Modern smartphones have high-resolution screens, but for watching movies with the whole family or showing photos to guests, the diagonal of a mobile device is often not enough. Fortunately, the Xiaomi ecosystem offers many ways to synchronize content between gadgets, turning a regular TV into a multimedia center. The task of how to run video from your phone to your Xiaomi TV is solved by several methods, each of which has its advantages depending on your goals and technical capabilities.
The right way to stream depends on the type of content you’re sending, whether you want to just duplicate the screen or stream the video from the app. In this article, we’ll take a look at wireless technologies, wired connections, and customized utilities, and learn how to set up Miracast, use DLNA, or use the built-in Chromecast without having to buy additional hardware.
Before you start setting up, make sure your devices are compatible and have up-to-date software versions. Often connection problems arise from trivial desynchronization of firmware versions or network settings. We will look at common bugs and suggest how to avoid them so that you can enjoy content on the big screen without delays and artifacts.
Wireless streaming via built-in Miracast (Mi Cast)
The easiest and most common way to stream an image is to use Miracast technology, which is often referred to as Mi Cast or Wireless Monitor in Xiaomi devices, which allows you to duplicate your smartphone screen on your TV in real time, which is ideal for viewing photo albums, presentations or videos that do not support DRM protection.
To get started, you need both devices to be on the same Wi-Fi network. Turn on the TV and go to the signal source menu. Find the Wireless Display or Mi Cast app and run it. You'll have a wait for the connection on the screen, and the TV will go into signal reception mode.
⚠️ Note: When using the screen duplication mode (Miracast), the smartphone can heat up more, and the battery will be consumed faster due to the constant active transmission of the video stream.
Now, to your smartphone settings. Open the notification curtain and find the Translation or Project icon. If it's not, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Broadcast. Once you turn on the feature, the phone will start looking for available devices. Once your Xiaomi Mi TV appears on the list, click on it to pair.
Transmission quality depends on the stability of the Wi-Fi router. If you notice a desynchronization of sound and image, try to zoom in on the router or switch to 5 GHz. It is important to understand that Miracast creates a direct connection, so the Internet on the phone may work slower during the broadcast.
☑️ Checking before connecting Miracast
Using Chromecast Technology for Streaming Video
Most modern Xiaomi and Mi Box TVs have built-in support for Google Chromecast technology. Unlike Miracast, this method not only duplicates the screen, but allows the phone to act as a remote control while the TV itself downloads video from the Internet, which saves battery power and reduces the load on the smartphone processor.
To take advantage of this method, make sure your phone has Google Home or the corresponding Google Play services installed. Open an app that supports live streaming, such as YouTube, Netflix or Google Photos. Find the rectangle icon with Wi-Fi waves in the corner of the screen.
Click on the icon and select your TV from the list. The video will run on the big screen, and the phone will have controls: pause, volume and rewind. The advantage of Chromecast is that you can turn off the app or even turn off the phone screen, and playback on the TV will not interrupt.
- 📺 Perfect for streaming services like YouTube and Netflix.
- 🔋 Minimum battery consumption of a smartphone while watching.
- 📶 It requires stable internet access on both devices.
- 🎮 Allows you to use your phone for other tasks in parallel.
If the broadcast icon doesn't appear, check if Chromecast is enabled in your TV settings. Sometimes you need to update the source app. It's also worth noting that some apps may block audio or video transmission due to copyright restrictions if they use a non-certified connection method.
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If Chromecast can’t see the TV, try temporarily disabling the VPN on your smartphone, as it can hide the device on your local network.
Broadcasting via DLNA and Mi Video app
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) protocol is a classic standard for sharing multimedia files on a local network, and it’s especially useful if you have high-quality movies on your phone that you want to watch on your TV without losing the quality of compression that streams.
Xiaomi and Redmi smartphone owners are the luckiest, as the MIUI shell preinstalled Mi Video player, which has a built-in function (Cast). Open the video file in the gallery or player, click on the icon "TV" or "Translation" and select your TV. The system will automatically find the device that supports DLNA.
The alternative is to install third-party applications like BubbleUPnP or LocalCast, which scan the network, find media servers, and broadcast content of almost any format, and the TV acts as a renderer, receiving the data stream directly.
The main difference between this method and previous ones is that it doesn't have interactivity, because you can't control playback from your phone as flexibly as you would with Chromecast if the app doesn't support remote control, but for just viewing downloaded files, it's one of the most reliable solutions.
Wired connection via HDMI and adapters
When the wireless network is overloaded or you want to transmit video in the maximum quality without compression, a wired connection comes to the rescue. To implement this method, you will need a USB-C to HDMI adapter.
Connect the adapter to your smartphone, then connect it with an HDMI cable to your TV. Switch the signal source on your TV to the appropriate HDMI 1 or HDMI 2 port. The image should appear automatically. If that doesn't happen, go to your phone's settings and select USB mode.
This method ensures better picture and no delays, which is critical for gaming or watching video in 4K HDR. However, it ties the phone to the TV, limiting mobility.
| Connection method | Image quality | Delay (Latency) | Battery consumption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miracast (Mi Cast) | High. | Medium | High-pitched |
| Chromecast | Maximum. | Low. | Low. |
| DLNA | High. | Low. | Medium. |
| HDMI cable | No loss. | Absent. | Charging. |
Third-party applications for enhanced capabilities
If the standard system fails or your TV is an older model without Android TV, third-party apps come to the rescue. One of the most popular solutions is AirScreen or ApowerMirror, which are installed on the TV (via the app store) and on the smartphone.
These types of apps often emulate AirPlay (for iPhone owners) and Cast, making the TV visible to any device on the network, and allow you to transfer files, control the phone screen from the remote, and even play mobile games on the big screen with minimal latency.
Installing third-party software takes a little longer to set up initially, you'll need to find the app in the Google Play Store on your TV, install it and run it. Then follow the on-screen instructions to pair devices. Often, these apps offer paid subscriptions to remove time limits or ads.
⚠️ Note: Download the apps for broadcast only from official stores (Google Play, Mi Store (APK from unknown sites) may lead to leakage of personal data or infection of the TV with viruses.
Some apps, like Web Video Caster, let you stream video directly from your phone's browser. You open a website with a movie on your smartphone, and the app pulls the video stream to your TV, which bypasses many of the limitations of mobile browsers and ad blockers.
The Secrets of Web Video Caster
The answer: Why the phone can't see TV
Despite the simplicity of technology, users often find themselves in a situation where devices simply cannot see each other, and the most common reason is that devices are connected to different networks, so make sure that both the phone and the TV are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, not the guest or neighbor network.
The second common problem is setting up the router's AP Isolation, which is that if enabled, devices on the same network can't communicate with each other, check the router's settings or temporarily disable the option, and reboot the router and clear the network services cache on both devices also helps.
Sometimes the problem is with an antivirus or firewall on your smartphone that blocks local connections. Try temporarily disabling protection or adding a TV to your trusted device list. If nothing works, reset your phone's network settings (Settings → System → Settings Reset → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile Internet and Bluetooth).
- 🔄 Reboot your router, phone and TV at the same time.
- 📡 Check whether the router is not necessary to divide the frequencies of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz into different SSID.
- 🛡️ Turn it off. VPN and proxy servers on a smartphone.
- 🔌 Make sure that the TV is allowed access for external devices in the network settings.
In rare cases, a firmware update is required. Go to Settings → About TV → System Update and check for new versions of the software. Manufacturers often release patches that fix data protocol errors.
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90% of connection problems are solved by restarting the router and checking that both devices are on the same Wi-Fi subnet.