I love the Chromecast with Google TV streaming dongle. I have several throughout my home, including a budget Chromecast HD in the family room where my kid binge-watches Bluey. But admittedly, the dongle feels out of place in the living room, the main place for watching TV. That’s the room that houses the sound bar and the countless other fun boxes. It’s the room where I ask people to sit down when they come over and show them the stuff I have. No one is going to admire a dongle. Next to other devices connected to the TV, the Chromecast with Google TV is merely this thing sticking out of the back without any extra ports or connectivity. You need a little more than that for the primary big screen in the house.
The new Google TV Streamer has been redesigned with that in mind, though it costs twice as much as the dongle. It looks like a set-top box this time, and you can hide it behind the TV or set it in front like any other tchotchke. It’s oblong-shaped, like the Chromecast with Google TV that came before it, but with a flattened base to match what you’d see on the Nest displays. There’s an Ethernet port directly on the Google TV Streamer, plus USB-C, HDMI, and a reset button. That button can also help you locate the remote, which has a speaker to chirp, making it easier to find when it goes between the couch cushions. The other upside to the Google TV Streamer, which helps justify its $100 price, is that it’s a smart home hub. It has the Matter protocol built in.
The revamped remote is another element of this streaming package. It’s larger, has improved ergonomics, and has a volume button on the remote rather than on the side. I’m still getting used to the new placement. I’ve become well-trained to thumb the right side of the remote for the volume. You can program an app with a new shortcut button next to the power button at the bottom of the remote. I’m still unsure what to assign to it. There’s a button for the Google Home control panel and a microphone button for voice control. There are also buttons for Netflix and YouTube on the remote.
The Google TV Streamer is the first time Google made a streaming set-top box that wasn’t just a dongle you plug into the TV. I’m still testing it out, though I did get a chance to set it up. The setup is the same as its predecessors, though you’ll have to fetch an HDMI cable for it this time since there isn’t one built into the device. The HDMI cable sticks out if you don’t have a white cable like Google does in its marketing. I’ll have more to report in an upcoming review.
The new Google TV Streamer is available to buy for $100. If it’s out of your budget, Google still sells the $30 and $50 Chromecast dongles.
