Chromecast with Google TV is the latest model of 2020 released by Google and the first that allows you to put aside your mobile, tablet or PC to broadcast content thanks to the remote control that it includes.
Therefore we are going to discuss its best features and why it can become the best device that you can buy for your home to turn a TV, whether new or old, into a complete multimedia center. Let's do it with Chromecast with Google TV.
What is Chromecast with Google TV
We have already talked at length about Chromecast to show you how to connect it to a tv or even enjoy the best games for Chromecast with Google TV; precisely the one that today takes center stage for this publication.
Chromecast with Google TV is the model launched last summer by Google And that adds in itself all the best features that have been launched in the previous three, since we are going through the fourth model, to include two that separate it quite a bit from the previous ones: the remote control and Google TV.
Two important novelties of Chromecast with Google TV for the mere fact that they will allow be a dongle totally independent of the mobile, tablet or PC that we used to broadcast content. On the one hand the remote control allows us to directly control Google TV on the screen so that we install the desired streaming services so that we can reproduce whatever we want.
That we can manage Google TV with the remote control through this new Chromecast does not mean that We can also use the mobile, tablet or PC to broadcast content in 4K such as YouTube, podcasts, Spotify, Neftlix and many other services (as long as you see the broadcast icon in an app on your mobile you can stream that content on your TV).
The Chromecast remote control with Google TV
We have already said by active and passive that Chromecast is able to bring back to life a television from its years ago, as long as it has an HDMI connection that we can connect to. But it is that with the remote control of Chromecast with Google TV things changes a lot. And is that even apart from Bluetooth as a connection it has infrared so that we can control the television from it.
First, if we compare it with Android TV, which could be said to be similar to Google TV, seen in other brands such as LG or Samsung, there is a huge difference in performance and interactivity. In this case, Google TV works in a beastly way with high performance so that we can go from apps to services in a jiffy.
El remote control consists of this series of buttons:
- Un circular mini pad with a central button- Scroll in all four directions and use the center button to accept or go
- Go back
- Google Assistant or Google Assistant- To invoke the wizard and search YouTube and more
- Home: to go to the Google TV home screen
- mute the sound
- button for youtube
- Netflix button
- Button to turn on / off Google TV
- Button to change the font on the tv
Of all these buttons, the two at the bottom are "connected" in some way to the television. If it has the necessary technology, You can even turn on the TV screen by pressing it. While the other button is used to change the source such as HDMI / TV / etc.
Pair controllers, keyboard and more
Another advantage of the Google dongle remote control is its ability for us to pair Bluetooth accessories. For example, we can pair a remote so we can play on the screen to our favorite games through Google TV.
At the same time we can pair a keyboard and a mouse and thus turn the table in our living room into a makeshift office to use different tools or even play Geforce Now games that they need these accessories to enjoy them to the fullest; in fact we have this great GeForce Now paid and free games list so there is no lack of entertainment with Chromecast with Google TV.
Map the buttons on the remote
We can even pair the buttons on the remote control to assign actions such as capturing the screen or configuring other services to open that we can use more like Spotify or VLC.
The better buttons to configure through an app installed from the Google Play Store:
- Netflix: single press and double press
- source change button
What is Google TV
Google TV is as an optimized version of Android for a larger screen format as can be the televisions. Apart from being able to install the most common content streaming services such as Netflix, HBO, Disney +, YouTube, Prime Video, Spotify and many others (now you have even apple tv), it also allows us to install games, applications or leave the photos we have in Google Photos as the wallpaper.
It consists in the upper part of 4 tabs:
- Search: from which we can use the Google Assistant button on the remote control to perform quick searches
- Home: the main screen where we will find the featured content, installed apps and a series of sections dedicated to movies, TV series, news and much more
- Apps: from here we access all the apps that we have installed and the sections classified by games, entertainment, and many others
- Collection: If you have bought a movie or series on Google Play Movies, or have rented yourself, you can access that content from this tab. Just like you can create tags for "My List" with content that you "want to see." So you can also add content from Google search or Google TV that you "want to see" and which you will access from "Collection" and you can have it at hand
From Google TV we can install the streaming services that we use the most or we can go to a PC and from the Google Play Store choose the app and install it on Google TV. This is where this service embroiders it so that if we use Kodi or VLC we convert this platform in the multimedia center of our home.
VLC, for example, when installing it, we allows us to connect through Google TV to the local server in case we have a PC, and thus we can reproduce the content that we have stored in it. If we already use Kodi, we will even go one step further because it is one of the most used platforms for local libraries.
So on the one hand we have Google TV with all those streaming video and music services, and on the other hand those apps that allow us to use local content so that through its 4K capacity Let's enjoy the best possible quality of vision like never before.
Connect a hub to Chromecast with Google TV
If we acquire a connection hub for external storage devices, we can connect it directly to Chromecast and play content from it; and is that Chromecast has up to 4GB of storage.
But it is true that this hub connection broadens horizons so that we become more and more in love with this device for the reproduction of multimedia content in our home.
And we can even use a network cable to connect to that hub and we can even pass the WiFi connection of our house.
Worth? Actual use case
After getting here, we have almost answered yes to this question. But we are going to put the icing on the cake with a very basic example and that surely there are many of those who read us. It is a real case of the one who just writes these lines.
A real example of use: We have a 13-year-old Samsung TV in our house. The truth is that the television has a very good image and sound quality, but has been outdated by all that stream of 1080p and 4K televisions just like those Smart TVs.
Lo It was important to check that it had an HDMI connection. And this simply meant the door for magic to enter his screen. It has an HDMI connection, we can connect Chromecast with Google TV. And is that I didn't even have the remote control since we had lost it; yes, yes, I could go buy one of those universals ... but for what?
The next problem I had was that I even needed to buy a cable to connect the traditional channels with TV or a deco; I did not feel like trying to go to exchange and more.
I kill multiple birds with one stone with the Google dongle:
- I don't need to buy a remote because it already includes it (yes it is true that we do not have the number buttons ... well we evolved)
- I do not need to purchase an antenna cable because I am going to acquire a digital service like Movistar Lite + that includes general channels
- I connect Google TV through Chromecast to install all services to which I am subscribed: Spotify, Netflix and Movistar Lite +
- I save myself from using my mobile to broadcast content and I dispense with it: I even install VLC and through the local network I access my folders where I have my multimedia content; mapping a button to launch VLC from the remote control
- I turn my old TV into a game center with Geforce NOW with Ray Tracing quality (the latest in graphics technology in PC gamer) and Google Play compatible games, and by the way I connect a game controller to the Chromecast remote
I mean that it is really worth buying a Chromecast with Google TV to recover those old televisions, or from a few years ago where their smart capabilities are very slow (LG's WebOS for example) and revolutionize your home with this dongle.