I converted an old Android tablet that I no longer used into a portable smart TV to watch TV anywhere

Having an old tablet in a drawer is wasting it, because even if it is a few years old and is not the most powerful in the world, you can take advantage of it by recycling it. That’s what we did with my mother-in-law’s Huawei MediaPad T5, which we now have transformed into a portable smart TV to take anywhere.

How to Turn an Old Android Tablet into a Portable Smart TV

The old tabletThe Huawei tablet that we have at home, in addition to being a veteran, is entry-level, with fairly modest features but sufficient for this usage scenario: only 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage, with the Android 8.0 operating system with the EMUI 8.0 customization layer of the Chinese firm.

But Its screen is not bad at all, and that’s the most interesting thing.: It is IPS type with Full HD resolution and a diagonal of 10.1″. The chassis is made of metal and its internal 5,100 mAh battery allows you to watch a movie and a few episodes without any problem without going through the socket.

The procedure was so simple how to install an application, especially ATV Launcher, although there are other applications that simplify the Android interface to turn it into a launcher similar to that of a smart TV.

Why did I choose ATV Launcher? First, because it’s the one that most closely resembles the Android TV interface. But I also like the customization options it offers, allowing you to change the wallpaper, organize the distribution of the tablet’s applications, customize the grid, change the format of the icons or even add widgets. The cherry on the cake is that it’s free.

Finally, it is optimized for navigation using the d-pad, for connecting an old gamepad via Bluetooth and use it as a remote control

After installation I went up to the upper area the streaming service apps we have a subscription tosince these are the only ones we will use (for surfing the Internet, checking emails or playing games, we already have a more recent iPad).

Since we have the tablet with a case with stand, we already have everything we need: just tap on the large icons to access the applications like Netflix, Atresplayer or DAZN to open them and view the content.