Google TV Streamer
- Best: Google streaming box
- Dimensions: 162mm x 75.6mm x 26.7mm
- Weight: 160.7g
- Resolution: Up to 4K, 60fps
- Video formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
- Audio formats: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Atmos
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz)
- Memory: 4GB
- Storage: 32GB
- Why we love it
- Sleek, minimalist design
- Best user interface of any streaming device
- Generates recommendations across all apps
- Future-proofed smart home hub
- Well-designed voice remote with speaker
- Take note
- Still some major features missing
Design
Unlike dongles that hide behind your TV, this box is designed to sit proudly in front of it, in part so it can get the best reception when working as a smart home hub.
We think it looks great out in the open, certainly sleeker than any TV streaming box we’ve seen before. It’s a minimalist, low-profile, faintly Scandi-looking oblong that mimics the design-ethos of Google’s Pixel phones.
Our test unit came in the porcelain colourway, which doesn’t match a single other object on our TV unit, but a darker “hazel” colour is available if you want to keep things looking cohesive.
Performance
The new streaming box from Google is designed around providing lag-free 4K telly content, with a faster processor, 32GB of storage and double the memory to improve performance and reduce stuttering and delays.
Google hasn’t gone overboard with the specs, however. The TV Streamer is a much smoother experience than the laggy old Chromecasts, but Google seems to have made the new box just powerful enough for the task at hand. It’s fast, but not powerful, and you’ll occasionally spot some jerkiness when quickly switching between demanding apps.
It runs on the Google TV platform, the refreshed and rebranded update to the Android TV interface you might have already seen on other smart TVs. This combines all of your streaming apps, from Apple TV+ to Netflix, into one easy-to-navigate dashboard. Search for a show or movie using a voice command and you’ll be shown list of places to start watching.
Google Home
Google TV also integrates with Google Home, letting you quickly access your smart home controls via a pop-out menu, and without leaving the show you’re currently watching. If you routinely use your phone to dim the lights before settling down to watch something, or you’re waiting for a pizza delivery on your Nest doorbell, you can now do this entirely with the Google TV Streamer remote.
Annoyingly however, at the time of launch, you can’t trigger Google Home routines or automations from the Google TV Streamer. Instead, you’re limited to controlling individual lights or rooms. Got a complicated, colourful mood lighting routine for movie night? You’ll still need your phone to start that.
Voice remote
Otherwise, the remote gets all of the basics right. It’s comfortable, well-designed and has an IR blaster on the front, which lets you control your soundbar or TV using the volume and power controls on the remote. This tester has an ancient 5.1 surround sound system by Logitech, which the Google TV Streamer remote had no problems figuring out. Assigning the remote’s power button to the soundbar means you can no longer use that button to turn off the box, but an auto-off timer feature mitigates this small annoyance.
Alongside a permanent Netflix and YouTube button, the remote also has a customisable button. You can assign this to Google Home, or any other app, or to do things like switch inputs on your soundbar.
You can also make the remote ring out when you lose it down the back of the sofa cushions, by pressing a button on the box, asking your smart speaker or using your phone.