Google TV Streamer Long-Term Review: Not The Best, But At What Cost? [Video]

It has been almost a year since Google released the TV Streamer. As the sole streaming device now officially sold by the Mountain View tech giant, how has it aged? Is it still worth it? Here’s what you need to know.

Living with ‘more’ Google TV

Since the device launched, I have used it almost without fail every single day. The TV Streamer is the main component in my living room TV system. It offers more than my LG smart TV can offer in terms of functions, features, and raw power.

While I think it’s a great device and will continue to enjoy using it daily, it offers many compromises that make it a little hamstrung right out of the box. Understanding the pitfalls actually raises questions about where future models might fit into the lineup and what that means for Google TV.

Let’s start with some of the once-exclusive functions – which have rolled out to loads of other Google TV devices now.

AI Summaries aren’t all that helpful to me. Still, my partner has been very complimentary on how they help us find common shows and movies to watch, which anyone in a relationship can attest to having issues with. Google TV is excellent at surfacing recommendations, provided you rate and review the things you watch. Getting an information snippet saves time sifting through things you might not enjoy.

Home controls are still excellent. Being able to check the front door or another camera on a big screen beats the Nest Hub every time. Plus, if I’m watching something and someone presses my Nest Doorbell, it’s right there in full-screen view. This has been super helpful, and I want to see more integrations like this as Gemini finally gets integrated in the coming months.

The remote finder button would be great if I hadn’t put the set-top box behind my TV. Luckily, I haven’t lost the remote yet. I’m glad you can use voice commands to ask a Nest Hub to ping it, though. The button is great, but this feels better to me.

I love the remote design changes. It took a while to get used to but it ‘s easy even for none tech people to decipher quickly. The volume buttons alone are enough reason to consider this an upgrade.

Due to the arrangement of my home entertainment system, the Ethernet port has been practically useless to me, which is a little annoying, as I would have gone wired if it were feasible. I’m sure, like many of you out there, I like wires to be hidden, and that wasn’t possible in my situation.

Silly complaints aside, Wi-Fi 5 connectivity has been fine in my experience so far. I mostly watch YouTube content at 4K resolution, and the TV Streamer handles that without an issue. I’d be lying if I didn’t want at least Wi-Fi 6, as I do have a Wi-Fi 6E router and will likely upgrade that in the coming years to ensure the most robust home network.

Sure, the TV Streamer will still work fine with the older wireless tech. I just want a little more futureproofing, as this is my main entertainment system controller. I won’t upgrade it for a long time unless I have problems and I’m already seeing lots more 4K HDR videos start to become standard through various streaming services. Anything to lower the stress on my Wi-Fi network is going to be super helpful, and I’ve noticed congestion does affect the Google TV Streamer from time to time. It feels like a big oversight by Google if they don’t plan on upgrading the hardware for another 4 or 5 years.

If you do what I’ve done and physically integrate the set-top box into your TV system, then the size and shape don’t really matter all that much. Even though it’s not a bad-looking device, I would hate to have it on a counter or cabinet. The Chromecast was so much more inconspicuous, and that’s what I want from a streaming box—just stay out of sight and out of mind.

I don’t get why Google wanted to make such a big streaming device. Amazon is doing way better with the form factor and still chucking in lots of internal grunt that this doesn’t have. You still can’t add accessories without an added dongle, which to me makes the larger size even more confusing, and I’m scratching my head more and more as time goes by.

Death of the Chromecast, are we due a new iteration?

We kind of knew when it was launched that it was a death knell for the Chromecast. Since then, Google has said “adios” to the entire Chromecast line, which now puts a great emphasis on the TV Streamer. The bigger design, bulkier shape, and inflated price make it hard to recommend to everyone. I think that the dongle form is something that we probably should see again, but for now, this is the only way to get a streamer directly from the Google Store.

I can certainly see why people would be put off, and I wonder how this has affected sales.

Does the most powerful Android TV box matter to you?

Put it bluntly, just look elsewhere if you care about having all the bells and whistles. The Google TV Streamer will not give you what you want. It has a distinct lack of processing power and limitations that I can’t personally say I have hit all that often, but they are there.

Other alternatives have better processors, more inputs and outputs, more capable remotes, and lower MSRPs. The Onn 4K Pro is seriously hard to beat at under $50. It clears the TV Streamer in just about every regard, but isn’t available in many regions outside the US. There is even a sub-$30 version that is an incredible streaming option for any TV system.

Look at it like this. You can still sideload all your favorite apps or get things working as you need, but the performance is still light years behind some of the other set-top boxes out there. I’m not the person to do much beyond click, press, play. However, I can see why people get annoyed if you want to use the Google TV Streamer to bridge a more powerful home entertainment system to other TVs in your home.

There are tons of codecs that remain unsupported for audiovisual enthusiasts to consider this as a good option.

Google TV hasn’t changed much in 4 years, but it’s fine for the basics. It looks good, has a few basic ads disguised as banners, and is effectively streamlined to get you into the streaming apps you use most. I’m just glad that the BBC finally added iPlayer almost 6 months after release and months after getting device certification. I’m sure there are other regions where big players aren’t yet available, too.

The “Hub” of your “Home” is not made for everyone.

A lot of the unique launch features on the TV Streamer have rolled out to other Android TV hardware. Almost a year later, this puts the Google TV Streamer in a strange position as it’s the basic option for most people rather than the best product to buy.

It is made for basic plug-and-play. It handles streaming well, but is not for the enthusiast. Not all codecs are supported. The performance is better, but the device is not lag-free. I have had the device lock up a few times, and apps sometimes need to fully refresh after launching from a cold start semi regularly. It’s not a big deal to me, but I can see why it would annoy people.

I have used the Home tab less and less, but I do appreciate that it is there. It has been wonderful to be able to control lights or other smart home hardware while watching a movie late into the evening without a Nest Hub shouting back at me. I can do that on my ancient Chromecast in my office now, too, which dulls the sheen a little bit.

All I would boil the TV Streamer down to is that it’s a fairly bulky but convenient media consumption device with a little bit of Google smarts thrown in. It excels at that, which is all you need to know.

Lukewarm praise side: $99 is too much. By now, $50-60 is arguably the price that the Google TV Streamer should be at. It’s like a step above a Chromecast without the form factor benefits, but nowhere near as good as the practically ancient Nvidia Shield TV Pro, which I switched away from. There are Amazon streaming sticks that have better internals at half the price.

I don’t think the TV Streamer is a bad product. It’s just not the flagbearer for TV streaming that the Chromecast was for so long. Just pick up the Onn 4K Pro and get all of the Google TV Streamer’s best bits at a fraction of the price.

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