Many different mobile phone-based distal pointing techniques have been proposed and evaluated. Interaction with distant large-screen displays, including interactive TV, requires active pointing and selection of target items. In this paper, we empirically compare four different phone-based distal pointing techniques for point-select tasks. Results show that participants prefer a discrete pointing technique using the phone’s touchscreen as a touchpad. This method also achieved the highest accuracy among the techniques studied, with comparable speed. We discuss the implications of our findings for distal interaction.