The Google Chromecast was introduced back in 2013, and it has been one of the most successful products from the internet giant. The Chromecast allowed users to stream content, play games, browse the web and do a lot more at a really affordable price. Google recently launched the new Chromecast (2015), at a slightly higher price tag of Rs. 3399. So what do you get for the slightly higher price, than a makeover? Let’s find out.
Features
The new Chromecast works in the same way as the older one. You use an app called Google Cast, which is now updated to be a bit more user friendly.It lets you operate the device remotely once you’ve done with the two minute installation process. You’ll need a WiFi router with a decent internet connection to make the most of the Chromecast though.
The new Chromecast is powered by an ARM Cortex-A7 processor, and it now runs a higher-spec WiFi 802.11ac chip. Besides this, there are no real performance enhancing improvements to be seen.
As mentioned earlier, the new Chromecast does practically the same things as the old one. This means, you can do screen mirroring from your phone, tablet or laptop (using Google Chrome) to your TV. With the huge variety of apps, you can do everything from streaming music and movies from the web to the TV. Most of Google’s apps, ranging from Slides to Youtube are all present as well.
There are a bunch of games and productivity apps that use the screen on your phone and TV collaboratively as well. So you can be using part of the features on your phone, while the output shows up on your TV. Google Slides is a good example of this. There is plenty of content and apps to play around with.
Design and Build
The major difference that you notice is with the look of the device. It’s circular, smaller and comes with a flexible HDMI cable, so you won’t need any extension adapters to reach cramped spaces behind your TV. It has a mix of glossy and matte finish to it. The Chromecast is now available in two other colours – lemonade and coral, besides the usual black. It still needs a microUSB port to power the device, which is part of the bundle. A power-on button is also available.
Performance
We tried using the Chromecast on our smartphone, and a laptop using a number of apps ranging from productivity, games, music and movie streaming. The Google Cast application needs to be installed on the laptop as well. It lets you stream the entire screen to the TV.
The interface is extremely easy to use. Most of the apps available are for video and music streaming, but there are quite a few games as well. We noticed that the performance while playing games wasn’t all that great, and we noticed some lagging. This could be to do with the performance of the phone itself though.
Screen mirroring worked flawlessly, as did streaming of videos from our phone using a third-party app called Localcast. Google Slides also worked flawlessly, and we used it to create some dummy presentations and then present it on the TV.
The Chromecast starts up in around 25 seconds but you can keep it running all the time. There is very little heating noticeable, even after having it run for the entire day.
Verdict
The Chromecast isn’t all that impressive, if you already own the older Chromecast. If you have a TV at a home, and want to do all kinds of media streaming on it but not spend a bomb on a smart box, then the Chromecast is one of the most affordable solutions available.
