Is It The Best 4K Streamer For The Money?
it only took 5 years but Google FINALLY decided to give us a Chromecast with a remote! So this is the new Google Chromecast which is officially known as Chromecast with Google TV.
So who is this for? Well this would be great for anyone who either doesn't have a Smart TV (maybe you're using a projector), or you hate the interface on your TV and want something that's easier to use and more powerful.
Priced at $50 can can this be a good alternative to the beloved Nvidia Shield or Apple TV?
This is clearly the bulkiest Chromecast we've seen so far but it's still pretty small considering all that it can do. It's available in 3 colors which are snow, sunrise, and sky. The remotes and even the batteries match the color of the Chromecast which is interesting. The sunrise color kind of reminds me of those salmon colored bathrooms from the 70s. I personally would have just preferred black but you know Google likes to be different.
What’s The Big Deal?
Okay so what's the big deal with this thing. Well up until now if you wanted a 4K streamer that was good for HDR and Dolby Vision you had to spend over $100. For $50 this could be a steal considering what you're getting. Of course it has the Google Assistant built in so it has great voice control. It comes with 8GB of onboard storage which can be expanded with a USB Type C adapter, it supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos. It also has HDMI-CEC, Wireless AC, and Bluetooth.
My favorite streamer has always been the Nvidia Shield but with the cheapest Shield being priced at $150 it's a bit too pricey to recommend to the average person. Then there's the Apple TV which also one of the best but just as expensive as the shield. Then of course you have the new Roku Ultra which now has Dolby Vision support but even that is $100. So considering the price and it’s not only a great alternative to the more expensive streamers but it basically makes the Fire TV irrelevant in my opinion.
Voice Remote
Before we get to the interface let's talk a little bit about the voice remote. It's not the most comfortable or best looking remote but it gets the job done. On the top you'll find the directional pad and ok button, and below that you have the navigation buttons, google assistant button since of course the Chromecast has the google assistant built in, dedicated buttons for Youtube and Netflix, and at the bottom are the power button, source button for your tv, and the the tiny hole is gonna be the microphone. The volume buttons are on the right hand side and the top has an IR sensor. My biggest two gripes with this remote is that it doesn't have any media control buttons like pause, fast forward, or rewind and the buttons aren't backlit. Now the media buttons aren't really a big deal but backlit buttons would have been nice. What is cool about this remote is that it can use both HDMI CEC or infrared to control your devices. If you're not familiar with HDMI CEC I did a video about it last year and I'll put a link in the video description if you're interested. Even if you don't use HDMI CEC the IR Blaster allows you to use the remote to control your TV, home theater receiver, or sound bar which is pretty cool.
Setup
Setting up the Chromecast was a breeze. The onscreen instructions walk you through everything and you use the Google Home app to get it set up. My remote worked right out of the box but if yours doesn’t you can easily pair it to the Chromecast using the onscreen instructions. Once that's done you open the google home app, have it find the new device, then scan the QR code on the screen and it'll help you get it added to your Wifi then let's you customize it to your liking.
The Google TV interface is pretty clean and easy to navigate. It's basically Android TV with Google's own overlay. I personally think it's a nice interface that's pretty intuitive. The "For You" section shows recommendations from the available apps you have installed and right below that is your list of apps. It has a live TV section that works great for cord cutters who are using YouTube TV and it has separate sections for movies, shows, and apps.
One of the best features from Google TV is that when you search for a show or movie, it shows results from multiple apps and lets you play it from whatever app you want. And one of my favorite features of Google TV (or Android TV for that matter) is that not only do you get access to a ton of apps from the Play store but even if you want that weird app that's not available you can still sideload onto the Chromecast if you're tech savvy.
Performance
Okay what about performance. Well I have to say I was really impressed with the performance considering the price. I was able to play most 4K HDR content without a single issue and little to no buffering. Even some of the high bitrate movies that I have on my Plex server played without any hiccups which really surprised me. The only movie I had issues playing was Gemini Man which I've found to be notoriously tough for a Wifi streamer considering it's 4K HDR @ 60fps with a really high bitrate. When I tried to play this movie it did a lot of buffering but considering it's on Wifi I kind of expected this. I would imagine this might be fixed by using the ethernet adapter which you can buy for $20 from Google. Playing movies from other apps like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube worked flawlessly so I wouldn't let this bother me too much. Overall, movies and TV look great on this thing and considering it handled some of the toughest content I could throw at it, I think it would work great for most people.
Gaming
Even though this isn't really marketed as a gaming console I was surprised at how well it worked for games. It even has ALLM to help reduce latency if your TV supports it. Now it's not nearly as good as the Nvidia shield but I was able to sync up my Xbox One X controller to it via Bluetooth and play some 3D games. The native Android TV games aren't that great but they do look pretty good and work great for this to be a budget streamer.
Even though you might expect that it would support Stadia which is Google's own game streaming service it actually doesn't support it just yet. But what’s awesome is that since you can sideload apps onto it, I was able to install the Xbox Streaming App and play my Xbox games right on the Chromecast. I was honestly surprised this worked and it's really a gamechanger. Even if you don't have an Xbox you can still sideload your favorite Addddddndroid apps even though some of them might not perform as nicely as they do on your phone.
New Chromecast vs. Nvidia Shield
So speaking of the Nvidia Shield how does it stack up? Well to date the Shield has been my favorite 4k streamer / gaming console with the only real competition being the Apple TV. The Shield comes in two variants, which are the shield TV tube, and the Shield Pro which are priced at $150, and $200 respectively. Even though they are priced much higher you get better performance and several features that you won't find on the Chromecast.
First, the shield comes with an Nvidia Tegra X1+ processor. This allows you to play games and of course 4k content without skipping a beat. The Shield also has a micro-sd card slot or USB port depending on which one you get. You can add ports to the Chromecast using an adapter but you have to spend more money to do that. The Shield also has software features such as AI 4K upscaling which works really well and the Shield Pro can even work as a Plex server. The Shield also comes with a nicer voice remote since it's backlit, has more navigation buttons, media control buttons and even a remote finder.
As far as the software interface I'd almost say it's a tie. The Shield is running Android TV which is better for some things but some parts of the Google TV are a little more intuitive for the average person. One thing I noticed was that the Shield had more advanced system options compared to the Chromecast. Even in the advanced menu options of the Chromecast you don't get many settings compared to the endless customization options you get from the Shield. But other than that they're very close when it comes to the interface.
The biggest difference is processing power and the fact that the Shield is technically a gaming console. Now don't get me wrong, it's not going to compete with a Playstation or Xbox but it's great for kids or casual gamers. You can even stream some of your favorite games right the Nvidia servers or install the Stadia app and start gaming in seconds without worrying about using up local storage. But again, this comes at a premium since even the cheapest shield still costs $100 more than the new Chromecast.
Conclusion
Overall I'm really impressed with the new Chromecast and I think it might be the best streamer for the money. Even setting the price aside I would argue that you're getting pretty much everything you could ever ask for from a 4K streamer. You get voice control, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos support. You also get access to all of your favorite streaming apps, and great performance. From now on when someone asks me what streamer I'd recommend and they don't want to spend over $100 my answer is definitely gonna be the Chromecast.
Buy the Chromecast with Google TV: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/chromecast-with-google-tv-4k-snow/6425976.p?skuId=6425976
Buy the Nvidia Shield on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ohrTE2
Buy the Nvidia Shield Tube On Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ToVi0N
TV/Monitor Used In The Video - BenQ EW3280U 4k Gaming Monitor: https://amzn.to/35zcmH6
