Chromecast with Google TV - 4K – Snow Review
Google's Chromecast with Google TV (2020) is a revelation-it
fixes uncorrupted content and improves near-perfect technology in a tangible
way. This is all thanks to the remote control and Google’s "new"
software Google TV.
The combination of the two provides higher usability than
the previous Chromecast, which requires you to use your phone or tablet to
deliver content instead of interacting on the screen.
However, now that Google has added a dedicated TV interface
that can be controlled via a remote control, you can instantly access most
major streaming services, including Disney Plus, HBO Max and even the streaming
application of its biggest competitor, Amazon Prime Video. . Most importantly,
there are many applications inherited from Android TV, the predecessor of
Google TV. These applications introduce games and productivity applications to
streaming media.
Price analysis and release date
- Available in the US on September 30
- Costs $49.99 / £59.99 / AU$99
- The new middle-child of Google’s Chromecast lineup
Chromecast with Google TV will be available in three colors
(Snow White, Sunrise Peach and Sky Blue) in the United States starting
September 30, 2020, and can be found in the Google Store in the United Kingdom,
Australia, Canada and most countries Make a reservation for Continental Europe.
In terms of price, your price is $49/£59/AU$99, which is $20
higher than Chromecast (third generation) and $20 lower than Chromecast Ultra.
In the UK or Australia, this is not a good deal, especially when you buy the
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for £49/AU$69 (the price will drop around Amazon Prime
Day) – but the price is still lower , For example, the price of Nvidia Shield
based on Android TV is almost three times that.
Well, the new Chromecast with Google TV is just right for
the intermediate products in the Chromecast series: It can play 4K HDR through
Dolby Vision, making it better than the basic Chromecast, but it can’t play
games like Chromecast Ultra. Not having Stadia is unfortunate, but not breaking
the deal.
Design
- Ovular design akin to the original Chromecast
- Comes with a remote!
- Can be powered by some TVs, or from the wall
In the past three years, Google’s Chromecast device has
maintained a hockey shape, and the same is true on Chromecast with Google TV.
The latest design is slightly longer than the previous design, but overall, it
is very similar to the previous design.
Once again, you will connect the Chromecast to the TV via a
connected HDMI cable (thankfully, using the latest specification HDMI 2.1) and
get power from a wall outlet or a USB port on the TV... if you are lucky.
We actually plugged the Chromecast into the back of the new
Vizio V series TV and were told that we could not get enough power from the
device's USB port. This can be frustrating for people who don’t have many free
power outlets left near the entertainment center, but most people will not be
bothered by plugging the Chromecast into the wall.
Unlike Chromecast Ultra, Chromecast with Google TV does not
have an Ethernet jack, which means it can only be used over Wi-Fi. According to
Google, you can buy a USB-C to Ethernet adapter for Chromecast with Google TV,
but it is not in the box.
More positively, this newly improved Chromecast is indeed
equipped with a Bluetooth/IR remote control. The plastic zipper is a bit
fragile, but it is equipped with a circular keyboard, side volume keys and
eight front buttons. If your TV supports HDMI-CEC, you can use the Chromecast
remote to control the TV’s volume, and even turn off the TV and Chromecast
after watching.
Because this is the first improved Google TV product, there
is of course a Google Assistant button on its remote control, you can use it to
summon the virtual assistant of the same name-we will discuss in detail in the
next section.
Features
- You’ll need a Google account to use it
- Casting works with iOS and Android phones
- Most streaming apps are here except Apple TV and Stadia
Just as you would expect a product with "Google
TV" in the name, the new Chromecast can indeed meet the needs of the
Android audience: you will use your Google account as the login name of the
device, and then you can access Google Assistant, YouTube / YouTube TV (If you
have an account), Play Store, Google Photos and Nest devices (if you have one).
Interestingly, this is not the first Android TV-based device
with Google Assistant-Sony TV has been in use for many years, and even the new
Nvidia Shield uses it-but it does feel good here. For those who care about
privacy, Google Assistant will only open when you press a button on the remote
control, and you can completely disable the service when you log in with your
Google account at startup.
With your Google account, the main screen of the Chromecast
user interface will also display relevant and recommended content. If you are
familiar with Android TV, then you will all seem to be very familiar, but for
those who are just starting to use it, this is indeed a true record of content
compiled from different sources. For example, on our home screen, we have
"Captain America: The First Avenger" (most likely because we ordered
Marvel movies in turn) and "Parks and Entertainment", as well as
other comedies and science fiction movies.
Scroll down a few more times from the recommended content
line, and you will find that Netflix-style content lines are grouped by
category, from YouTube recommended video lines, and finally trend analysis of
shows and movies. Moving from the "Ready for You" tab, you will find
separate areas for movies, TV shows, apps, and your own media library, which
can be very poor unless you often buy movies from Google Play Movies & TV.
There is also a "Live TV" section, but this section will only appear
after you subscribe to YouTube TV. (Google does provide a free trial version in
the box, but after the trial period ends, you still need to pay.)
When you choose something to watch, you can start watching
it immediately, or you can add it to the Watch List so that you can find it
again later. Google TV also uses a thumb-up/thumb-down system to help you
improve its suggestions. Last but not least, it has a midway built-in search
function that can show you several ways to stream a certain movie or TV show,
but it is not as powerful as Roku's built-in search engine.
The interface is not revolutionary and can feel a bit basic,
but this is actually our biggest complaint so far, otherwise Google TV seems
easy to use and can get the job done.
When you choose something to watch, you can start watching
it right away, or you can add it to the Watch List so you can find it again
later. Google TV also uses a thumb-up/thumb-down system to help you improve
suggestions. Last but not least, it has a built-in search function midway that
can show you several ways to stream certain movies or TV shows, but it is not
as powerful as Roku's built-in search engine.
The interface is not revolutionary, it feels somewhat basic,
but this is actually our biggest complaint so far, otherwise Google TV seems
easy to use and can get the job done.
Performance
- Rock-steady streaming, even in low-bandwidth households
- Small bit of noticeable pop-in upon setup
- Support for 4K HDR (HDR10+, Dolby Vision) and Dolby Atmos
The performance of Chromecast equipped with Google TV is
amazing and can rival the competition. Google has not yet clearly understood
the internals of the system-level hardware, but no matter which SoC we choose
to use, we rarely see Chromecast degrading performance-especially once we
choose which content we want to watch.
In fact, the only real slowdown we noticed was at startup,
when the Chromecast first filled the user interface for the first time-it took
a few seconds, but it didn't take a lot of time. What impressed us is that the
hardware seems to work near routers and places with weak signals, and it seems
that the bandwidth is smaller. If you plan to watch 4K HDR content, we do not
recommend you to try it.
It can be said that Chromecast with Google TV can be
streamed in 1080p or 4K HDR and supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats-we
recommend you to test them at some point because they look great. For
audiophiles, the new Chromecast supports DTS, Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital Plus
and Dolby Atmos formats, but like HDR formats, you need a compatible TV and/or
sound system to actually hear them.
Watching Dolby Vision content and regular HD SDR streams on
TV looks good, although you should not expect the stream to do any heavy
lifting in terms of upgrades or post-processing. What you see is what you get.
In order to get the maximum resolution and high-end format
of video streaming, we recommend that you use the remote control to use
Chromecast’s native Google TV application, as this is where you are most likely
to find it. However, if you just want to browse the content quickly, you can
combine Chromecast with Google TV through a web browser, iOS or Android device,
like regular Chromecast by Casting, which is very convenient.
The only practical limitation we encountered at the hardware
level is that the Chromecast with Google TV does not yet support Stadia. For
everyone, this may not break the deal, but for those looking for an all-sing,
all-dance streaming player that can play the latest games, this is just a small
warning.
Thank you
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