Kellen
The new Google TV Streamer is launching tomorrow and we’ve had the chance to test one out for the past week or so. Since I don’t consider us to have had enough time to complete a full review, I thought we would at least walk through some first impressions on the device, because I know that some of you are considering one.
First, for those who missed out on this announcement just prior to the Made by Google event for the Pixel 9, there was a short online-only Google TV Streamer unveiling. The device is Google’s new streaming product that will take the place of the Chromecast with Google TV, has a more powerful processor to reduce the sluggishness that plagued that old unit, supports 4K HDR content and all of the Dolby stuff, and is priced at $99. It also sports a new form factor that is bigger and is meant to sit on a shelf or your TV stand.
So to recap, the Google TV Streamer is a more expensive Google TV-powered device with double the price, more power, more storage and RAM, and a bigger form factor than the Chromecast with Google TV.
What’s good about it so far?
Performance improvements are big. The original Chromecast with Google TV is not a device I care for. While I appreciate the low price and small form factor, that device always frustrated me with a number of bugs, as well as its sluggish performance when first booting up and almost any other interactions I had with it. It could speed up the more you used it in a session, but overall, the device was annoying enough in use that I took it off of most of my TVs because I just had so many issues with it.
The new Google TV Streamer is said to bring a “giant leap in performance” through a new processor that has a 22% faster CPU. Google also doubled storage to 32GB and bumped the RAM to 4GB. After spending several days with it, all I can tell you is that there really is a massive improvement in performance. This is night and day levels of improvement.
The device boots almost instantly and is ready for you to move about the UI without delay. The old unit needed to warm up and typically lagged for the first couple of minutes, while this one just works. Like, I plugged it in, turned it on, set things up, and it’s run flawlessly with speed and smoothness. It also seems to have auto-adopted proper volume controls on one TV that I have a soundbar through and has even been able to control the power of this super cheap TCL TV I keep in my garage.
I have had the old Chromecast with Google TV on at least two different TVs in my house and both have experienced this issue where they don’t turn on with the press of the power button, so you typically need to physically unplug them from the back of the TV in order to get them to then work. It’s been an ongoing mess that I’ve had to deal with because either my wife or kid can’t reach those spots to unplug and replug. This new Google TV streamer hasn’t had any of those issues, turns on the TVs I’ve programmed it to, and is often fired up and active before the TV has even fully turned on. It’s been amazing.
Again, we’re still testing this device on as many TVs as I can, but so far this really is looking like the “giant leap” that Google claims.
New remote is awesome. One of the other big changes for this new Google TV Streamer comes through the remote. The old Chromecast with Google TV remote was tiny, slippery as hell, and not very fun to use because of its overall size and placement of volume buttons. For the Google TV Streamer, Google made the remote bigger, moved the volume rocker, and added a new programmable shortcut button.
Guys, this remote might only be about an inch longer, but it is a big improvement. That little bit of length and the move of the volume buttons makes for a more natural or familiar remote experience. You just don’t have to fidget with it as much in order to hit the right buttons. It also has a slight texture to the back, so it’s less slippery. And the little favorite button that replaced the input switcher is pretty handy – I programmed mine to open the new Google Home panel.
What are we still looking at?
The new, bigger design. As far as our continued testing goes, we’re still trying to decide what we think about the new design that’s bigger and requires shelf space near your TV. The old Chromecast with Google TV’s biggest selling point was the fact that you could bury it behind your TV and never (in theory) have to touch it again. This new unit is too big for that, so you would have to try to mount it to a wall or you’ll need to find a good place to set it. For those who might hate the idea of having to hide cables and wires, yeah, that’ll be more difficult with this one.
The design isn’t offensive or anything. It’s like an oblong puck with a triangular lift on the bottom and clean exterior that comes in either Hazel or Porcelain. It requires USB-C power and HDMI, so there are going to be at least two cables coming out of the back that you’ll need to do something with. There’s a network port too if that’s your thing.
The device will look fine sitting next to or under your TV, in case you were wondering. It’s not a large device and it has that Google Home-esque vibe to it that should blend in nicely to furniture and your other decorative items.
Can it replace my SHIELD TV or Apple TV? The other thing we’re still trying to figure out is if this device is good enough to replace the god-tier Android TV device, aka the SHIELD TV, that we have around the house. We also use an Apple TV 4K on our main LG OLED TV, so that’ll be another battle to find a winner from.
Picture quality, usability, etc. And finally, we’re still looking at the obvious stuff, like picture quality on a bunch of different devices. I’m still dealing with app annoyances (that aren’t Google’s fault) from one platform to the next too, plus we just need to live with the Google TV Streamer longer than the week we’ve had it. These things need more testing than that.
Got any questions for us?
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