How to Play Music from Phone to Car

Music is an indispensable of our life, and so are our phones. We bring them with us while we are walking, working, playing, and of course, driving. But does your car share the same up-to-date music library with your phone? Are you trying to play the latest hit jams on your fancy in-car HiFi, only to find out the songs are in your phone instead of your car? In this article, we will show you how to play music from phone to car, so you can make use of the speakers on your car to play your favorite songs on your phone.

Aux (3.5mm port)

Using Aux cable to connect your phone and your car is probably the easiest way to play phone music on your car. If your car speakers have an Aux input port, all you have to do is to find an aux cable, and then connect your phone and your stereo. Please note that it has to be an INPUT port (the port that receives audio signal) instead of an OUTPUT port (the port that transmit audio signal to other device, e.g. earphones, speakers etc.), otherwise your speakers will not receive the signal from your phone. You can get an Aux cable in less than $10 on the market, but most of these cheap cables are found fragile, unstable, and may lose audio signal during the transfer, causing the loss of sound quality. The HV-CB619X Coiled Aux Cable comes with coiled design, L-shape connector and steel spring relief, allowing it to withstand bending and tearing. The 24K golden-plating plugs effectively avoid the loss of sound quality. It will be a good choice if you need a quality Aux cable for your car stereo.

 Pros and Cons of this method

Pro:

• Easy
• Cheap
• Common

Con:

• Tangling cables
• Some phones (e.g. latest iPhone) may not have Aux port

USB Cable

Compared to the need for additional charging cable, the direct use of USB cable to connect the phone to the car can conveniently solve the problem of music playing and mobile phone charging. If your car stereo accepts audio signal transferred via USB, you can just connect your stereo with your phone. With 4.9 Feet of length, the HAVIT CM355 Micro USB cable transfer both audio signal and power.

Pros and Cons of this method

Pro:

• Easy
• Cheap
• Charges the phone as well

Con:

• Tangling cables
• Less common comparing to AUX

Bluetooth

If you would like to play music from phone to car wirelessly, then using Bluetooth is the easiest way. Nowadays Bluetooth is one of the most common features in modern cellphones, and it can be even more common as Apple removed 3.5mm AUX ports from iPhone. However, not all car stereos come with Bluetooth, especially in some older car model. If your car stereos come with Bluetooth feature, then all you have to do is to pair your stereos with your phone; but if your car stereos don’t support Bluetooth, then you may have to find a Bluetooth receiver to receive Bluetooth signal from your phone. A typical Bluetooth receiver is HAVIT HV-BT018. It is a combination of Bluetooth receiver (RX) and Bluetooth transmitter (TX), so besides receiving Bluetooth signal from your phone, it can also transmit audio signal from TV to Bluetooth headphones, but you will only need its Bluetooth receiver feature to connect your phone and your stereos. To use this device, first you need to plug it into the 3.5mm Aux port on your car, and then pair it with your phone. One down side for using HV-BT018 as in-car Bluetooth receiver is that it requires external power to power and charge itself for long time usage, although it comes with internal battery that provides up to 14 hours of playback time, so if you would like to charge this device on your car, you may want to get a car charger, or use HV-BT017 FM Transmitter / Car Charger instead (more details below).

Pros and Cons of this method

Pro:

• Wireless connection
• Easy (if your car comes with Bluetooth)

Con:

• Slightly more expensive than cable connection
• Less common comparing to AUX
• May require car charger

FM Signal

One of the most common audio devices in the car is the radio, and with a FM transmitter, you can wirelessly connect your phone with almost any car radio, and have your radio play music on your phone. First you need to insert your FM Transmitter into the cigarette lighter socket, and then pair the transmitter with your phone via Bluetooth, and that’s how to play music from phone to car wirelessly. There are many FM transmitters in the market, but when it comes to usability, the versatile HAVIT HV-BT017 FM Transmitter / Car Charger is one of the best choices you should consider. Besides broadcasting your music to your radio channels from 87.5-108.0MHz, this small-size device also provides two USB ports that charge your phone or play music from flash drive. It also comes with built-in microphone and a multi-functional button to answer or reject phone calls, so that you can answer your phone hands-free. And unlike HV-BT018 mentioned above, HV-BT017 combines FM Transmitter and car charger, so you don’t need an extra car charger to power the device. HV-BT017 solves your audio output problem as well as your phone charging and call answering problems

Pros and Cons of this method

Pro:

• Wireless connection
• Common
• Charges your phone as well (with HV-BT017)
• Does not require car charger (with HV-BT017)
• Answer your phone calls (with HV-BT017)

Con:

• Slightly more expensive than cable connection
• A few more steps to connect

Conclusion

In this article we explained how to play music from phone to car. With the advance of technology, there will always be new ways to connect your phone and your car stereos, but right now, using AUX, USB, Bluetooth, and FM signal are the most common methods to play music from phone to car. What’s your way to connect your phone and car? Which way do you think is the best? And do you have any other suggestions besides the above methods? Please let us know in the comment.