Google TV Streamer 4K - Fast Streaming Entertainment on Your TV with Voice Search Remote - Watch Movies, Shows, Live TV, and Netflix in 4K HDR - Smart Home Control - 32 GB of Storage - Porcelain

If you're tired of clunky interfaces, slow-loading apps, or bouncing between streaming platforms, the Google TV Streamer (4K) is a serious upgrade. This little powerhouse delivers a seamless entertainment experience, featuring some surprisingly thoughtful additions under the hood.PerformanceRight out of the box, it's noticeably zippy, thanks to the 22% faster processor and double the memory compared to the last version. App switching is smooth, navigation feels fluid, and there's no frustrating lag when browsing.4K HDR & AudioPicture quality is stunning. With up to 4K HDR and Dolby Vision, colors pop, shadows are deep, and it just feels cinematic. If you hook it up to Dolby Atmos-compatible speakers, you’ll get that extra kick of immersive sound, especially during action scenes or big dramatic moments.User ExperienceThe home screen pulls all your streaming apps into one place and recommends content based on your habits — and yes, it actually gets it right. The UI is clean, intuitive, and it even lets you add shows to your watchlist from your phone or Google searches, which is super handy.Live TV & Free ChannelsAccess to 800+ free channels from Pluto TV, Tubi, etc., is a nice bonus — perfect for cord-cutters or casual viewing.Smart Home IntegrationThe new home panel is genius. You can check your security camera feed or dim the lights without stopping the movie. It makes this more than just a streaming device — it’s a mini smart home hub.Remote & CastingThe redesigned remote feels great in-hand, and voice control via Google Assistant is smooth and accurate. There’s even a customizable button and a "find my remote" feature — no more couch-diving. And yes, you can cast from basically any phone or tablet without a hitch.One CaveatYou'll need a separate HDMI 2.1 cable for full performance, which isn’t included. It’s not a huge deal, but worth noting.Bottom Line:This isn’t just a streaming stick. It’s a well-designed, high-performance media + smart home controller rolled into one. If you want 4K streaming with speed, smarts, and some serious convenience, this is it.

I purchased this to replace an older streaming device that was loading apps at a painfully slow pace and interrupting to buffer often enough to be annoying. After installation this item seems to work very well and is definitely an improvement. My current setup goes through an AV receiver and uses a projector with 1080p resolution so I haven't tested true 4K but hopefully if and when the system is upgraded this streamer will still be useful. One note about installation: my connection is wired ethernet. The default install using the google home app on a mobile phone failed a couple of times and I had to use the provided remote control to input account details etc. The instructions didn't provide details on how to install with a wired setup and I suspect using the remote is generally necessary. If that is the case knowing it would have saved me a bit of time. Overall the product delivers as promised.

It's performing very well so far. I own a MECOOL box with very similar specs, 4GB RAM too but a different processor (S905X2), and this one seems to run a tad smoother. Not a huge difference, but I was worried it might end up being slower since this is a MediaTek box, and that hasn't turned out to be the case which is great. Kind of a shame it's not a more powerful processor, since the S905X2 is itself already dated. The performance difference could also be due to the newer version of Android TV (14 on this one vs. 10 on the MECOOL). The reason I got this one is because of the malware that was found in some MECOOL boxes. Google's Play Protect actually warned me and supposedly removed the malware, but who really knows. You can't trust random manufacturers these days, and with Google, at least you know who you're dealing with. The devil you know, etc. I'll update this review if my experience changes, but so far I'm happy. I got it on a deal with $20 off too, which isn't bad at all.

This was an upgrade from a Chromecast 4K Google TV that I bought to get a snappier UI, and it does that, so I'm happy. I have used various Google TV dongles everywhere, even plugging them into hotel TVs and generally like them. Because they are Android, you can run the Android Debug Bridge in Home Assistant to automate your TV because of the ability to send and receive ADB commands, which is a great feature.For example, when Movie Mode is turned in in Home Assistant, we can automate lights based upon whether the Google TV is Playing or Paused. In our case I use a 15 second delay to dim or brighten the lights after Pause or Play is pressed.But I will dock this device a star over a flaw that the previous device didn't have: when plugged into ethernet, the device will drop offline every day or two, requiring the network cable to be unplugged/re-plugged. Apparently this is common in the situation where you plug the Google TV into your network via an unmanaged switch rather than directly into your router. If you've also set up Wi-Fi, it will switch to that and never come back to the wired connection until the device is restarted (or the network connection is unplugged-re-plugged)My way around this was to unplug it from ethernet, and swap it's power supply to my old Chromecast 4K power supply, which includes a network adapter in the adapter itself - plug the cable to that instead. Yes, that drops my potential bandwidth from gigabit to 100Mbs, but that is still plenty of bandwidth and that network adapter never had this problem. Maybe a future firmware release will fix this, but running a cable directly from this to my router was just not acceptable to me, as was using WiFi; I've been running all of the Chromecasts on ethernet for years (there have been wired adapters around for a very long time)So good device, bad network adapter.