Chromecast Is Bumming Me Out

Google softly releaseda fresh Chromecast deviceat its big event this calendar week . And by quietly , I mean the company did n’t mention it at all . It was just sitting in the bottom of the udder that someone gave me when I left the venue . But hey , it ’s newand it ’s nice - looking . It ’s just a bummer Google still has n’t made Chromecast more useful .

The Modern third - generation Chromecast is just likethe old second - multiplication Chromecastexcept for a invention climb and a match of new software features . It ’s also still $ 35 .

Chromecast ( Third Gen )

Photo: Adam Clark Estes (Gizmodo)

What is it ?

A dongle that casts videos to your TV

Cost

Photo: Adam Clark Estes

Photo: Adam Clark Estes (Gizmodo)

$ 35

Not despicable

Photo: Adam Clark Estes

Photo: Adam Clark Estes (Gizmodo)

No Like

Not utile enough

The hardware itself maintains the same hockey puck - plus - HDMI - cable length as before , except instead of the glistening plastic shell with the Chromecast logo carved into it , there ’s now a matte case with a little Google “ G ” on the front . The HDMI fire hydrant also no longer cling to the puck magnetically for well-situated storage , which is something you probably never noticed at any rate . The new Chromecast also comes in white and charcoal .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

On the software side of things , the Chromecast now supports 1080p video at 60fps . This is singular for a pair of cause . The first is the reminder that older Chromecasts supported 1080p at 30fps and 720p at 60fps . The very slight spec excrescence is tough in a humankind , where 4 potassium video is the criterion on set - top box these days . Google has been sellinga 4K - capable machine called the Chromecast Ultrafor a couple twelvemonth , but that little dongle will cost you $ 70 .

The 2nd remarkable matter is that the addition of 1080p at 60fps wo n’t count to the huge majority of people , because casting video at 60fps is mostly just utile if you want to view YouTube videos of gameplay on your television set . you may also find 60fps stuff on sites like Netflix , but it ’s typically limited to 4 K HDR video , so you might as well go ahead and get a Chromecast Ultra if you desire the full experience .

There are some other tiny things . The Modern Chromecast offers multi - room audio financial backing but only on Google Home utterer and verbaliser equip with Chromecast Audio support , which seems extremely confining . With the new Chromecast , you’re able to sort of turn your television into a moving-picture show shape with Google ’s new unrecorded Photos feature , which seems like puny addition to the standard pretty pic screensaver alternative . Google alsosaysthere ’s “ a 15 - pct betterment in ironware hurrying , ” which I did n’t really notice when I was using it .

William Duplessie

What all of this adds up to is … not much . The Chromecast still falls short of doing what a full - flight set top box or cyclosis joystick could do . You still have to pull up content on a calculator or a phone and throw away it to your TV . You still ca n’t turn the thing on and access apps like a shot on your TV . In other words , you may basically just do the thing that the very first Chromecast could do , only a little faster . Casting seemed really cool in 2013 , when Googlereleased the first generation of the twist . The newfangled Chromecast works just OK , but I experience bummed that Google did n’t do more .

It ’s not like the caller has n’t consider it . before this year , Googlemadean Android TV dongle that looked an awing great deal like a Chromecast , but become any goggle box into an Android TV , over with 4 potassium 60fps livelihood as well as 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of entrepot . That ’s essentially what the latest Roku Streaming Stick and Amazon Fire TV dongle can do . It ’s not far off from a Google version of Apple TV , a more expensive streaming twist that let you dependably cast video to your television receiver using AirPlay . The only problem is that the Android TV dongle is only useable to developer .

Then again , Chromecast ’s bad merchandising point was always that it ’s cheap . For $ 35 , you do n’t require to buy a whole set - top box , since a Chromecast would rent your phone do the heavy - lifting and just rove your videos to a bigger screen . But in the past month or so , that do - less for less money idea has gone out the window . Rokureleased the Roku Premiere , a full - featured streaming twist that supports 4 green telecasting andcosts just $ 40 . Amazon now betray a 4K - ready Fire TV stickfor $ 50 , while the non-4 jet versionis $ 40 . you could also spend some more coin and get a Nvidia Shield , which comes with gaming and regurgitate abilities as well as Google Assistant , for $ 180 .

Starship Test 9

I ’m not trying to say that the newfangled Chromecast sucking . By nonsubjective standards , it is better than the previous Chromecast . It just seems like Google missed an opportunity to make itself more useful , especially now that it ’s tilt extra severely into the sassy home base hardware marketwith the new Home Hub . But for all I know , Google create a butt gross ton of money by selling $ 35 Chromecasts that are n’t as utile as they could be . belike tricks a few client into thinking it works like a placed top box , too .

Correction : An early version of this post say that the 2d gen Chromecast could not cast video with 1080p resoluteness . In fact , it could cast 1080p picture but only at 30fps , and at 60fps , it was limited to 720p . The Modern Chromecast does 1080p at 60fps .