What Chromecast lacks to keep up with the best streaming players

We’ve been together for over a year with Chromecast with Google TV, the latest iteration of Google’s media players. While we await its successor, which is currently in development by Google, we pondered. What should be a best-in-class device?.

Chromecast has been a revolution in the market. It is a device that can play content from the main streaming platforms, run games and even receive content wirelessly via external devices. Such players are basically the best way to turn our TV into Smart TV. Right now, Chromecast competition is pretty toughso if the company wants to continue to lead this industry, it would be good to include what we’ll talk about below.

Design change time

Image: Android TV News

The design of the Chromecast has not changed excessively. It is an oval device with a short cable that connects to the TV via HDMI. The company already has four generations of this deviceAnd as its design is increasingly changing, we think it’s time for Google to consider other form factors.

Currently, we can find multimedia players in the form of dongles or set-top boxes. In general, those with larger form factor have better features and technical characteristics, given the increase in space. If Google wants to counter high-end media players like the NVIDIA Shield, it might be a good time for the company to start adopting such a format.

More power never hurt anyone

The Chromecast has never been characterized by offering huge specs, precisely because it is a product made for such a big purpose. However, television technologies are increasingly advancing and having a complete feature set will always benefit the public to offer greater versatility.

A refreshed processor and graphics unit would be welcome to run system apps and games smoothly, as it is currently the most optimized device to run Android TV, although still lags behind others in terms of performance. Additionally, having a better processor will help the device offer better scaling to 4K in the image, this leaves much to be desired at the moment.

Features that can expand your possibilities

Adapt the frequency of the TV to the content

Among the functions that can expand the possibilities of Chromecast, we also find it useful the ability to change the natural frequency of television to adapt it to the content we watch. That’s something that was announced with the arrival of Android TV 12, but the currently available Chromecast doesn’t count yet. Apple TV supports this function, which eliminates flickering by adapting to the frame rate of the content.

A native 4K interface

Another function that is not yet available in Chromecast but will come with Android TV 12, Possibility to have a native interface in 4K resolution. It’s currently only playable in 4K if the content allows it, but the interface is something else. While it’s obvious to include, it’s surprising how many devices don’t offer 4K UI.

Expand your storage without the need for adapters

Chromecast has always stood out for its simplicity when it comes to connecting it to a TV, but today it can be a bit simplistic in terms of functionality. For example, Currently there is no option to expand Chromecast storage if not through adapters. This will especially benefit those who have lots of apps and content on their devices.

An Ethernet port and audio connections

The only connection available on the third-generation Chromecast, and that includes Google TV, is HDMI, which, in addition to the power port, is used to connect it to the television. Add sound options, even An Ethernet port to improve internet connectivity would be a great addition.

Support for lossless audio formats

Chromecast offers a wide variety of formats and codecs, but No way to play content with lossless audio like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. While it does support Dolby Atmos via passthrough, it will struggle if the device has to decode audio in higher quality formats like the ones mentioned above.

AV1 codec support

And since we’re asking, it wouldn’t hurt that the Chromecast is also compatible with AV1, one of the latest compression techniques. used on some streaming platforms It’s like Netflix.

Streamed playback in 4K 60fps and HDR

Finally, it is well known that the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro is the most powerful player in the market and the only one that supports streaming games in 4K 60fps and HDR. If Google wants to compete in this industry, For most gamers, providing such solutions should also be a priority..

While there are no details yet on what Google’s next Chromecast will look like, it would be a great opportunity for the company to include such features. another option would be market multiple modelsit offers a more basic option and another for the most demanding public.