A first look at Google’s upcoming streaming device, designed to replace the Chromecast with Google TV stick as its flagship, suggests that the company is dropping the dongle in favor of a more Apple TV-esque design.
The new Google TV Streamer is a set-top box that will succeed the Chromecast with Google TV that was launched in 2020, according to a report by 9to5Google, which obtained images of the device.
From the pictures it published, it’s clear that the Google TV Streamer, as the device is tentatively known, isn’t something that plugs directly into the back of your TV set like the old dongle does. Instead, it’s designed to sit on a table or TV stand next to the TV or slightly away from it. It’s a similar size to the Apple TV 4K box, and has a kind of pill-shape that tilts forward, making it look more like a large wireless charging pad than any kind of set-top box. We can see two cables connected to the Google TV Streamer from the back, but the images don’t reveal the exact nature of those cables, so there’s no real clue as to what those inputs are.
The picture shows the Google TV Streamer in white, but it’s not clear if there might be other colours available, as is the case with the most recent Chromecast with Google TV (4K). On the other hand, we can see from the pictures that there will be a newly designed remote control, which somewhat resembles the one that comes with the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) device, with a few differences. For one thing, it’s longer and it has more buttons. While it retains the circular directional pad at the top for navigation and enter button, there are additional back and home buttons underneath.
There also appears to be a microphone button, replacing the old Google Assistant button, and the volume controls are more prominently placed, whereas before they were embedded on the side of the remote control. In addition, there is a mute button and quick launch icons for Netflix and YouTube, and there's a customizable button that was first popularized by Walmart’s Onn Google TV streaming box.
Apart from the pictures, other details of the Google TV Streamer are scant, though we can say that the device will almost certainly support 4K streaming, in line with the most recent Chromecast dongle. We imagine it should also ship with the latest version of Android TV (14), though it will of course have the Google TV skin. We don’t have any idea how much it will cost, but given that it’s bigger and supposedly better than the Chromecast with Google TV (4K), it may well cost a bit more than that device’s $49.99 price tag.
We can expect to see more of the device at Google’s upcoming product launch event, which is set to take place on August 13. The flagship products at that launch are thought to be the new Pixel 9 smartphone and Pixel 3 watch, but there is a decent chance the Google TV Streamer will also make its debut there.
