Appears to have been priced dropped again from $147 to $127. Currently is the cheapest offering of the major retailers, with everyone else running at it's ticket price of $159. Looks like there is a fair bit of stock in the major metro areas according to https://officeworks.youinstock.com.au/search/goa05662au.
Of course this! Not much app support and too much hassle to side load android app on fire tv platform.
yep, agreed
I sideloaded Smarttube on my Fire TV Max and all I had to do was press About in Settings and then it enabled developer settings after 5 clicks and click enable sideloading.
Yes me too, and the process is identical to that on the google sticks - I also loaded smarttube on a 4k chromecast with google TV
I beg to differ. Just got Fire TV Stick 4k Max from another deal and sideloading was super simple - get Downloader from the amazon store, enable dev mode, then enable 3rd party sources, done.
Easily FireTV unless there's some app you need that doesn't work when sideloaded.
Google should be embarrassed releasing these specs in 2024.
https://www.aftvnews.com/2024-google-tv-streamer-benchmark-s…
Fire TV if you want/need full fat sound support via Kodi. I use my Fire TV Cube 3 all the time, very snappy.
I am wondering whether VLC has the same sound quality.
Agreed - turning into apple before our eyes
How so? The Apple TVs have absolutely insane specs and performance. One of the best value Apple devices.
If you don’t need APKs I’d recommend an AppleTV.
@PainToad: Apple TV is Apple price $198 https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/apple-tv-4…
@PainToad: I need APKs
The apple tv is solid. Don't know of a android device that can do 4 screens of kayo. Probably the shield but never owned one
I must say the new Google TV Streamer 4K is allot more snappy and responsive compared to the Chromecast 4K which is listed as 'very similar' on that CPU benchmark score, perhaps there is some hardware/GPU offloading going on I'm not too sure but it runs much better!
I was also rather worried about the lack of 'audio passthrough' to my amp (Eg, DD, DTS..etc) on this device but I've been using plex to play movies and it would appear the Google TV Streamer must do the decoding and pass it to the amp as surround sound/multi-speaker is still working just fine although the amp is not reporting DTS/DD..etc.. Originally I though you might not get surround sound or centre channel might not work. Etc.. but all seems to be working flawlessly so far…
UPDATE: I just read the article the benchmark above was from on the AFTVnews site and this is what they say about it…
"As I’ve done for the last 9 years of benchmarking streaming devices, it’s important to first remind you that benchmark scores often fail to reflect a device’s real-world performance accurately. This appears to be especially true for the Google TV Streamer, which feels snappier than the numbers below would suggest. It’s unclear whether this is due to optimizations in Android TV 14, which the Google TV Streamer is the first to use, or its ample 4GB of RAM providing plenty of memory headroom, but the device seems smoother and speedier than others with significantly more processing power."
From what I've read though it wont pass through Plex Movies that are encoded in True HD Atmos and sends it to the Amp as PCM so not a big deal if you don't have an Atmos receiver but if you do then the Streamer won't work and I still use the NVidia Shield Pro
It really does depend on what you're using it for.
The Amazon cube has more raw power, allows xbox streaming, easy sideloading of apps. However, no 4K Binge/Kayo and a home screen UI that is unpleasant.
The Google Streamer has a better UI, allows 4K Binge/Kayo, easy sideloading of apps, but uses a weak CPU.
Any way to use a different home screen UI, e.g. a launcher like on android phones?
No. Amazon disabled it. B*stards.
You sure about no Kayo? I'm certain I saw it pop up on the FireTV stick I setup for a mate on the weekend.
Amazon devices have access to Kayo/Binge, but not the 4K versions.
No 4k even with sideloading?
Or is that what you're saying
However, no 4K Binge/Kayo and a home screen UI that is unpleasant.
These are significant limitations for me.
Fire TV if you enjoy tweaking and customising and knowing all the settings of your apps. This of you want to turn it on and forget about it.
Have they fixed the compatibility issue with Kayo yet?
Yep seems all fine now.
well it cant do 4k kayo still
It seems to still have a bug where you sometimes get a 'too many simultaneous streams' error. But waiting a bit or rebooting fixes that. It definitely plays the 4k stream.
All that said - if Kayo is very important to you I'd keep that in mind.
I'm sure they will launch HD version with lower price and this do be under $99 soon
I'm sure Google rebrand their entire TV lineup device branding yet again.
Upcoming
Alphabet TV
Pixel TV
Nest TV
Too logical and consistent with other product naming. Name needs to be more confusing for consumers.
I wouldn’t be surprised if future generations are unfamiliar with ‘TV’
It’s such a retro name ripe for a rebrand
Anyone with this care to share how good this is? Having a pixel phone, I understand specs aren't always everything as they manage to make it quite snappy on fairly average hardware.
It's a decent product.
I had the older chromecast with Google TV 4k before getting this and it's noticeably faster compared to the older model - more so than the specs would suggest.
The biggest reason i upgraded was for AV1 hardware decoding - which the older model didn't have. (but i also had Google credit leftover + Google bday voucher - which is why i got it)
In saying all that, it's still very disappointing from a performance standpoint compared to offerings from Apple & Amazon. But it doesn't feel laggy. I wish it was faster for how long this update took.
Got one of these for "free" after buying a Pixel 9 and getting the bonus credit. It's junk.
Slow to load and constant issues with the Plex app. Maybe at $49 it's worth your money.
The Plex app is notoriously rubbish, blaming Google for that is a bit harsh. Your frustration is with the developer not the hardware.
no wifi 6, uses older wifi .. pass
Bro has 1000 devices in his home
Guys, what does this do that Firestick 4K doesn't?
Cost double
I bought one of these to replace a firestick 4k and reckon its a step up. Good range of apps including Kodi. Havent tried the fire cube.
Wish it's 64gb or more. So we could download games. Now that they ditched stadia
Are there any streaming devices that support the full HDMI 2.1 spec yet? I purchased the fire cube tv yesterday at full price as it has HDMI2.1, but you can only output 4k/60hz and not the full 120hz….
Reason: moonlight streaming
You must have a monster pc that can run games at 4k 120fps lmao.
$159 full price taking the absolute piss
This or Fire TV Cube?
https://amzn.asia/d/03aWtHZ - $109