Google has revealed that it’s retiring its Chromecast streaming dongles in favor of a new, streaming box called the Google TV Streamer, which looks like it’s going to go head-to-head with the Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra set-top boxes.
The new device will cost quite a bit more than Google’s Chromecast devices, priced at £99 in the U.K. and $99 in the U.S., but it’s still relatively affordable and has some nice additional features not seen on its earlier dongles.
The most notable difference with the Google TV Streamer and the Chromecasts it succeeds is that it’s much bigger, designed to take pride of place next to your TV rather than hidden behind it. It’s very obviously a streaming box but it looks stylish, with a slim body and round, rectangular shape that mimics that of a wireless phone charger. Onboard, there is lots of horsepower and plenty of functionality to get the most out of your viewing experience.
The box itself connects to any TV that has a HDMI port, and on the back of the device it has a single HDMI 2.1 slot of its own. Google said it’s capable of streaming 4K content at up to 60 frames per second, and it supports HDR content such as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR, HDR10 and HLG, as well as surround sound standards like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus, making it compatible with a lot of different TVs.
It comes with the Google TV operating system, of course, and it’s powered by a brand new processor that’s superior to the one found in the most recent Chromecast with Google TV device. According to the company, this makes it 22% faster, and there is 4GB of RAM for processing and 32GB of storage space.
In its press release, Google spoke about lots of AI-powered and personalized content recommendations. Also, Google’s generative AI chatbot Gemini is onboard, providing instant summaries of various TVs and Shows you happen to be browsing through, to make it easier to decide what to watch. It can also summarize the user reviews.
Just like Samsung’s The Frame TV and Amazon’s Fire TV devices, the Google TV Streamer will be able to display works of art on screen when it’s not being used for anything else. In addition, users can create their own, customized screensavers using generative AI - simply describe a scene or art concept and it will whip something up that matches your request.
Another standout feature is the Smart Home panel that looks a lot like the Google Home app found on smartphones, and there’s a new remote control that’s slightly longer and has a more balanced feel than the one that comes with the Chromecast. It also has an extra “custom” button that users can set to quick start an app of their choosing, and there’s a built-in microphone for Google Assistant.
Android device users may also appreciate the integrated Find My Device feature, which can be used to find a linked device and the remote control, should it happen to get lost somewhere.
All told, it’s clear that Google is opting to go with a more premium device strategy as it replaces the outgoing Chromecast, but it remains to be seen how well that goes, as the Chromecast was less than half the price and extremely popular. That said, with a price that’s just shy of £100, it still falls firmly in the affordable device segment, and it costs a lot less than the Apple TV 4K devices that it is inevitably going to be compared with.
Google said customers can pre-order the Google TV Streamer now, and it will start shipping on September 24 in the U.S. A launch date for the U.K. has not yet been confirmed.
As for the Chromecast, those who still want to buy one will have to move fast. The company said the remaining stock in its own stores and at authorized resellers will continue to be sold, but once that has gone, there won’t be anymore – except for on the secondhand market. Chromecast will continue to receive software updates for the foreseeable future, though.
