New reports pin down Google producing a new Chromecast with Google TV that’s cheaper than the current one, but we want a ‘flagship’ instead.
The $50 Chromecast with Google TV was a great launch vehicle for Google’s latest attempt at offering a streaming platform, but as it enters 2022, the affordable device’s flaws are being felt by more people. As we reported last week, Google is working on another Chromecast device, but one that’s even more on the low end — here’s why we’d rather see a “flagship.” Quickly recapping the past few days, we reported on Friday that Google is working on a new Chromecast device that carries the codename “Boreal.” The device, which we have said is set to launch this year, would be in the same family as the current Chromecast, “Sabrina” running Google TV. Google TV is a platform that’s expanding quickly – the Android TV OS that it’s based on grew by over 30 million devices in under a year, and TCL says it sold over 10 million units last year alone. The Chromecast is what kicked off that trend, and it really did kick things off on a high note. The affordable, but not overly cheap hardware was enough to sufficiently show what Google TV was capable of and be a solid content vehicle for most people. But it’s not the ideal showcase for an example other manufacturers should aspire to match or even beat. The Chromecast has its limitations, and they’re not ones that can be fixed by an even cheaper product. Storage, performance, and HDR simply can’t solve The other big hiccup that the current Chromecast with Google TV has faced is with performance, in a variety of areas. The onboard chip and 2GB of RAM run smoothly enough for streaming videos, but the homescreen often lags, and slowdowns elsewhere are far from uncommon. This is, again, something a lower-end device can’t solve. According to the latest report, “Boreal” will have an Amlogic S805X2, as opposed to the Amlogic S905X3 in the current model. These chips aren’t really all that different, but going from a 1.
