The Chromecast with Google TV and Apple TV 4k are two of the most popular, well-reviewed,
TV streaming devices out there and I’ve used both devices for well over 6 months,
having done a review of each one, but there's only one device I've come back to over the
past year for TV streaming and that's the Apple TV 4K.
Now, neither of these devices is perfect, but the Apple TV 4K is the device I recommend
to most people looking for a TV streaming device and I'm gonna walk you through why
that is, and the first reason is performance.
The Chromecast with Google TV can lag at times and just feel completely underpowered compared
to the A12 bionic chip that Apple put into the Apple TV.
Apple’s UI by comparison feels buttery smooth all of the time and aside from its speed,
the Apple TV 4k always gets you the best picture quality possible.
Now, the Apple TV's one downside aside from its price has shown up for me in the performance
category over the past several months and that has been audio dropouts.
What will happen is when playing content in certain apps like Netflix and Apple TV+, with
Dolby Atmos content, I’ll experience intermittent sound cutouts, which happen every 20-40 min
and has been extremely annoying and something other people seem to be running into as well.
The next reason I'd recommend getting an Apple TV 4K is if you already have other Apple devices
like an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or any other Apple device.
Because when you pair other Apple devices with an Apple TV 4K, you get a lot of extra
features.
The first one being AirPlay.
Not only can you AirPlay photos, videos, anything you want to the TV from your Apple devices,
but you can also use AirPlay to output the sound coming from your Apple TV to AirPlay
enabled speakers, which is perfect for when you have family and friends over and you're
watching a game on the TV but you want people in other rooms to still be able to hear what's
going on with the game, like, people in the kitchen, bathroom, any other room in your
home.
This is also very useful for situations like when I was recently on vacation and we wanted
to watch a movie as a family, I used my Sonos Move through AirPlay as the TV speaker, which
greatly improved the sound compared to the built in TV speakers, which typically suck.
You can also use a stereo pair of HomePod Minis for your TV sound as well through AirPlay.
Another thing I love with the Apple TV is that you can listen to audio on your AirPods
Pro or AirPods Max with Spatial audio enabled, which will use head tracking to make it sound
like there are speakers that have been positioned all around you and you're listening to something
on a 5.1 surround sound system.
It works really well and has been one of my favorite features of the Apple TV.
Now Google recently announced they’ll be bringing spatial audio to their new Pixel
Buds Pro which we have a review coming out on, so make sure you’re subscribed to the
channel to see that review, but it's unclear right now if the Chromecast will be able to
work with the Pixel Buds Pro Spatial audio feature.
And if that feature actually includes head tracking and Google just has no competition
in the space where the AirPods Max sit.
We've done a review of these on the channel and it's a product I absolutely love.
Another new feature for the Apple TV is called audio sharing, which allows you to stream
audio up to two pairs of AirPods from the Apple TV, so you can stay up late watching
TV while not keeping others in your household up with the TV’s sound.
Another cool Apple Ecosystem feature you can use to watch TV with friends and family who
aren’t physically present with you is called SharePlay, which allows you to watch content
on an Apple TV and another Apple device like another Apple TV, a Mac, iPad, iPhone etc.
Once you start a SharePlay session, Apple will sync the supported so watch it with your
friends and family at the exact same time.
Now if you need to pause for a second to go to the bathroom, you can have it set up so
when one person pauses content, it'll pause that content for everybody else watching through
SharePlay.
And lastly, if you’re into Apple’s Fitness ecosystem, you can use the Apple TV’s fitness
app to watch your favorite workouts and track your progress on the screen with data from
your Apple Watch.
So, those are the Apple ecosystem benefits you get by going with an Apple TV 4K.
Now, the last reason I'd pick an Apple TV 4K over the Chromecast with Google TV is the
Siri remote.
It allows you to both click and swipe for navigation, giving users a choice of how they
want to navigate around the interface, and I find I much prefer being able to quickly
swipe around to get to what I want.
Plus it’s just a nicer remote in terms of build quality and they made this version thicker
than the older Apple TV remote, so it’s less likely to slide down in-between your
couch cushions.
So those are the main reasons I think you'd go with an Apple TV 4K over the Chromecast
with Google TV, but on the flip side, why would you pick Chromecast over an Apple TV?
A couple of thoughts here.
First, I think if you're just a Google fan or you're just not crazy about Apple, you're
not going to go for an Apple TV.
But if you don’t care about the brands as much, the price difference between the two
devices will likely steer you towards the Chromecast with Google TV which retails for
$49 vs. $179 for the Apple TV 4K with 32 GB which is plenty of storage, I don’t think
most people need to spend more to get the 64 GB version.
Now another reason you might like the Chromecast is because Google TV is basically the newer
version of Android TV, and you can side-load apps onto it, making it quite easy to get
streaming apps onto the device that may not be available in your region.
And then the last reason I think you'd go for a Chromecast with Google TV is Google
Cast support.
Just like airplay, you can cast music and media through Google’s cast system to your
Chromecast with Google TV, and it works with both Android and Apple devices, whereas AirPlaying
content from a device to your TV only works with Apple devices.
You can also group your Chromecast with Google TV with other Nest speakers in a Cast speaker
group, however, at the time of recording, Google still has not launched a feature that
allows you to output audio from a Chromecast with Google TV to stereo paired Nest Audios
or a group of Cast speakers.
So those are the reasons why I think you might go with the Chromecast with Google TV.
Now, you may be wondering at this point, wait a second, so there's no difference between
these two devices in terms of content availability or discovery?
And in my experience, no.
Both Apple and Google have aggregated content views that allow you to discover and keep
track of shows you’re watching, however, Netflix declined to surface their shows in
these views to try keep you going to the Netflix app, which yes, does suck.
But in general, here in the US at least, both the Chromecast & Apple TV 4K have the same
mainstream apps, and yes, the Chromecast with Google TV does have the Apple TV+ app so you
don’t need to spend $179 us dollars in order to get your Ted Lasso or Severance fix.
Now, let's talk recommendations.
Even with the downsides with the Apple TV that I've encountered like the audio cutouts,
which wasn't something I encountered when I first got the Apple TV 4K, so I'm hopeful
that's just a software bug that Apple is able to find in patch, even with that plus the
higher cost of the Apple TV 4k, because of it’s performance and ability to just get
you the best sound and picture quality possible, it’s the device I primarily use to watch
TV and movies at home and the one I recommend to others.
The Chromecast with Google TV is just a bit too underpowered for me to recommend, if you’re
to get a dedicated streaming device, the device you get should get you a much better and smoother
experience than a smart TV and right now, that’s the Apple TV 4K is device that delivers
that experience.
If you’re interested in purchasing either the Apple TV 4K or the Chromecast with Google
TV, use the purchase links here in this video to learn more.
If you have any remaining questions about either device or you want to share your opinion
on which you think is better, leave those in a comment below and while you're down there,
hit that thumbs up button if you liked this video and found it helpful and subscribe to
the channel for more tech comparison videos like this one.
And if you're looking for what to watch next, check out our in-depth, six months later reviews
of both of these devices, which I've left in the description below.
For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.