The Best HDMI Switch

Buying Guide

Have you ever had to remove an electronic device that was plugged into your TV and replace it with another one simply because you didn’t have enough HDMI ports? Not only is it annoying to have to do this, but it can also limit your use of devices and negatively impact your TV experience. The solution? An HDMI switch, which is also sometimes called an HDMI switcher. These handy gadgets enable you to plug in multiple devices into a single HDMI port.

There are plenty of options available when it comes to HDMI switches, and it can be hard to figure out which one has the specs you need. The first thing to look at is how many HDMI ports you require versus how many HDMI ports you currently have. Add up the number of HDMI ports available on your TV and count the number of electronics you want to plug in. This will help you figure out what kind of HDMI switch you need. For example, if you have two extra devices, then opt for an HDMI switch with two or more ports. You can typically find HDMI switches with two, three, four or five ports. Some HDMI switches go up to eight input ports.

• Some HDMI switches are manual, which means that you have to push a button on the switch to indicate which port should be active. Automatic HDMI switches can be more convenient because they will sense which device is powered on and use that one, but they don’t always have seamless operation.
• While you should not experience a drop in quality unless something is wrong with your switch, you don’t want to be viewing low-resolution images as a result of adding an HDMI switch. So, if your TV supports 4K resolution then you’ll want to get an HDMI switch that also supports 4K. Keep in mind that this option is sometimes costly. Many HDMI switches can support 360p, 720p and 1080p.
• If you are plugging in video game consoles, note the refresh rate of your HDMI switch, which may be listed as 30 or 60 Hz. This refers to the number of times the frame refreshes every second, and for gamers this can be an important consideration. Current-generation consoles have games that utilize 60 Hz, so you’ll want to get an HDMI switch that can handle this.
• If you want to connect wireless devices, opt for an HDMI switch with wireless capacity. Some HDMI switches can support both wired and wireless devices at the same time.
• Keep in mind that an HDMI splitter is not the same as an HDMI switch. A splitter has one input and multiple outputs, while a switch has multiple inputs and one output.