![]() ![]() Google TV focuses in on content, not apps, and it delivers all of it in a unique and useful way. Google says this new interface will come to other Android TV boxes later, so it seems they are all-in on this setup for now.Īnd, honestly, that is just fine for me. Google TV has taken the place of Play Movies & TV on your phone and is now the new face of streaming media for Chromecast users. Google has chosen to utilize Android TV at the base of what the new Chromecast delivers and then they’ve skinned it all with the new Google TV interface. The second thing that makes the new Chromecast the Chromecast for everyone is the UI. One other bonus is the fact that if you begin playback via casting from a phone, tablet or laptop, you can still control that playback with the remote. It is at once a full-fledged Chromecast experience with a remote to get you through all the interface bits, and it is fantastic to use. ![]() Additionally, if you leave it sitting for a few minutes, you’ll also get the Chromecast’s backdrop feature (now called Ambient Mode) with great photos, the weather, and the time all displayed in a screensaver-like format. You can cast content just like you’ve always done and you can even put the Chromecast into speaker groups just like a normal, old-fashioned Chromecast. Breezing through shows and football games has been such a simple, enjoyable experience.ĭon’t get me wrong: the standard Chromecast functions all still work, too. Being able to easily pause has been nice (with the standard Chromecast you have to find the device you originally cast from and hope the connection is still there) and fast-forward with this setup has been night-and-day better that doing the same action on my phone screen with the old, standard Chromecast setup. I grab the remote and browse to what I need or simple tell Google to do it for me. Finally, the Google Assistant button can get your apps installed or take you to specific content with just a simple voice command.Īll in all, I’ve not needed any other piece of hardware in my hands to watch TV since setting up the new Chromecast. The dedicated YouTube and Netflix buttons get you to those services quickly and the power, source select, and volume buttons control the necessary bits of your home theater with ease. On that remote, provided you go through the setup when you first get set up, you have the ability to navigate the UI with the 4-way direction pad, select items with the center button, and then further navigate with the home and back buttons that do exactly what you expect. I don’t have to search for other remotes, I don’t have to find my phone or snag my Chromebook: I just need to find that small, white remote and get started. Being able to just sit down and grab one remote and start watching content is freeing. I have to eat a bit of crow and admit that I am absolutely loving life with a remote. The new Chromecast fixes all this with the included remote and, you know what? I kinda get it, now. The new Chromecast with Google TV and remote All our TVs have a Chromecast attached and everyone is basically trainied to simply grab a device and cast the content you want to see. For me and my family, we’ve moved all our habits over to the standard Chromecast way of life. This is by far the most requested hardware upgrade from users over the years with the Chromecast, and I’m beginning to understand why. Now, on to the bigger picture stuff! About that remoteĪs you probably know by now, the new Chromecast comes with a remote in the box. We covered more details about the physical qualities of the device and smaller details of the interface in our unboxing and in a handful of posts already, so check those out if you’re looking for that sort of detail. Instead, we wanted to clarify why we think this Chromecast is absolutely the one to buy for yourself and for others this shopping season, and that really has little to do with the minutia of how to change settings and has far more to do with how this Chromecast slots itself into your living room setup. This isn’t a walk-through of the entire interface nor is it a master class on all the ways you can tweak and manipulate this $49 dongle (much of that stuff deserves its own post). When deciding how it was we wanted to talk about the new Chromecast, we chose to go a bit of a different way than many others. Before we get into those things, a quick caveat.
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