Today let’s take a look at the Samsung MHL HDTV Adapter for Galaxy S3 and Note 2. This Samsung accessory basically lets you stream videos, music and other multimedia from your smart phone to your monitor or HDTV. It basically mirrors the display of your phone to your monitor. Pretty cool huh? Please continue reading my review below and find out if you need this accessory or not.
Samsung MHL HDTV Adapter Review
The Samsung MHL HDTV Adapter for Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 is basically an accessory that lets you stream what you see on your phone’s display to an HDTV or to a monitor, via an HDMI cable. As you can see from the picture, the device is not that small, and not that big either. It’s just an adapter with around 2 inches long, and 1 inch thick.
It has an HDMI female port, 5-pin microUSB for it’s power source and an 11-pin microUSB for the input. If your MHL-enabled device has a 5-pin microUSB plug, instead of an 11-pin, you will need to get a 5-pin to 11-pin microUSB converter. Otherwise it will not work and you won’t be able to stream the display. The adapter supports HD signals up to 1080p.
How to Use the Samsung MHL HDTV Adapter?
The adapter is very easy to use. You don’t need any special configuration or settings. Just connect your Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 or an MHL-enabled android smartphone, then connect the adapter to your HDTV or monitor via an HDMI cable, and finally connected the power source via microUSB. It will automatically mirror the display of your phone to your monitor.
If your monitor doesn’t use an HDMI connection, rather it has a DVI or DSUB plug, you will need to use an HDMI to DVI cable or adapter instead. I tried this with my Samsung SyncMaster P2370. I connected the Galaxy Note 2 to my monitor using an HDMI to DVI cable.
How About the Display Quality
In my case, the display quality is not 100% the same. The contrast is lower, colors are a bit dull and not as vibrant as the one I see from my Galaxy Note 2 display. I’m not sure if this is the result of using an HDMI to DVI cable (instead of connecting it to an HDMI monitor/HDTV), or perhaps it’s because my monitor is not an IPS monitor or a LED monitor, or other reasons. But overall, it works and doesn’t lags.
By the way, since it mirrors the display from your phone, if your phone is in portrait view, the display on your monitor will also be in portrait view. If you are in landscape view, that’s the time you will be able to maximize the display on your monitor or HDTV.
Conclusion
I think, the Samsung MHL HDTV Adapter is one of the must have Samsung Galaxy Note 2 accessories specially is you want to stream videos or media on a larger display. Some practical uses are: instead of watching a movie that is stored on your phone, you can watch it on a much larger display, or if you are playing Android games (specially FPS) you might want to use a larger display for better gaming experience. Your phone now acts as a joystick, plus you won’t be seeing your thumbs anymore when you mirror the display to a larger screen. It’s also good if you want to showcase some pictures or video clips via an HDTV so that other people can see it better. Or you can use it to have a better internet browsing experience, or turn your phone into a Personal Computer. The choice is up to you.
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