This sort of device is only practical when you are using the latter and can stream directly to the device. Why make a "seamless streaming appliance" that pairs up with your smartphone, when your smartphone probably is NOT a good place for content to live? By "live", I mean exactly what you asked: "I have this thing and its plugged into my big screen and now i want to watch a movie." Well, if you obtained your movie legally you probably got it either on a disc, or on a content reselling system like iTunes, Netflix, Amazon, or Google. You have just asked the $64,000 question. So if you're looking for a quick and easy way to stream content from your HTC One phone to an HDMI source, the Media Link HD will get the job done. But on the other hand, $90 isn't outside the impulse-purchase window. And if you don't have an HTC One device, there's not much reason to hop on board here.Īt $90, the Media Link feels a tad pricey given that it's still more of a novelty than a must-buy. (Though we're really not overlooking the relative magic of the endeavor.) We'd love to see a dedicated music app so that we could stream some tunes without worrying about display burn-in. We'd love to see video streaming improved for third-party apps. And that API has yet to be made public, so it's not like there's a wealth of apps taking advantage of it yet. What you see on your phone is what you see on the screen, unless you're using an app with the Media Link API, in which case you can do something else on the phone while content is on the screen. The phone handles it reasonably well (we tested on the Tegra 3 version of the HTC One X, which has the most up-to-date compatibility for the Media Link HD), though it can get pretty warm.Īnd that really is the gist of it. Thanks to the Media Link API, you're able to start a photo slideshow or watch a video on the TV while doing something completely different on the phone. And that's where HTC's got a little trick up its sleeve. Do a three-finger swipe up to connect, fire up the image gallery, and start the show. Come home, swipe up, and let the family see where I've been. Where I've gotten the most use out of the Media Link HD is for showing off photos and video after a trip. If you're really into graphics on the big screen, you'll want to use a wired HDMI connection.Īudio quality is decent enough, though. They're smooth enough so that you don't get too frustrated, though, again, frame rate isn't a 100 percent match. The Media Link HD does do a decent job of pushing games, though. It'll do as a backup or traveling solution, but you won't want to use it for your main source of video. Netflix looks better streaming from an Xbox or Logitech Revue. Is video streaming on the Media Link HD perfect? Nope. But you're also going to need to manage your expectations a little bit. You're also going to want to try video streaming, from your phone to the big screen. The answer, of course, is that they're just bigger. But what you really want to do is play around with your apps and see how they look on the big screen. Now what? You can tool around the home screens, which is fun and all at 50 inches or more. You'll know you're good to go when your home screen switches to landscape mode. After that, the pairing usually just takes a few seconds. The first time you do this, it can take a couple minutes to get things going. It'll start the pairing process automatically. Once you've got the Media Link HD hooked up to your system, all you have to do is put three fingers on your phone and swipe up. HTC has knocked this part out of the park. If everything's cool, it's a nice, soft blue. (Provided you don't have your router locked down or anything.) There's a hidden LED above the HTC logo that will shine in either red or blue, depending on your connection state. (I just haven't bothered.) The Media Link HD and your router should take care of the network connection automatically. If you can rig your setup to switch over automatically, more power to you. When I want to use it, I have to manually switch my receiver over to that input. For me, I've got it set up on its own input. And that's really the toughest part of this whole operation - deciding how best to fit the Media Link HD into your home entertainment workflow. That's where the dimple comes in - there's an outtie on the clip so things mate up nicely. The final piece of the puzzle is a small clip with adhesive on one side that allows you to attach the Media Link HD to your TV stand or a wall or the back of the TV itself. We've already mentioned that the HDMI and microUSB cables that come in the box, plus your standard HTC wall plug. Otherwise, you've got a small black box with a glossy top (and sides) with the HTC logo, and a matte, textured bottom with FCC info and a small, fingertip-sized dimple.
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