Chromecast review with Google TV
Long-term
review of Chromecast with Google TV, key features, apps and services available,
issues and downsides of the device, and our recommendation if you should buy
it.
I have been
using Chromecast with Google TV for the past six months now, and in this
tutorial, I will share with you my experience with it, and what I like about
the most important features, and make sure to stay until the end of the
explanation because this is where I will take you through some of the problems
and negative aspects that I encountered with Chromecast Chromecast and you'll
especially want to follow this part if you like 4K, Dolby Atmos or Dolby
Vision, but let's talk now about the features.
First, Chromecast with Google TV.
And it's the user interface that you see on
Chromecast and it's one of the best parts of using this device in the long term
for one reason:
Recommendations.
Google TV
gives content recommendations very well. I suspect Google TV is the closest to
reaching the desired state of being able to use only a single user interface to
find and discover TV shows and movies to watch versus the way many of us do
today, which is clicking on every application individually to find content.
Google TV recommendations for I've been on the spot for the past six months.
Now part of this is up to the global ranking system by which you can rate the
shows and movies you like with your thumbs up or down, also as a marker on the
shows and movies as watched. The more you do this, the better recommendations
you will get.
Global Watch List - Chromecast with Google TV
Another part
of the program that I absolutely loved using for the past six months is the
ability to add a show to my global watchlist. Gone are the days of having
individual watchlists inside every app. With Chromecast with Google TV, you can
only have a single watch list and add shows to it from a variety of apps and
services.
User interface layout
The Google
TV UI layout also makes a lot of sense. You have a top menu consisting of
search, for movies, TV shows, apps, and library, then your Google profile icon
in the top right which corresponds to other Google apps and where you will find
device settings. Each section is self-explanatory and it's easy to navigate
with a new Chromecast remote control, which I have a lot of feelings for.
Chromecast remote control
My previous
Chromecast was great at casting from your phone to the TV, but it wasn't
something I actually use to watch TV shows or movies because it didn't have a
remote control and I always had to take my phone with me anytime I wanted to
watch something. With this new version of Chromecast, Google solved this
problem and produced a really cool remote. The buttons have a nice feeling file
for them, it's reliably easy to use and I haven't had any issues with it in the
six months I've been using it.
Control other devices remotely
The main
thing that you will be using remotely is to navigate the user interface and you
do this by using the upper, lower and left / right buttons along the top of the
remote control and when you do that you want to click on something, you can
click the middle button inside what looks like Small wheel. If you have a new
TV or other devices such as a set-top box or amplifier in your setup, you can
teach Chromecast with Google TV to turn your devices on and off and control the
volume using either HDMI CEC or using an IR blaster on the remote and in my
experience It worked well.
The only
downside to using an IR blaster which I do because HDMI CEC does not fully work
with my setup for some reason, is that the IR blaster will not always push my
receiver to the correct HDMI input.
Google Assistant - Google Assistan
Now you
might have noticed this dark button on your remote. What does that do? Controls
Google Assistant. To use it, keep holding this button and ask Google for
something. You can ask for different kinds of TV shows or ask them to show a
certain type of content and of course you can ask him for more regular help
things like asking about the weather. Next up services. Now unlike some of the
other streaming devices available, there are currently no disputes between
Google and other content companies over their apps on this device. It comes
with all the mainstream services you would expect like Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO
Max, Hulu in the US, Amazon Prime, Paramount +, etc., and in the six months
that I have been using the device, the Apple TV has been added as well.
Streaming services are available for Chromecast
Another
standout feature of this Chromecast like the one before it was cast. I
mentioned earlier, you can easily cast media from a device like an Android
phone or iOS tablet or computer when you see the cast button available for your
TV. This is one of Chromecast's greatest strengths when compared to other streaming
devices out there because cast support is found in many different types of
apps. Like Spotify, Netflix, Google Photos, etc., and if you have an Android
phone, you can just send whatever appears on your screen to TV with the click
of a button. Next, bluetooth.
Chromecast
with Google TV supports wireless Bluetooth devices such as wireless headphones.
You can pair your wireless headphones with the device in the settings and in my
experience with this feature ... Actually it was fine, but not great. I found
that there is a lot of interference in the bluetooth signal so I can use it in
my experience. And it may be Some of that is because the Chromecast is behind a large
receiver so your experience here may vary depending on your TV setup and audio
system. This is something that didn't work well for me on Chromecast with
Google TV.
Now, let's
dive into a couple of other downsides that I found while using the device. The
first is the lack of universal operating controls. Skip ahead and skip the
previous features don't work the same across all apps. In some apps like Apple
TV Plus, you can only use the left and right buttons to skip forward and skip
back, but in other apps like Disney Plus when you press the left and right
buttons, a popup will appear for you and then you will need to move the
selector to the rewind or fast forward icon and then press The center button is
for fast forward or rewind, which is difficult.
I hope
Google has done something here to enforce a consistent experience across all of
its apps just as Apple does with the Apple TV. Then, if you're a fan of
Netflix, unfortunately Netflix Originals for the past six months won't do any
longer as recommendations in the Google TV UI. Some Netflix content will now
appear in the Recommendation UI format but it appears to be only the things
that Netflix currently licenses, not their own Shows and Movies This is also
supported when you use Google Assistant to show you Netflix a show like Queen's
Gambit, for example, it will give you the Show Watch page, But you cannot rate
the show or tell Google that you have seen it and that is kind of a loss.
Well now the
last big downside includes 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. For
those unfamiliar with Atmos or Vision, Dolby Vision is Doby HDR technology that
gives the picture on your device a TV boost. It makes the bright things in the
photos you see is really cool. Dolby Atmos is Dolby's latest release on audio
technology where instead of having channels like right speaker, left speaker,
etc., Atmos allows sound engineers and mixers to place sounds as 3D
objects around your environment with their speakers.
So things
basically look better and more dynamic. So what exactly does this have to do
with Chromecast? We will, for whatever reason there are certain apps on
Chromecast that don't have content available in Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, or
even 4k at times when they do so on other
devices like Apple TV 4k. Disney Plus doesn't only fully
support 4K resolution overall for content like
Hamilton, Mandalorian, WandaVision, almost everything on the Disney Plus app on
Chromecast is HD, as this is not the case on other devices like my Apple TV 4k. Also,
support for Atmos and Vision is inconsistent in the Hulu and Amazon Prime video
apps. I'm noticing this with the new WeWork documentary from Hulu for example
and Amazon Prime's The Sound of Metal ”which both did not appear in 4k on
Chromecast as they appeared on Apple TV.
Well, given
the downsides and issues I've encountered while using Chromecast with Google TV
for the past six months, do I finally recommend getting one? Well overall, yes.
Google TV's user interface is one of the best I've seen on any streaming device
and at $ 50, it's hard to
overcome all the negatives I had with this device. For $ 50,
that's more than it makes up for when compared to other streaming devices like
Apple TV 4k, which comes in at as much as $ 179.
Now is
Chromecast the main streaming box I'm using right now as it comes with a remote
control? Actually no, due to an issue with 4K Dolby Vision and Atmos content in
certain apps. This is the only use case that I wouldn't recommend getting a Chromecast
with Google TV for now and it will direct you instead to somewhere else.
Well I hope this review was helpful and informative, thanks for watching.
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