Smartphones are amazing gaming devices, and very popular, too – almost all smartphone users install at least one game on their handsets within a week from purchasing a device. The variety of free-to-play and freemium games running on smartphones is amazing. But every iPhone, iPad and Android gaming app has one major shortcoming compared to PC and console games: the small screen size that makes them far less immersive. But you can play smartphone games on your PC, and without going through the often troublesome process of installing an Android emulator (basically a virtual Android operating system) on your PC. The solution is far simpler: use an app to mirror your phone’s screen on your PC, and play using your mouse. And you can do so using the apps below.
SideSync
SideSync is more than just a screen mirroring app. Available exclusively for Samsung phones, the app allows its users not only to display their phone’s screen on a larger one through a USB or WiFi connection, but to initiate and take calls through the PC’s sound system, send and receive text messages, and even play video and sound in full screen – actually everything is happening on the phone, with the input and the output being passed through the PC.
Unlike many of its third-party counterparts, SideSync has a full set of features available to its users completely free of charge. Unfortunately for users of other phones, it is a Samsung exclusive.
ApowerMirror
ApowerMirror is almost like a Swiss army knife for screen mirroring across operating systems. It allows users to mirror their Android phone screen and control the phone remotely on Windows and Apple computers, and even allows the sharing of the screen of iOS devices like iPhones and iPads to the screen of an Android phone. Its features are similar to those offered by SideSync: users can control their phones using their keyboards and mice, record and capture the phone screen, receive Android notifications on PC, and play any game on the PC while it still runs on the phone.
The Free version of the app is fully featured but will place a watermark on the screenshots and videos recorded. The Personal version (with no watermark and not for commercial use) costs $69.95.
Screen Mirroring
Screen Mirroring is an Android app that allows its users to project their phone’s screen to a Smart TV or Miracast and Chromecast enabled devices. Compared to the apps above, its capabilities are reduced, but it is perfect for quickly beaming the content of the phone to a large screen – for gaming, watching videos, and such. And it can do this even without cables, via WiFi.