The HTC One M9 is the latest and greatest smartphone to be birthed from HTC’s great factories on the Pacific Rim. As you’d expect, it contains a lot of advanced technology, including some ways to mirror your phone’s display on your television. This is great for watching YouTube videos or Netflix on the biggest screen in the room, while still having the convenience of choosing what to watch on your phone.
While there are several wireless possibilities, we recommend a wired solution to ensure the highest quality and the easiest setup. These use MHL cables, also known as HDMI adapters as they connect your phone to your TV’s HDMI port.
Here’s how it works
These special adapters are normally called HDMI or MHL adapters, and they’re quite simple.
- One end of the adapter plugs into your phone’s micro USB port.
- An HDMI cable connects another end of the adapter with your TV, projector or monitor.
- Finally, a USB cable connects the adapter and a power source – typically a USB AC adapter, or a USB port on a TV or computer. If your TV has a special MHL HDMI port, then this isn’t needed.
Once you have everything connected, your screen will automatically be mirrored onto your TV. Then you can play music, play a video from YouTube or Netflix, or just surf the web. Everything that is on your screen will also be shown on your TV.
Which MHL adapter should I choose?
There are a couple of HDMI adapters compatible with the HTC One M9 on the market. The newer adapters are backwards-compatible with earlier models, so your decision is down to this – do you need 4K support and faster charging?
If you do, then the most recent Lindy MHL 3.0 adapter is ideal, providing full 4K (3840 x 2160p at 30Hz) support and up to 10 watts of charging power. If you’re not using a 4K TV, you’ll still be able to use 1080p and 720p output modes.
Otherwise, the cheaper Kanex MHL 2.0 adapter will meet your needs, topping out at 1080p (1920 x 1080 at 60Hz) and up to 5V of charging power.
What about wireless options?
Of course, sometimes a wireless option can be preferable. One of the best (and simplest) is called Miracast, which was added to most Android phones a few years ago. If your TV supports the protocol, then it’s a simple case of selecting the device mirroring input on your TV, and then activating screen mirroring from Settings > Wireless & Networks > Media Output on your One M9. You’ll be asked to select your TV from a list; once you click on it your screen will be mirrored on your TV.
Not all TVs support Miracast, but it’s simple enough to add that capability using an HDMI dongle. For example, the iconBIT Toucan Omnicast plugs into your TV’s HDMI port, and then will appear as an option for screen mirroring. Not bad for £30 – a fair bit cheaper than getting a new smart TV, that’s for sure!
Any questions?
If there’s anything we haven’t answered for you, let us know! You can leave a question in the comments below, or speak to us on Twitter @mobilefun.
Will what work? MHL isn’t included, but other methods should work.
Would this work with the HTC eye?
Hi Johan, please see my response to your other comment.
Hi Johan,
Thanks for the information. Jason is of course free to return his adapter for a refund (and while I have no specific information on his case, I imagine he would have done so via our customer services.) I’m going to modify the article now to remove this incorrect information. Thanks for bringing it to our attention with your thoughtful comment.
Cheers,
Will
I am sorry to say that this article is completely incorrect. Samsung uses another standard then the standard that all the other OEMs are using (11 pin instead of the regular 5 pin) and does not work with any other devices than their own.
I have just written about this in another comment, as you should see. In which I also express how I think you should be financially compensated for this.
Regarding whether M9 actually is MHL 3.0 or not:
If something has MHL at all, then it does not matter, since all versions of MHL are backwards compatible. Just stay clear of Samsung’s adapters (at least anything released between 2012 and 2015).
This article should be changed or removed, since it INCORRECT!
It is NOT possible to use a Samsung MHL 3.0 adapter for any other devices than those from Samsung. Samsung have since 2012 (starting with Samsung Galaxy S3) used their own version of MHL (11 pin instead of the standard 5 pin that all other OEMs use) and thus their adapters do neither work with any device from any other OEM nor do regular adapters with 5 pin work with any Samsung devices.
Since 2015 (starting with Samsung Galaxy S6) Samsung has removed MHL from their devices completely, so do not buy Samsung devices if you want to use MHL or just mirror your smartphone in real time onto a TV/screen, since they have not replaced it with any alternative either.
If the HTC One M9 supports MHL, then literally any other MHL adapters than those from Samsung should work.
So again, I urge the author, mr. William Judd or anyone with authorial clearance at MobileFun.co.uk to either change or remove this article, since it already has caused financial harm to a mr. Jason Parker. As he in the comment section explains how he purchased the wrong adapter because of your article. Financial compensation should be in order, as well as an apology if that can be mustered.
That is unless you are waiting for a class action lawsuit to happen.
I recently upgrade to the HTC One M9 and per this article purchased the Samsung MHL 3.0 adapter. The adapter will not plug into the port on the M9. Despite looking up the MHL spec for the M9 and finding that it should be MHL 3.0. I am left to wonder if Samsung did something proprietary to it or if the M9 is not actually MHL 3.0