Can I turn my old Huawei without a screen into an Android TV / Emulator?

by Smassoog

Hi :), I have an old Huawei Mate 20 Pro with no screen (LCD was broken) and I really want to turn it into a Android TV / Emulator. Currently I have it docked through HDMI, using a mouse, keyboard and controller to my TV. I have a few problems.

- Firstly, The resolution is set to 4k on my phone and my TV can support 4k 30fps only, so I'm looking for a way to change my resolution to something lower for higher frame rates since I want to output smooth emulation. I have seen operating systems that allows changing the resolution and aspect ratio (also want to change it to 16:9) so I am open to hearing ways to flash a new OS (somehow, with no screen on my device)

- Secondly, I don't know how to flash an operating system when I quite literally don't have a screen.

I would also want to know how much performance loss/gain I would get from switching operating systems and also what operating system you guys recommend for a powerful Android TV / Gaming Console (mostly)

I apologise for my messy writing, thanks to everyone who helps in advance!!

lucklouie

Can you sell it for parts and buy a Chromecast with google tv?

MoccaFix-GOLD

The easiest way to do it would probably be to get a USB-C -> HDMI adapter, hook it up to your tv, connect a bluetooth remote, and install a 3rd party TV-style launcher from the Play Store.

It wouldn't be a true ATV experience and you'd still have issues with it being the mobile version of the Play Store instead of the TV version, though. Someone somewhere probably makes an ATV rom you can flash but idk how much luck you'd have installing it without a functioning screen, and it would almost certainly have DRM issues with stuff like Netflix anyway.

As the other commenter said, you'll be much happier in the long run dropping $30-$50 on an actual ATV dongle.

WazWaz

You might be able to change the max resolution in the TV settings. It's negotiated between both sides with HDMI.

virmele

You won't flash another OS as you can't really enter and navigate fastboot/recovery without screen. You won't find flashable android TV, because unlike regular android, android TV is not open source. But you can change resolution and dpi through ADB commands. Simple Google search will give you those commands.