In addition to all the additional functions that Smart TVs include today, televisions also have more connectors than ever before, allowing us to connect practically any device compatible with them. Generally, connections include HDMI 2.0 and 2.1 ports, digital optical output connection, Ethernet, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, headphone jack, but especially USB ports.

If you get creative with your TV’s USB ports, you can find many cool things you can do beyond playing media from a USB stick. You also have the option to: able to connect mobile phoneWhat you can do with it will depend on the features of the television, the operating system, and also the functions of the smartphone.

Below these lines we will explain to you What can you do with a mobile phone connected to the TV? via USB ports.

What is the purpose of connecting mobile phone to TV via USB?

It is not surprising that technology has advanced so much. When it comes to televisions, you can now do more with them than ever before, like control smart home devices, download apps, play content on streaming platforms, and much more.

In addition to all these and more, there are also problems that have been on the agenda for a long time, such as the ability to connect devices to the USB ports of the television. Among the devices we can connect, we can also use USB ports to connect a mobile phone.

Of course, the functions that USB will provide us will depend on the features of the television and mobile phone, as we explained above. The most normal thing is that any television today have at least one or two USB 2.0 ports (sometimes even USB 3.0 ports on some TVs).

In addition to being able to transfer data between devices, USB ports also allow us to charge certain compatible devices. This is probably the first thing that happens when you connect a mobile phone to the TV’s USB port. So if you don’t have a plug handy at the moment, you can always rely on the TV’s USB for this task.

The negative part is that It doesn’t load as fast as we would like, precisely due to the limitations of the connection (2.5 W power in USB 2.0 and 4.5 W power in USB 3.0). Additionally, while there are times when you can charge your phone while the TV is in standby, you’ll most likely need to keep the TV fully on to charge it.

Note that to connect a mobile phone to the TV we need to: a USB-C to USB-A cable (if your mobile phone charges via USB-C connector). We can also have an OTG adapter that converts the mobile phone’s USB-C connection to USB-A.

This is also possible depending on the operating system of the TV and the connection mode of the phone when connected to USB. play all content available on the smartphone itself. In this way, if you have photos, videos or audio on your mobile phone, it is quite possible that you can access them from the television. Although the best way to do this is to have a phone and television compatible with wireless connections such as Chromecast, Miracast, and send the content to the television wirelessly.

In some cases, you can also: view your phone’s own screen directly on the TV, but as we mentioned before, this will depend on the functions of the phone and the Smart TV operating system itself. In this case, you will need a cable with an HDMI connector to use the TV screen, although not all systems allow this (Samsung DeX may be an alternative).

In addition to these options, you can also: stream any data from mobile to TV as if it were a USB stick. For this, it is important to select the operation mode (in this case a mode compatible with data transfer) when the mobile phone is connected to USB.

Among the television operating systems that will give you the most freedom when performing such tasks is Android TV, or its most optimized customization layer, Google TV. We also have There are many applications that we can download to the television. To take advantage of the phone connected to the TV via USB. In fact, it’s very likely that you’ll need additional apps to take advantage of this connection, as how they work will depend on the TV model, features, and more.

Although today it is much more useful to use applications and standards such as Chromecast to send content from the mobile phone without the need for cables, the option of connecting our mobile phone to the television via USB never hurts and can save us. What another dead end from some of them.

Image | Patrick Campanale

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