Zwift from phone to screen

I'm using zwift through my phone at the moment and cannot afford a TV and apple TV combo.

If I bought a type C to VGC cable would I be able to run zwift from my phone onto a computer monitor?

Comments

  • Hi Bud, the best approach to this, would be to get a smart tv (or suitable dongle, ie amazon fire, roku) and then cast your phone screen to the smart tv/dongle.

    I have used this in the past for zoom gym sessions. There can be a bit of a lag/delay but its probably the best that you can get.
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,141
    Casting works pretty well.

    Not all phones with a Type C socket will let you output video (usually HDMI) over the Type C connection. Mine is an example of this.

    If your phone supports it then it should work, although Type C to HDMI is more common that Type C to VGA. Most modern computer monitors have a HDMI input, as do TVs.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    I have used this as a stop gap before, mirroring my phone screen to a chromecast. It is a bit laggy but it does work.
  • What phone?
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    edited February 2021
    Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. Would have worked off my old S8 as well (as I'd mirrored my screen off that before, although not with Zwift). I think any Android phone which is capable of mirroring to a Chromecast would work (that is to say, any reasonably modern Android phone I guess, and I assume that would be a requirement to run Zwift as well)
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,141
    Mirroring works fine on the Galaxy A3 and A5, both of which are now around 4 years old.
    Zwift runs OK on the A5 but not on a stock A3 - for some reason they shipped the A3 with a 32 bit version of Android and Zwift requires 64.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,208
    edited February 2021

    Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. Would have worked off my old S8 as well (as I'd mirrored my screen off that before, although not with Zwift). I think any Android phone which is capable of mirroring to a Chromecast would work (that is to say, any reasonably modern Android phone I guess, and I assume that would be a requirement to run Zwift as well)

    S10 you could run a cable from USB c to hdmi.

    For the op - A5, I don't think you can, you'd need to cast as described
  • I've got a galaxy s10, the computer monitor I'm going to use is very old and has no HDMI.

    I cant afford a TV no matter how small at the moment, if anyone can help with one I'd try and put as much money as possible towards?

    Cheers
  • What inputs does it have?
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196

    Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. Would have worked off my old S8 as well (as I'd mirrored my screen off that before, although not with Zwift). I think any Android phone which is capable of mirroring to a Chromecast would work (that is to say, any reasonably modern Android phone I guess, and I assume that would be a requirement to run Zwift as well)

    S10 you could run a cable from USB c to hdmi.

    For the op - A5, I don't think you can, you'd need to cast as described
    Yeah, but I had the chromecast already and I didn't have the HDMI cable :smile:

    Not a bad idea though possibly, as I think my S10 might actually do a better job of running Zwift than my crappy work laptop... Although from what I understand, the graphics on Zwift on Android will never look that good regardless of how good the Android device is.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,208
    edited February 2021
    dsorby2 said:

    I've got a galaxy s10, the computer monitor I'm going to use is very old and has no HDMI.

    I cant afford a TV no matter how small at the moment, if anyone can help with one I'd try and put as much money as possible towards?

    Cheers

    Does the monitor have dvi?

    I'll check with mine (s20 fe), see if I can output to a dvi monitor through the USB c to hdmi to dvi converters that I have lying around.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,700
    It should work fine with the right cables. Newer Galaxy phones, including the S10, have DeX desktop mode via their USB-C ports. A USB-C to VGA cable will handle the digital to analogue conversion needed to output to VGA.
  • It should work fine with the right cables. Newer Galaxy phones, including the S10, have DeX desktop mode via their USB-C ports. A USB-C to VGA cable will handle the digital to analogue conversion needed to output to VGA.

    Worked fine for me. The DeX looks interesting, but not needed for Zwift. Phone mode worked fine - DeX I needed to set it to full screen because Zwift doesn't support DeX.

    Just plugged the USB-C to HDMI adapter in , then the HDMI to DVI cable into that (my work laptop has HDMI, monitor DVI). If you only want one cable, and have DVI input to the monitor, I think you want one of these:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Benfei-USB-C-Gold-Plated-Compatible-MacBook/dp/B07HFDDGQ2
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,712
    dsorby2 said:

    I'm using zwift through my phone at the moment and cannot afford a TV and apple TV combo.

    If I bought a type C to VGC cable would I be able to run zwift from my phone onto a computer monitor?

    Can you use Zwift just on a phone?
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,208

    dsorby2 said:

    I'm using zwift through my phone at the moment and cannot afford a TV and apple TV combo.

    If I bought a type C to VGC cable would I be able to run zwift from my phone onto a computer monitor?

    Can you use Zwift just on a phone?
    Yes, but depends on the phone whether you can link to ant+ sensors through either a built in receiver or the USB.

    I'm not certain it's in full release, but here's the link

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zwift.zwiftgame
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    edited March 2021
    Yes, it is a full release as far as I am aware. It runs fine on my Galaxy S10 (and also on my wife's iPhone something. SE I think? The newer one that looks like the older 6).

    My Galaxy has built in ANT+, I think the iPhone is BT only.

    Obviously the main problem is that the screen is tiny. I ran it by mirroring to Chromecast for a little while as a stop gap. I understand the graphics on Android will never be as good as they can be on PC, but that's not really a big problem on Zwift.
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,712
    My phone said it wasnt compatable !
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078

    My phone said it wasnt compatable !

    Yeah, won't run on a Nokia 3310
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,712
    Mine is older than that ;)
  • Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. It works fine on my Galaxy S10 (and also on my wife's iPhone. SE I think the new one looks like the old 6).

    My Galaxy has built in ANT +, I think the iPhone is just BT.

    Obviously the real problem is that the screen is small. I put a mirror on the chrome cast for a while as a stop gap and operated it. I don't think the graphics on Android will be as good as they could be on a PC, but that's not really a big deal on Zetlift.