Connect phone to in car stereo for music?

[richard.w]

I've just bought the Chinese version of a smart phone - Huawei Ascend. It's a great toy I'm struggling to understand!
I want to play my music off the phone through the stereo. I believe I use the 3.5mm jack on the phone, but do I connect it to the USB or the Aux on the stereo? And what is the name of the item I'm looking for?
Many thanks,
Richard

[Harrison]

You should be able to use a 3.5mm - 3.5mm Cable for the aux port (about 50p online), or the USB charger which came with your phone (if one did!)

[AdrianC]

...or the USB charger which came with your phone (if one did!)

Not necessarily - some USB cables are "charge only", and only have the charging pins connected. If it doesn't work, try another USB cable. So long as the connectors are right, it should just work.

[richard.w]

Thanks for that.
The USB cable provided uses a separate port on the phone to charge and synch to my laptop, the connection is not from the 3.5 jack.
I've managed to trace the stereo handbook, It states the Aux input jack as 'stereo mini jack' and can be used to connect portable audio devices. The USB port is shown as 'playing back a USB device'. (Not sure I understand the difference.)
Does this help?
Thanks

[AdrianC]

The USB cable provided uses a separate port on the phone to charge and synch to my laptop, the connection is not from the 3.5 jack.

Yes, but it'll almost certainly work just fine. Gotta be worth a try... You may find there's more features available doing it that way - probably better sound quality, maybe even volume and track control from the head unit.

[richard.w]

Thanks again, I'm struggling a little with the phone settings so as soon as I'm sorted I'll post the result!
Richard

[ghost123uk]

I wouldn't try the USB sockets for this. You could damage summat and there is NO advantage.
A simple 3.5mm "jack to jack" cable (from phone to Aux on stereo) is the easy and best solution.
Like THIS

[richard.w]

Yes, thanks for that. I've subsequently found a Huawei forum and posted regarding the settings. I mentioned the radio scenario and the advice is to use the Aux. Many thanks to you all,
Richard

[Cruz]

I have a Huawei but decided to just buy a cheap 32gb usb stick instead. Never runs out of power

[richard.w]

Ah, your collection is far more extensive than mine, I got the 16gb version! Obviously the jack I'm buying is to play the phone through the van's stereo thereby not having to carry my library with me.
I have found that the phone works on MP3 files but seemingly not WMA. Are you experiencing this problem and if so, what programme are you using to convert the one to the other?

[Cruz]

Don't use wma