Xiaomi’s modern smartphones have powerful multimedia center functionality, allowing you to store thousands of photos, shoot videos in 4K and stream content. However, the diagonal of even the largest screen of a smartphone is often not enough to comfortably watch movies with the whole family or show presentations to colleagues. Fortunately, the Android ecosystem and smart home technology make it easy to solve this problem by turning any TV with support for Smart TV into a huge monitor for your device.
In this article, we will take a look at all the ways Xiaomi can connect to a Wi-Fi TV, learn about the intricacies of Miracast, DLNA and Google Cast, and understand why sometimes the device can’t see the TV or the connection is constantly interrupted. We will look at both standard MIUI tools and third-party solutions for cases when standard methods do not work.
Successful device synchronization depends not only on the correct settings, but also on the quality of the network equipment. A router operating in the 5 GHz band can provide high-resolution video stream without delays and compression artifacts. Before you start setting up, make sure that both devices — both smartphone and TV — are connected to the same wireless network, as this is a fundamental requirement for most broadcast methods.
Wireless broadcast technologies: Miracast, DLNA and Chromecast
Before you get to the practical steps, you need to understand the terminology, as different apps and TVs use different data protocols, and understanding the difference between them will help you choose the best method for your particular situation and avoid confusion in the settings of the menu.
Miracast is a technology developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance that allows you to transfer images and sound from the screen of a device to the display of a TV in real time. In Xiaomi smartphones, this feature is often called “Wireless Monitor” or “Translation”, the feature of the method is that it creates a direct connection between devices or uses a local network to transmit video streams, which provides minimal latency.
Unlike Miracast, DLNA is primarily designed to transfer media files (photos, videos, music) already stored in the phone’s memory. You won’t be able to stream desktop or games via DLNA, but this method is ideal for watching downloaded movies, since the TV itself decodes the video stream, reducing the load on the smartphone’s battery.
What is the difference between caste and miracast?
The third important player is Google Cast. If you have an Android TV or a Chromecast built-in, you can send content from supported apps (YouTube, Netflix, Spotify) directly to the big screen, which is the most energy-efficient way, since the video is buffered by the TV itself.
Preparation of equipment and Wi-Fi network
Connection stability is directly dependent on proper infrastructure preparation, and many users face problems at this stage, ignoring basic network security and configuration requirements.
The first and most important rule is that Xiaomi’s smartphone and TV must be on the same subnet, which means that if your router distributes two networks (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), both devices must be connected to one of them, and some routers isolate these networks from each other, making the devices “invisible” to search.
☑️ Checking before connection
It is also worth checking the power saving settings on the phone. Aggressive MIUI algorithms can limit the background activity of network modules, which leads to a connection break during broadcasting, it is recommended to temporarily turn off the power saving mode or add a broadcast application to the exclusion list.
⚠️ WARNING: If you use a guest Wi-Fi network or corporate Internet with customer isolation (AP Isolation, devices will not be able to detect each other, and in such cases, the connection is only possible through a direct Wi-Fi connection or a mobile access point.
Broadcasting Xiaomi screen through the built-in “Translation” function
The most versatile way to work on most modern TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and Philips is to use a built-in MIUI tool, which implements the Miracast protocol and does not require additional software.
To get started, lower the notification curtain down and find the Translation icon (sometimes called the Wireless Monitor or Cast) if the icon isn’t available, click on three dots or the edit icon to add it from the full list. Once activated, the phone will start searching for available devices on the network.
You may also need to activate reception mode on your TV, and on Samsung, it's Screen Mirroring, on LG, it's Screen Share, on Philips, it's Miracast, and make sure that the app is running on the big screen.
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If the search for devices is not working, try restarting the router. The router's often-hung cache blocks the discovery packets needed to find devices on the local network.
When the name of your TV appears on the phone screen, tap it. The TV screen may have a request for permission to connect — confirm it with the remote control. After that, the image from the Xiaomi phone will be completely duplicated on the TV.
Using Google Home for Chromecast and Android TV
If your TV is running Android TV or has Chromecast support built in, the official Google Home app is a better choice, providing a more stable connection and supporting audio transmission even in the background for some applications.
Download the Google Home app from the Play Store if it hasn't already been installed. Open it and make sure you're logged in to your Google account.The program will automatically scan the network and find compatible devices like Android TV or Chromecast.
Select your TV from the device list. In the control menu that opens, click the "Cast my screen" button. The system will alert you that all the contents of the screen will be broadcasted, including notifications. Click "Start" to start the process.
| Method | Delay. | Quality. | Battery consumption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miracast (Translation) | Low. | High (up to 1080p/4K) | High-pitched |
| Google Cast | Minimum | Depends on the source. | Low. |
| DLNA | No (files) | Original | Medium. |
| Third-party annexes | Medium | Average. | High-pitched |
Connection to TVs of different brands (Samsung, LG, Sony)
TV manufacturers often incorporate their own nuances into wireless protocols, and understanding your TV brand will help solve compatibility issues if Xiaomi’s standard methods don’t work properly.
Samsung’s Tizen TVs often require a Smart View app, although the new models work great with the standard Miracast. If the phone sees TV but doesn’t connect, try using Samsung’s remote to go to the Source menu and select Connect to a Mobile Device.
Owners of LG (WebOS) equipment should pay attention to the LG TV Plus app, which allows not only to broadcast the screen, but also to use the phone as a remote control. In the settings of the LG TV, you must be allowed to connect from mobile devices in the section “Connection Menu”.
Sony's Android TVs work best through Google Home, but also support direct connectivity. Sony sometimes has a conflict when Simple Screen Mirroring is enabled simultaneously with Google Home searches. Only one method is recommended.
⚠️ Note: When connecting to older TVs (released before 2015), Miracast may not work as well due to low Wi-Fi bandwidth of the TV module. DLNA file-player.
Problem Solving: The phone doesn't see TV or no sound
Even when set up correctly, there can be technical failures, most often a software conflict or a temporary network step failure, and the most effective solutions are listed below.
If the search for devices does not give results, try manually entering. IP-address of the TV in the broadcast application (if the functionality allows). IP You can use the network settings on the TV itself. VPN on a smartphone, as they often change the region and block local traffic.
Lack of sound when successfully streaming an image is a common Android problem. In the Bluetooth settings on a Xiaomi phone, find the connected device (sometimes the TV is defined as an audio headset) and make sure the Multimedia switch is activated. In some cases, restarting the Google Play Services service helps.
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The main cause of communication breaks is a weak Wi-Fi signal. If the router is far away, use a Wi-Fi repeater or connect the TV to the router via a router. LAN-cable, leaving the phone on Wi-Fi.
For advanced users, a debugging method is available through ADB, allowing you to reset network settings. the adb shell am broadcast -a android.net.wifi.DISCONNECT command can help restart the Wi-Fi module without completely restarting the system, which sometimes shakes up the hanging detection services.