How to play Android games on a TV - Android

Other than their immersive gameplay, Android mobile game developers have created a good job of making their products visually appealing. Needless to say, it’s a shame to keep them in your smartphone’s small screen. In order to get around that, we’ll be teaching you how to stream Android mobile games on your TV.

Image : Xiaomi

With this, you can enjoy playing mobile games on a larger screen. Perfect if you want a more immersive experience, or if you have guests and friends around that you want to entertain.

But how can you stream mobile games on a TV? Today, we’ll be showing you ways on how to do it, whether you own a smart TV or not. In addition, these ways will also work on monitors. Let’s begin.

Miracast / Screen Mirroring

Image: Samsung

This is an overlooked feature that’s been on smartphones for years. This lets you mirror whatever’s on your phone’s screen to a large TV. Although, it has different names on different TVs — Smart View on Samsung devices, Screen Share by LG, etc. — but they do the same job.

How does it work? First, make sure your TV supports it. Chances are, if you own a Smart TV — even if it’s a regular one and not an Android TV — this feature should work.

• Enable that feature on your TV
• Look for the screen mirroring option on your smartphone (in the control center or the settings menu)
• Make sure they are on the same WiFi network, and you’re good to go.

But if your TV doesn’t have Miracast, proceed to our second tip.

Miracast Receiver

If your television doesn’t have Miracast, then you just have to purchase a dongle. A MiraCast dongle usually looks like a USB flash drive, with an HDMI port on the bottom that you plug on the back of your TV.

This will work whether you have a regular flatscreen or a Smart TV, for as long as it has an HDMI port. Miracast receivers come from different brands, the most popular one is from a company named Anycast, which is available for around Php400 (~USD10).

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Amazon Fire Stick, Roku Streaming Stick

Devices like the Amazon Fire stick and Roku streaming stick works like your regular miracast dongle. But this time, they are more advanced.

They come with their own interface that lets you play movies and videos from Netflix, YouTube, and more. They have their dedicated app stores that let you download more streaming services and other related apps.

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Chromecast

Probably one of the most popular TV dongles around. The Chromecast, as the name suggests, will allow you to cast shows, music, and any forms of media on your TV.

But unlike the previous devices we’ve mentioned, this tiny gizmo has more advanced features for gaming on Android phones. Since it came from the same company, you can use Chromecast as a second screen for your Android smartphone, and not just mirror it directly. Perfect for multiplayer gameplay.

Android TV box

If you want to upgrade your regular flatscreen TV, you don’t need to spend a fortune for a full Smart TV.

An Android TV box brings all the benefits of a real Android TV — from different streaming services, games, the wide portfolio of the Google Play store, and of course, screen mirroring. One of the most popular options is the Xiaomi Mi Box S.

MHL HDMI cable

USB Type-C to HDMI

Streaming wirelessly is fast, convenient, and all. But for fast-paced action games, there’s a chance that you’d face latency or lag issues.

In those cases, you might want to use an MHL cable. The one end connects to your smartphone, while the other end has a port for you to plug an HDMI cable to.

There are also smartphones, especially the high-end ones, that can be connected directly to a TV using a USB Type-C to HDMI cable or an adapter. But then again, you have to check if your smartphone is compatible with wired TV mirroring.

That’s it. Did we miss anything? If you have any questions, let us know in the comments section below and we’ll try our best to help you out.

This article, How to play Android games on a TV, was originally published at NoypiGeeks | Philippines Technology News, Reviews and How to's.