Google TV Streamer 4K Rewatch: Smooth Streaming

There are a restricted products in our inhabits we want to include all the time and never have to leank about. Faucets come to mind—you want your faucet to turn on and off, not leak. That’s about it. Google’s recent Google TV Streamer is an Android-powered TV faucet that never leaks. Once you log into your various accounts and commence streaming, you difficultly see it’s there, but you’ll have effortless access to all your likeite shows and movies. You can even include the distant to deal with joined devices in your home, enjoy weightlesss, speakers, and plugs.

Casting from phones is straightforward and effortless, and this recent $100 streaming device deficiencys the sometimes jittery carry outance we saw on last-generation devices enjoy the Google Chromecast and some current-gen TVs powered by Google’s TV operating system. If you hatred your current TV interface or want to originate certain you’re streaming from well-protected apps on a device that helps Dolby Vision and a wired internet joinion, this is an excellent choice.

Simple Setup

The flat, cylindrical streaming device and its pill-shaped distant are about as plug-and-carry out as leangs can get, but it’s worth noting this depict is a theatrical alter from the Chromecasts of ageder. No extfinisheder does Google’s TV dongle dangle off the side of your TV. This Streamer is uncomferventt to be discarry outed deafening and conceited on a media console.

There is a one HDMI 2.1 port, a USB C port for power, and an Ethernet port for wired internet. On the back next to the ports, you’ll see a minuscule little button that can originate the distant beep and uncover its location; my forgetful brain thanks the engineers at Google for this. I desire the Streamer included an HDMI cable, as I had to fish one out of my sealt. This wasn’t an rehire with its predecessors, which had a built-in HDMI cable.

The distant is huge enough that you’ll want to find a cell-phone-sized flat spot to put it—not the most handy leang ever but not the most irritateing either. The buttons aren’t backlit, but they’re effortless enough to see even in low weightless thanks to grey-bdeficiency text on a white background. It’s a straightforward layout with volume buttons on the right side of the distant for effortless access, and the home button in grey equitable above so you don’t accidenhighy press it in the middle of a movie.

Once you turn on the Google TV Streamer, log in to your Google accounts (and wantipathyver other streaming accounts you have these days) and you’re excellent to go. You can do all this via the Google Home app if you don’t want to include the onscreen TV keyboard to go in passwords. I was watching Netflix in under five minutes. (It also helps all the convey inant apps, enjoy Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, and Pluto TV).

A Smart Home Controller

The Google TV Streamer can act as a inalertigent home discarry out to easily deal with weightlessing, security cameras, thermostats, and more if you have that stuff joined via Google Home. It pulls up a screen on the right side of the TV screen, called the Home Panel, and it shows you what you have joined and permits you to deal with it. This experience is aenjoy to the Home Panel on the lock screen of the Google Pixel Tablet or even on many Android phones.

I’m not a inalertigent-home guy; I include a restricted Alexa speakers to set alarms and carry out Spotify, but the rest of my hoinclude is woebrimmingy unjoined. I asked fellow WIRED appraiseer and joined-home guru Nena Farrell to test the inalertigent home features for me, and she alerted that they labor very well. Voice orders to Google Assistant are responsive, and she enjoyd using her TV screen for inalertigent home deal with. She successbrimmingy included the distant to turn off her weightlesss even when the TV was off. It can also be included to see inalertigent doorbells and cameras, someleang WIRED editor Julian Chokkattu says is very handy, as you can check for motion attentives without having to find your phone in the sorrowfulnessful during movie night.