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| Google Chromecast’s biggest strength remains the level of support for the platform |
GOOGLE has updated its hugely successful streaming dongle with a stylish, colourful and circular new design, but is the 2015 refresh more than surface-deep?
- Pros – Budget Price, Stylish Design, Lightning Fast Streaming, Painless Set-Up, Cast Any Google Chrome Tab To The TV, Widespread In-App Chromecast Support
- Cons – No Remote Control, No Amazon Prime Instant Video
When Google released its first Chromecast back in 2013, it was a phenomenon.
The US search firm sold the HDMI dongle for a jaw-droppingly low £30 launch price – in case you were still on the fence.
Unsurprisingly, Google has sold more than 20 million Chromecasts to date.
And now, two years after its initial release, Google has unveiled its second generation Chromecast streaming dongle.
But is it worth your time? Well, that depends.
If you already own an original Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick or Roku Streaming Stick, there really isn’t enough here to convince you to upgrade.
Ultimately the 2015 Chromecast isn’t able to do much its predecessor can’t do – it just does it all that little bit faster.
But if you are in the market for a lightweight streaming dongle, there has never been a better time to get a Google Chromecast.
Google has upgraded its new Chromecast with faster internals and some new software smarts – but the biggest change you’ll notice out of the box is the stylish round design and bright colour scheme.
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| The new circular design is stylish, but purely aesthetic |
The 2015 Chromecast is a compact hockey puck, which resembles the Google Chrome web browser logo, but includes a short HDMI cable and microUSB charging cable protruding at opposite sides.
Its a sleek redesign of its predecessors’ pedestrian look, but you’ll never see it once it is plugged it into the back of your television.
But the latest Chromecast is not a simple redesign, Google has dramatically improved the internals inside its budget streaming device.
The refreshed Chromecast finally supports 5GHz wireless networks, which are less susceptible to interference than their 2.4GHz counterparts and should provide you with a much more reliable wifi connection.
That’ll dramatically improve your streaming speeds and should result in less buffering whenever you watch something on the Chromecast.
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| Unlike the £35 Fire TV Stick, the second generation Chromecast does not come with a remote |
Unfortunately, there is still no remote bundled with the Chromecast, so you’ll have to pull out your smartphone or laptop each time you want to pause, skip ahead or rewind.
Granted, the simplicity of setting-up and controlling the device with a smartphone is part of the appeal of the Chromecast, but personally, if I am tucking into a greasy takeaway and want to quickly pause my movie to answer the home phone – the last thing I want to do is smear my smartphone, launch the correct app and then hit ‘pause’.
Meanwhile, rival Amazon recently launched its own HDMI streaming dongle, which comes bundled with a lightweight remote for those who don’t want to use the companion smartphone app, for just £5 more than the second generation Chromecast.
It’s a relatively small quibble but thinking about when you are weighing up the differences between these budget HDMI streaming devices.
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| The second generation Chromecast includes a smart new Fast Play feature |
Speaking of Amazon, the US online retailer has yet to update its Prime Instant Video app with support for Chromecast – one of the only major video players still holding out on the Google platform.
Fortunately – unlike the Fire TV Stick – the Chromecast is fully compatible with Google services, including streaming from its new Photos app, Play Movies, YouTube.
As with the previous generation, Chromecast owners can also stream content from their Chrome web browser tabs, too – allowing you to work from a Google Sheets spreadsheet, or show off a website of interest, on the big screen.
Thousands of popular third-party apps including Netflix, BT Sports, BBC iPlayer, Plex, Spotify, TuneIn Radio, Deezer, BBC Sport, Downcast and NOW TV are also supported.
That remains the Chromecast’s biggest strength – the level of support for the platform.
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| Cast any Google Chrome tab or supported mobile app to the big screen, for £30 |
Google has also introduced a nifty new software feature dubbed Fast Play which algorithmically guesses what you’ll want to watch next and then starts streaming it in the background, so you can start watching without a stutter.
For example, if you are binge-watching Breaking Bad on Netflix and stopped watching after Season 2 Episode 4 last night, the Chromecast will be buffering and readying Season 2 Episode 5 ready for whenever you want to jump back in the next day.
Google has also added a new Guest Mode that allows your friends running Android smartphone in the same room as the Chromecast to connect and stream their favourite YouTube videos and Spotify playlists without having to connect to your home wifi network.
For those wondering, the new Chromecast supports H.264 1080p, MPEG-4, H.264 720x480, VP8 video and AAC-LC, FLAC, MP3, AC3, eAC3, PCM/WAV, Vorbis audio files.
Final Verdict
Google’s second generation Chromecast is faster than its predecessor, but retains its almost impulse-buy price tag.
Nifty new software tweaks like Fast Play and Guest Mode are welcome additions, but aren’t enough to recommend existing Chromecast owners upgrade from the previous generation.
But for everyone else, there has never been a better time to buy a Chromecast.
Some many be tempted by the physical remotes offered by similarly-priced competitors, but the Chromecast still offers the most widespread content support.
Thousands of apps are already updated to support Chromecast thanks to the huge success of the first generation and the ability to throw any Google Chrome web browser window onto the big screen means there isn’t really isn’t much you won't be able to watch using this £30 hockey puck.
Except Amazon Prime Instant Video, that is.
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