If you have only owned this device, then yes. Otherwise, no. Not even close.
It's so clear from these positive reviews that they never used Android TV before so they don't know that there's a lot of features dropped in Google TV to care
Fix Dolby vision on Disney + and I'll agree
It might be the best you've ever owned, but it's a long way from the best available.
You obviously never owned a shield...
I'll keep my shield as it was expensive but peforms rock solid.
GTV chromecast will replace my parents mibox (not S version) and will probably go on any future TV's I get to replace whatever half baked SmartOS it has
Mi Box S is the best streaming device I've ever owned.
It works great, I even installed Google TV on it and everything works.
If you're only doing light streaming, for the price point the new Chromecast is likely the best in class (i.e., compared to the Fire Stick 4K or Roku).
But it's not even close to an Apple TV or Nvidia Shield Pro in terms of performance and features.
I've had crashes, remote lockups, slow delayed presses when not pointed directly at TV.
It's the only Android box/remote operated device I've had and so far only impressed by the UI.
I got mine some days ago and I absolutely love it. It's so butter smooth compared to my 2017 Sony Android TV (7.0). Plex works now like a charm.
I think the biggest benefit of this device is like with the Pixel phones, you are getting the latest updates, features & software, my £1000 Sony TV is still stuck on Android 8 & it shows.
The article's author must have never owned an Nvidia Shield.
I'm hoping they will eventually release the Chromecast with Google TV in black so I can retire my Nexus Player
For the price, yes it's the best one at the moment.
I wish the for you section went global! Even though the device is out here, we don't have all this integration stuff yet..... But the apps are smooth.
Same.... I had Roku, firestick, Vizio smart tv, Samsung smart tv but chromecast with google tv my favorite.
Yes I completely agree. Does it have everything I want? No. However, does it do most of the things I want better than any another device I have used? Definitely.
I love how content focused it is, how it aggregates lots of content into different categories from multiple sources. So if someone is coming from iPlayer, Netflix, Disney, Amazon etc. It all comes up in the same lists. I love being able to control it with Google home, cast from our phones, or just use the remote. So much flexibility. It also has all the strengths of Android TV, you need an app to do something specific? It probably has it. I found an app for Freeview TV sources in the UK for example.
I love that it is integrated into my TV. Being able to change volume, or source, or just turn the TV off or on. I have a Samsung TV with its tizen os. I don't want to have anything to do with tizen, that doesn't matter because the Chromecast remote is the only remote I need because of its integration. Moreover, if I just connect through Chromecast it turns the TV on. Or if I say "ok Google, play some REM" or whatever, it turns the TV on a plays it through Spotify. That integration with our nest devices is great.
I genuinely love it, I would love to have the integrated content experience on my phone. Like a Google TV app on my phone that sources content from all services and also gives me access to my wishlist. I know search kind of does this on Android, but I would like an actual app with the ability to browse.
I enjoy it, I know some people have slight reservations. But genuinely, if you get a chance to try it, I'd say you won't be massively disappointed. I think it just misses a few things that people enjoy, like a usb port for HDD and so on. Not a big kiss for me, but I guess that can be a hang up for some.
- Because you haven't owned an Nvidia Shield TV
pssst, many of us have been telling everyone for years but most are clueless and think their Firestick bought from a shady dude on Facebook is the pinnacle of streaming devices.
Which just tells you that he doesn't know much about streaming devices
Having played with both now, I think I probably like the Tivo Stream 4K that I bought at the same price a little better at this point. It's easier to get to a grid of apps with that device and it's a lot easier to customize.
On the Tivo, once you disable the app that keeps the Tivo customizations locked on the screen, you can rearrange things a lot more. Do a few more things and you can remove their apps entirely (which some might want to do because Tivo's app is a monster size wise). Straight Android TV also lets you get to a full app grid on the app line by moving left and clicking the button there.
Google pretty much locks you out of that on Google TV. It's largely all or nothing for customization and I haven't found a quick way around that. You can remove all the recommendations and have an apps only mode but that also removes the assistant functions like search and really irritatingly still displays only one line of apps and requires moving all the way to the right to hit a button that brings up the grid of all of them. Beyond that, you can move your apps around to get the ones you use most to appear first. But, can you move that button that gets you to the whole app grid to appear first? No. I ended up installing a launcher app that will display a grid and moved that app to appear first. It works, but I never should have had to do that to just be able to get to a full app grid quickly
If you like curation, Google TV is decent but still needs a little work (because not all apps get integrated in that curation). If you're some one who already knows what they want to watch and what apps to watch it on, plain Android TV (like on a Tivo) is probably a better option. Frankly, a Roku is a better option there, but a Roku not nearly as useful (or as fun) a device for anything else beyond streaming video.
Allow me to change DNS settings, allow me to play Stadia and provide a hardwired ethernet connection and I'll agree.
NVIDIA Shield is the best streaming device
/r/NoobThings
I own one & it blows the Firestick 4K it replaced away (especially once modded & custom launcher loaded) but it's surely no match for any Shield, hell, it's neutered to 32-bit & missing all the same parameters as the Mi Box 3 IME.
same, I ordered a 2nd one for the bedroom
Nvidia Shield would like to speak to you
You've never had a shield, it's around since 2015 and is still the best
I sold my 2015 Shield recently after 5 years of ownership and upgraded to the 2019 Shield Pro. The new Chromecast was released soon after and I returned the Shield for a refund and bought the Chromecast. It’s doing everything I need including USB external HDD access but for less money so I’m very happy with it.
Fire Stick has been better for me since my sound bar would always work with it. With CCWGTV, my sound bar only turns on if I press the power button. If I press any other button (Home, YouTube, etc.) or I try casting something to it, no dice.
I thought it choked with Slingtv
Can someone please help. Some show are showing with a padlock.
Example, voice search for top gear, results appear with 'iplayer button' and 'seasons'
When clicking seasons the Google interface shows all seasons, nearly every episode has a padlock. Strangely the odd one doesn't.
If I go in through the iPlayer button it loads the iPlayer app and all episodes can be played, but it's not as slick a way of doing it.
Same scenario with below deck through Amazon. In this instance the search doesn't present an Amazon prime button so I must go in via the app and search from there.
Any help appreciated. I'm UK based.
My Shield 2019 is the best streaming device I've owned, but the Chromecast GTV is "almost" at good if all you're looking to do is streaming/kodi (no gaming).
My only real complaints with the Chromecast GTV are:
Other than that it's more/less the same user experience in both rooms. In fact, I liked the Chromecast interface so much, I loaded that launcher on my Shield and I love it.
The Shield obviously loads things much faster, but the Chromecast does everything in a "reasonable" amount of time (even on flash drive as system drive limited by problem #1). It doesn't feel slow, but if the USB was 3.0 it would probably be noticeably faster.
This may be more YouTube TV's fault than Google TV's, but it is definitely a failing at Google: I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to pause. There's not pause button on the remote, and YouTube TV doesn't have one in the menus.
When I open YouTube TV it continues playing whatever someone was watching before, so whatever time I spend looking up what I want to watch, the last show is going to resume that much later, next time it's opened, unless I can figure out how to pause without completely exiting YouTube TV. I ended up opening a random show that no one cared about, and keep that playing in the background when I'm doing any navigating. It keeps from losing the position of whatever show anyone was watching before, but I also have to mute it, and the video playing behind the menu is sometimes pretty distracting, depending on what menu I'm at.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone at Google uses Google's products with Google's services. I'm surprised how often they release an iOS interface ahead of the Android one, and don't get me started on how useless low end Chromebooks are on Google's web interfaces, when Chromebooks haven't been getting faster but the web interfaces are much, much slower.
Edit: I just figured it out, or more so, the dog did! He sat on the TV remote, and it paused the Google TV. Apparently you need a CEC source, to pause.
Edit 2: Never mind, it unpauses when you go back to the YouTube TV menu. At least I know how to pause the Google TV, even if YouTube TV has its own problems.
CCGTV Good = a decent chipset under the hood which results in a snappy user interface that is much easier for content discovery, especially for newbies. And an actually physical remote. Plus it's cheap (in USA at least)
Also the hope Google is actually getting serious with Android TV this time and will update this device for a long time.
Bad = poor connectivity, needing extra, often expensive USB-C hubs, and even then you do not get USB3 speeds or true Gigabit Ethernet. Plus FAT32 only compatibility really restricts USB storage usability. CCGTV dongle really is focussed on being a Streaming only device.
Bad = price gouging in Overseas territories.
And really bad is the lack of auto Frame Rate Matching for territories like UK / Europe / Australasia that also need 25/50fps support, otherwise they get bad video judder.
Have they fixed the refresh rate issues?
Coming from Gen 3 Chromecast to the Mi Box S, the Mi Box S is the best streaming device I have used.
God I wish the new Chromecast was available in my country
Hmm, if they don’t fix this 4K DRM issue, the entire proposition changes. What a mess!
https://reddit.com/r/MoviesAnywhere/comments/jlv3s4/despite_the_recent_ma_app_upgrade_for_4k_on/
What a shitty article.
Is it still missing apps for Apple TV+ and FrndlyTV?
Eh. I put Sabrina in the theater room since it only gets occasional use. Stream 4k's are on my living room TV and projector as well as bedroom TV.
Too much recommended content and within that, too much pay recommended content. Over 50% of the recommendations are for content on services I don't pay for. And HBO must be paying Google a fortune for all their placements.
I still get YouTube recommendations even though I deleted the app. I don't want YouTube crap on my devices. I'll cast from my phone if I want it on there.
And it's all aggregated content. Why can't I have rows specific to my apps? I don't want everything aggregated. I don't want content I need to pay for shoved in my face. I don't want the content I do want to watch to be buried.
I much prefer the android tv home screen over google TV. I also prefer the TS4k remote. I ditched my tivo dvr's and went to channels dvr, and the TS4k remote integrates perfectly with it.
Unfortunately all streaming devices seem to take over your home screen for things that make the mfg money at the expense of the user's experience.
I just discovered Google TV. I use HTPCs running Windows 10. Anyone know if there are plans to bring Google TV to Windows?
How can I install app on GOOGLE TV
With trash UI ripped off from 1st gen fire tv, limp amlogic CPU and exhaustive jumping through hoops just to install an apk, sure it is. Fuck outta here, shill.
The 2015 nvidia shield I bought last week is the best streaming device I’ve ever owned!