With the Google TV Streamer I have mixed feelings: although I think it is the ideal device for enthusiasts like me, it means goodbye to the Chromecast, a mass gadget due to its performance/cost ratio pupil. Because there is an undeniable reality: 119 dollars is a considerable price if you want to watch Netflix, Max and nothing else.
The best thing about Google TV devices is the Google TV (by extension Android TV) experience, but the company’s Mountain View operating system is available on other devices. The problem ? They are old and not exactly cheap.this is why Google can launch its streamer with rather modest and obsolete hardware and be enough to renew its reign.
The Google TV Streamer is in no man’s land: it’s not cheap but it’s not powerful either
The Google TV Streamer costs almost twice as much as the Google Chromecast 4K and that’s a great deal if you only want it to watch your streaming platforms when you get home from work because In practice, it’s not twice as good either.despite the fact that it has an Ethernet jack, more RAM and capacity (more precisely, double the RAM and four times the storage of the Chromecast 4K).
Without going any further, it does not support the most modern Wi-Fi standards and as detailed in Android Authority, it mounts an old SoC, the MediaTek MT8696, present in the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Yes, it’s maybe 22% faster, but This is something logical and normal given that four years since the launch of Chromecast with Google TV 4K. On the other hand, Android TV and Google TV are in my opinion the best operating systems for a TV, but that does not mean that they have no limitations or room for improvement.
In fact, Chromecast with Google TV are the devices that I recommended the most because, without being powerful, they offered good performance for this simple use which consists of installing the streaming services to which we subscribe and watching a few series . For me, they were the best devices in Google historyas well as a mainstream, blockbuster device for the masses (I’ll admit it: I loved Stadia madly).
Yes, a 2021 chip, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of capacity is nothing to write home about and 22% faster means noticing a noticeable, but not beastly, difference. This is the first device with Android 14 and this will result in performance improvements, but I insist: nothing catastrophic.
It’s time to talk about competition. With the Google TV Streamer exceeding the 100 euro mark, it inevitably changes leagues to compete with the best. Leaving aside the Apple TV 4K, which is hitting the streets thanks to the performance of the A15 chip, because it is another ecosystem, outlook is bleak on Android.
He Google TV Streamer wins with the minimum to the only two big rivals on Android: being more modern and nothing else. So, the very old Nvidia Shield TVs have more luster behind them and the NVIDIA Tegra X1+ nevertheless offers good performance. The Nokia Streaming Box 8010, with more than two years of life, with the same RAM and capacity but an mlogic S905X4-K chipset and a higher recommended price.
Note that both have been on the market for a long time and yet, they do not have much to envy in terms of performance. Nokia and Nvidia have created devices powerful enough to withstand the passing years decently, but Google’s streamer was born with just the right amount. Unless these (or other renowned brands in the ecosystem) renew the device, They crush Google’s lousy proposal.
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