I've been using the Chromecast with Google TV for over the past six months now and
in this video I'm gonna take you through my experience with it, what I like about it
the top features, and make sure you stick around towards the end of the video because that's where
I'll take you through some of the issues and downsides I've had with the Chromecast
and you'll especially want to watch that part if you're a fan of 4k,
or Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision, but for now let's talk about features.
First up, Google TV, which is the UI that you see on the Chromecast and it's one of the best parts
of using this device over the long term because of one thing:
recommendations. Google TV does content recommendations extremely well. I think
Google TV has come the closest to getting to that desired state of being able to just use
one UI to find and discover TV shows and movies to watch versus the way a lot of us do it today,
which is clicking through each app individually to find content. Google TV's recommendations for
me have been spot on over the past six months. Now part of this is due to the universal rating
system where you can rate shows and movies you like with a thumbs up or down as well
as mark shows and movies as watched. The more you do this the better recommendations you get.
Another part of the software I've absolutely loved using over the past six months is being able to
add a show to the universal watch list. Gone are the days of having individual watch lists within
each app. With the Chromecast with Google TV, you can just have one watchlist and add shows to it
from a variety of apps and services. The layout of Google TV’s UI also just makes a lot of sense.
You have a top menu that consists of search, for you, movies, TV shows, apps, library,
and then your Google profile icon at the top right which is consistent with other Google apps
and where you'll find the settings for the device. Each section is pretty self-explanatory and it's
easy to navigate around with a new Chromecast remote, which I have a lot of feelings about.
The previous Chromecast was great at casting from your phone to the TV, but
it was never something I'd actually use to watch TV shows or movies because it didn't have a remote
and I always had to have my phone with me anytime I wanted to watch something. With this new version
of the Chromecast, Google solved that issue and produced a really nice remote. The buttons have a
nice feel to them, it's easy to use reliably and I haven't had any problems with it in the six months
I've been using it. The main thing you'll use the remote for is to navigate the UI and you do
this by using the top and bottom, and left/right buttons along the top of the remote and when you
want to click something you can click the center button inside of what looks like a little wheel.
If you have a newer TV or other devices like a receiver or soundbar in your setup,
you can teach the Chromecast with Google TV to turn on and off your devices and
control their volume using either HDMI CEC or with an IR blaster on the remote
and in my experience it is worked well. The only downside to using an IR blaster
which is what I do because HDMI CEC doesn't completely work with my setup for some reason,
is that the IR blaster won't always kick my receiver over to the correct HDMI input.
Now you may have noticed that dark button on the remote. What does that do? It controls the
Google Assistant. To use it just hold that button down and ask Google for something.
You can ask for different types of TV shows or ask it to show a particular genre of content
and of course you can ask it for more regular assistant things like asking about the weather.
Next up services. Now unlike some other streaming devices out there,
they're aren't currently any disputes between Google and other content companies
over their apps on this device. It comes with all of the mainstreaming services you'd expect
like Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu in the US, Amazon Prime, Paramount+,
etc, and in the six months I've been using the device, Apple TV has been added as well.
Another standout feature for this Chromecast like the ones before it is casting. As I
mentioned earlier, you can easily cast media from a device like your Android or iOS phone
tablet or a computer when you see the cast button available to your TV.
This is one of the greatest strengths with the Chromecast when you compare it to other
streaming devices out there because cast support is found in so many different types of apps.
Like Spotify, Netflix, Google Photos, etc. And if you have an Android phone,
you can just cast whatever's on your screen to the TV with a tap of a button.
Next up, Bluetooth. The Chromecast with Google TV does have support for wireless Bluetooth devices
like wireless headphones. You can pair your wireless headphones to the device in settings
and in my experience with this feature...actually it's been alright, but not great. I found that
there's too much interference in the Bluetooth signal for it to be usable in my experience.
And some of that may just be due to my Chromecast sitting behind a large receiver
so your experience may differ here based on the setup of your TV and sound system.
So that's one thing that hasn't worked very well for me on the Chromecast with Google TV.
Now, let's dive into a couple of other downsides I've found while using the device.
First is lack of universal playback controls. Skip forward and skip backward features do
not work the same across all applications. In some apps like Apple TV Plus you can just use
the left and right buttons to skip ahead and skip back but in other apps like Disney Plus
when you hit the left and right buttons, it'll bring up a pop-up menu and then you'll need to
move the selector over to the rewind or fast forward icon and then hit the center button
in order to fast forward or rewind, which is just clunky. I wish Google had done something here to
enforce a consistent experience across all of its apps like Apple does with the Apple TV.
Next if you're a Netflix fan, unfortunately over the past six months Netflix Originals will no
longer show up as recommendations in the Google TV UI. Now some Netflix content will appear in
the recommendation UI but it only seems to be the stuff Netflix is currently licensing, not its own
shows and movies.This is further backed up by when you use the Google Assistant to show you a Netflix
show like the Queen's Gambit, for example, it'll give you the watch page for the show,
but you're unable to rate the show or tell Google you've watched it which is kind of a bummer.
All right, now the last big downside involves 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. For those unfamiliar
with Atmos or Vision, Dolby Vision is Doby's HDR technology that gives the picture on your
TV a boost. It makes bright objects in the images you see really pop. Dolby Atmos is Dolby’s latest
around sound technology where instead of having channels like right speaker left speaker etc etc,
Atmos allows sound engineers and mixers to place sounds as three dimensional objects
around your environment using the speakers. So basically things sound better and more dynamic.
So what exactly does this have to do with a Chromecast? Well,
for whatever reason certain apps on the Chromecast don't have content available in Dolby Vision,
Dolby Atmos, or even 4k sometimes when they do on other devices like the Apple TV 4k.
Disney Plus just flat-out doesn't support 4k in general for content like Hamilton,
the Mandalorian, WandaVision, pretty much everything on the Disney Plus app on the
Chromecast is an HD, where this isn't the case on other devices like my Apple TV 4k.
Also Atmos and Vision support is inconsistent on the Hulu and Amazon Prime video apps. I notice
this with Hulu's new WeWork documentary for example and Amazon Prime's “The Sound
of Metal” which both did not show up in 4k on the Chromecast where they did on the Apple TV.
Alright, so given the downsides and issues I've run into while using the Chromecast with Google TV
over the past six months, do I ultimately recommend getting one? Well in general,
yes. The Google TV UI is one of the best I've seen on any streaming device and at $50 US dollars,
it's hard to beat even with all of the downsides I've encountered with this device.
For $50 that price more than makes up for them when you compare it to
other streaming devices like the Apple TV 4k, which goes for $179 US dollars.
Now is the Chromecast the main streaming box I use now that it comes with a remote?
Actually no, and it's because of that 4k Dolby Vision and Atmos content issue
in certain apps. This is the only use case where I don't recommend
getting the Chromecast with Google TV right now and would instead point you elsewhere.
All right, well I hope you found this review helpful and informative and if you did and
liked it, make sure you hit that thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel to see more
six months later reviews like this one as well as other videos on tech and Google products.
Well, that's gonna do it for me, For 6 Months Later, I’m Josh Teder, thanks for watching.