Android Authority Writer Explains Why an 8-Year-Old Chromecast Still Beats Newer Google TV
An Android Authority writer explains why an eight-year-old Chromecast is still preferred over Google TV, praising fast phone casting and an unexpected update for old hardware.
Still plugged into the back of an Android TV, the old Chromecast might seem redundant because the TV has built-in Chromecast capabilities. The writer explains, however, that the affordable TCL TV’s casting leaves a lot to be desired. Sending video from a laptop or tablet browser produces audio sink issues and poor image quality, the article says. Apps such as Jellyfin and YouTube also take a long time to load the compatible TV app, and a more expensive Chromecast with Google TV was tried and returned because it was too slow to get into watching anything.
The writer reports that the aging dongle sometimes suffers from heavy compression and buffering when streaming from a nearby laptop, despite a solid 100 Mbps Wi-Fi connection. Phone casting, however, remains “as good as ever” in supported apps. Some apps no longer pay as much attention to casting features as they once did, but where casting is supported it can still get you to the content faster than the TV app experience.
What continues to appeal, according to the piece, is picking content from a phone app and casting it to the TV without UI hangs, clunky TV remote search bars, or sluggish updates. The writer calls casting a natural extension of the smart-home media experience and says the old Chromecast is one of the few Google products that has outlasted its initial mission and remains more useful than its successors. The article closes by saluting original Chromecasts and expressing hope that they have many more years of streaming left.