhile, Samsung phones usually work as soon as you plug it in. But if you have a device with Samsung DeX, you can turn it on from the Quick Settings panel on your phone. 

However, this wired method won’t be available for every Android phone model out there. If nothing shows up on the screen even with a USB hub or adapter between the HDMI cable and phone, your phone’s hardware might not support video output over USB. Some of the mainstream devices that come with this feature include the Google Pixel 8 and later, Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold models, Motorola Razr Fold, Edge 2024, Edge 50 Pro and Ultra.

Like the wired connection, screen mirroring lets you replicate the entire phone screen to your TV. This time, though, the signal is sent over your home network, not a cable. That makes it more convenient to set up since you won’t be dealing with cable clutter. Screen mirroring is enabled differently across Android brands, but it follows the same general principle: connect your Android and smart TV to the same Wi-Fi network, go to your phone’s screen mirroring menu, and select your TV from the list of devices found on your network.

For Samsung phones, you’ll find the screen mirroring menu in the Quick Settings panel under the name Smart View. For Pixels, it’s called Cast and is also located in the Quick Settings. But if it isn’t there by default, you can navigate to the Settings app instead and head over to Connected devices > Connection preferences > Google Cast. For Motorola phones, the screen mirroring feature is named Smart Connect. To enable it, open the built-in Smart Connect app, choose Display, and start pairing a device by following the on-screen instructions.

Screen mirroring usually doesn’t do much — it simply displays whatever happens on your phone screen. This means the replica on the TV mostly stays upright, unless you open an app in landscape mode. Samsung’s Smart View, though, offers more than just that if you pair it with a Samsung TV. Some of the cool features on Samsung’s Smart View include changing the aspect ratio of the displayed screen and splitting the screen to create either a side-by-side or picture-in-picture view with two apps or media. In some models like the Neo QLED 8K QN990 Series, you can even display four different apps/media on one screen.

Casting and screen mirroring both display content from your screen to your TV wirelessly. That’s why they’re often used interchangeably. But in reality, they’re actually just two sides of the same coin. Screen mirroring is essentially copying the entire phone screen to the TV, while casting is displaying only certain content on the TV. Between the two, casting is the better choice when you want more privacy while your device is connected to the big screen. It won’t show everything on your screen, so no one else will see your popup notifications or incoming calls.

To cast your Android to your TV, your devices should be on the same Wi-Fi. Otherwise, your phone won’t be able to find the TV to display to. From here, it’s all just a matter of launching the app you want to use, finding the Cast button (looks like a TV with signal lines), and selecting the TV from the options. The video should automatically pop up on the TV. You can then control the playback from your phone. Some apps also allow you to exit the video on your phone, so you can do something else as you’re casting.

On some devices like the Pixel and Samsung, you won’t have to find the cast button in a certain app. Just go to the screen mirroring menu (Cast on Pixel and Smart View on Samsung) and pick “App View” or similar. Unfortunately, the cast feature doesn’t work on all apps. But as of this writing, it’s supported on at least 5,000 apps, including mainstream ones like Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Spotify, TuneIn, and even TikTok.

TV remotes have become smarter with better features, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll no longer go missing as often as before. In those instances when you can’t find your remote, you can just pair your Android phone with your TV. Yes, connecting your phone and TV doesn’t always mean projecting the screen. You can also connect your phone to the TV for controlling it remotely. Phones are great alternatives to TV remotes, and they’re honestly easier to use for tasks like scrolling through apps and typing search queries.

It’s pretty straightforward to convert your Android to a TV remote. Your smart TV or streaming device usually comes with a companion app with built-in remote control functionality. For instance, the Google TV Streamer and Chromecast have the Google Home or Google TV app, Samsung TVs have SmartThings, and Roku devices use The Roku App. Check the support page for your TV or streaming device to see what specific app you need to download.

If on the off chance your device doesn’t have a companion app, there are also plenty of universal remote options you can find on the Play Store. There’s Bluetooth Remote with 4.4 stars and over one million downloads. Based on reviews, it works with Google TV Streamer and Sony Bravia TVs. Another option is Any TV Remote Control with 4.8 stars and 50,000 downloads. It supports Amazon Fire Sticks, Samsung TVs, and LG TVs, among other brands.