Today’s Xiaomi Mi TVs and Mi Box consoles offer a wide range of multimedia capabilities, turning the living room into a real entertainment center. However, it often becomes necessary to bring to the big screen content that is only available on a smartphone: personal photos, videos from a gallery or even the desktop of a mobile device for demonstrations. Fortunately, the Android TV ecosystem on which these devices operate provides many native tools for this task without buying additional equipment.
The sync process can vary depending on your smartphone’s operating system and the firmware version of MIUI TV. In some cases, it’s easy to turn on the feature in the menu, in others you’ll need to install third-party software or adjust network settings. Understanding the differences between Miracast and Google Cast technologies will help you choose the best method for your situation and avoid delays or desynchronization of sound.
In this guide, we will take a look at all the connectivity options available, from built-in system tools to advanced methods for power users. We will look at the nuances of working with iOS and Android devices, and also pay attention to eliminating common connection problems.
Equipment preparation and network requirements
Before you start directly configuring the broadcast, you need to make sure your infrastructure is ready to transmit heavy video streaming. The fundamental condition for most wireless protocols, such as DLNA or Chromecast built-in, is that both devices are on the same LAN, which means that both the smartphone and the TV must be connected to the same router, whether via an Ethernet cable or over a Wi-Fi wireless channel.
The quality of the image transmitted depends on the bandwidth of your home network. If you plan to broadcast content in 4K UHD resolution at high bitrate, using 5 GHz Wi-Fi will be preferable to the congested range of 2.4 GHz. Otherwise, compression artifacts, buffering or complete interruption of the connection at peak load times on the channel are possible.
⚠️ Attention: Using the guest network feature on the router often isolates devices from each other, making it impossible for the smartphone to detect the TV.
It’s also worth checking the software’s relevance on both devices.Manufacturers regularly release updates to fix data protocol vulnerabilities and improve compatibility with newer versions of mobile OS. Go to Settings → About TV → System Update on your Xiaomi TV to make sure you’re using the latest version of Android TV.
Use of the built-in Mi Remote and Cast function
The easiest and fastest way to display an image is to call native Android TV features that are already integrated into the PatchWall shell or the clean Xiaomi TV interface. Most models released after 2018 have wireless display technology built-in at the core level, which provides minimal latency when transmitting a picture.
It doesn't usually take a lot of manipulation to activate standby on the TV, so you just have to open the Quick Settings Panel or find the app on the menu, and depending on the regional version of the firmware, it can be called differently, so it's important to know where to look for the right shortcut in the interface.
☑️ Checking connection readiness
To find the entry point in the signal reception mode, use remote navigation. The algorithm of actions can look like this:
- 📺 Press the "Home" or "Menu" button on the remote control.
- ⚙️ Go to Settings or find the Wireless Display app).
- 📡 Select the Broadcast or MiraCast option to allow the TV to go into standby mode.
- ✅ Wait for the message “Ready to connect” to appear on the screen.
Once activated on the big screen, you can move on to the setting of the smartphone. Owners of Xiaomi devices with the shell MIUI or HyperOS are the most lucky, because the function "Translation" is built into the notification curtain. However, users of other Android brands are also available standard tools of the system.
Broadcasting from Android: standard tools and MIUI
The process of running a mirror display on Android smartphones can vary slightly depending on the manufacturer and version of the operating system. In pure Android (like Google Pixel or Motorola), this feature is called "Translate Screen" and is located in the Quick Settings Panel. On Xiaomi devices, it is called "Translation" and has advanced functionality to find available devices.
To activate the function on MIUI, you need to unlock the smartphone and swipe down from the top edge of the screen to open the control center. There you should find an icon called Broadcast. If the icon is missing in the visible part of the panel, click on the edit button (usually a pencil icon or three dots) and add the Translation widget to the active elements.
Once the feature is turned on, the phone will start scanning the available signal receivers. Your Xiaomi TV should appear in the list. Clicking on the device name initiates a connection request. A pop-up window may appear on the TV screen demanding you confirm a connection to an unknown device - agree with it using the remote.
What to do if your phone can’t see TV?
Importantly, when you use standard Miracast protocol, you're going to be able to communicate exactly what's happening on your phone in real time, which means that notifications, incoming calls, and other personal data will be visible to anyone watching TV.
Using Google Chromecast built-in technology
Unlike full-screen mirroring, Google Cast (Chromecast) technology allows you to stream specific content from apps directly to your TV using your smartphone as a remote control, a more energy-efficient method because video is buffered by the TV itself rather than streamed from your phone, saving battery life and reducing the load on the mobile device’s processor.
Most modern Xiaomi TVs have Chromecast support built in. To check if you have Chromecast support, look at the main screen of your TV, which often has a demo video or a screensain with the Chromecast logo. If you see the words "Embedded Chromecast devices are ready to set up," then the feature is active.
To use this method, you will need the Google Home app, which you need to install on your smartphone from the Play Market Store.
- 🏠 Open the Google Home app and make sure you’re signed in to the same Google account as you do on your TV (if required).
- 📱 In the main menu of the app, find the card of your Xiaomi TV.
- 🖥️ Click on the Cast My Screen button at the bottom of the application interface.
- ▶️ Confirm the start of the broadcast in the pop-up window.
⚠️ Note: Some apps like Netflix or Disney+, You can block the screen broadcast through Miracast because of copy protection HDCP. In such cases, use the “Translate” button (the icon of the wave screen) inside the player app itself, rather than the phone’s system function.
The advantage of this method is that you can control playback (pause, rewind, volume) directly from your phone without interrupting other applications. You can respond to messages or check email, and these actions will not be displayed on the big screen, unlike full mirroring.
Broadcast from iPhone and iPad (AirPlay on Xiaomi)
Apple device owners need not despair: modern Xiaomi TVs support the AirPlay 2 protocol, which makes it easy to integrate them into the Apple ecosystem. However, AirPlay support is not available in all models and regions, so in some cases additional software may be required.
First, check if your Mi TV model supports native AirPlay. To do this, go to your TV settings and find the Apple AirPlay section. If such a item exists, activate it. Then, the iPhone in the control center (swipe down from the top right corner on new models or swipe up on old ones) will appear a Replay button.
If native support is not available, the solution is to install the AirPlay emulator app directly on the TV. Through the Google Play Store, you can find programs like AirScreen or AirPin on the TV. Once you install and run the app, the TV will emulate the Apple receiver, and the iPhone will see it as the native Apple TV device.
| Comparison parameter | Miracast (Translation) | Chromecast / AirPlay |
|---|---|---|
| Type of transmission | Full screen mirroring | Broadcasting content from the application |
| Dependence on the phone | High (phone screen should be on) | Low (you can use your phone for other tasks) |
| Image quality | Depends on the stability of the Wi-Fi signal | Stable, buffered by television |
| Battery consumption | High-pitched | Medium/Low |
When using third-party emulator apps on Android TV, the transfer quality may be slightly lower than with native support, but to view photos and videos from the gallery, this is quite enough.
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To reduce latency when playing over Wi-Fi, try setting the router to prioritize (QoS) for MAC-This will reserve a portion of the channel for the video stream.
Elimination and optimization of connection
Even with the right setup, users can experience problems such as image jerks, audio desynchronization, or sudden connection breaks. Most often, the reason lies in overloading of the wireless range or insufficient signal power of the router. If the TV is far from the access point, use a Wi-Fi repeater or connect the TV to the router via a LAN cable.
Another common problem is codec incompatibility: If you have a picture when streaming a video but no sound (or vice versa), try changing the audio output settings in the app you're streaming from or in the TV system settings under Settings → Sound → Out. Switching from Dolby Digital to PCM often solves the problem of no sound when mirroring.
In cases where the device is simply not detected in the list of available, resetting network settings will help. On the TV, this can be done through Settings → Network and Internet → Reset network settings. On a smartphone, a similar feature is in the recovery and reset menu. After rebooting both devices, the problem most often disappears.
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Broadcast stability is 90% dependent on Wi-Fi signal quality. If possible, use a dual-band router and connect the TV to a 5GHz network to transmit heavy 4K content.