If one thing is apparent from the announcement of the new Google TV Streamer — whose name is right down there with the Onn 4K Streaming Device — it’s this: I’m not going to be getting rid of my old Chromecast with Google TV anytime soon. Especially now that Google has announced it’s not going to make anymore.
And that’s despite the fact that Google says its new streamer is better in so many ways and that it’s the best Google TV device. And, yeah, it might well be, with a faster processor and four times more storage. And with support for the Thread and Matter smartphone standards. And with Ethernet. And an improved remote. And Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, with spatial audio if you’re using Pixel Buds.
That’s all good. Really good, even, given the $100 price, which comes in under Apple TV 4K, which we’ve long considered to be the best streaming device you can buy.
But one thing this new Google TV Streamer lacks over its predecessor — and it’s something that I talked about a bit in our full Google TV Streamer review — is a smaller stature. It’s a good bit bigger than the old Chromecast with Google TV and will definitely take up more room in a bag. That’s by design, of course. And that Google TV Streamer is not a dongle also means that you’re really going to need some place to put it, and not just let it hang off the side (or back) of a TV. That could be a real problem in hotels, which is where I tend to use my Chromecast with Google TV.
Then there’s the matter of that price, too. While I think $100 is just fine for something you’re going to use at home, that’s twice as much as the device that I might well accidentally leave in a hotel room when I’m packing in a panic because I totally overslept. A $50 dongle is one thing to forget in Fargo. A $100 streaming surfboard (that’s still what it looks like to me) is something else entirely.
Plus, I don’t need support for Thread and Matter when I’m on the road — those are smart home things. Same goes for Ethernet, which almost certainly won’t reach a wall-mounted TV in a hotel room.
So for the foreseeable future, the OG Chromecast with Google TV still has a place in my gear bag.
