The front end is split between five main home screens.

A big image sits at the top of the screen with horizontally scrollable carousels offering various categories of content situated below it. In appearance, it looks pretty similar to umpteen other streaming platforms.

The all-new Google TV user interface is perhaps what’s most interesting here, however. Google Chromecast with Google TV (2020) review: Google TV I found I had to be careful not to block this with my thumb when holding it in a natural position. The volume up/down buttons are found on the right edge of the remote and the microphone is positioned, rather strangely, at the bottom, between the power and source switch buttons. This is built on top of the Android TV OS you may be familiar with from Sony Bravia and Hisense TVs or Nvidia’s streaming boxes, and it allows you to browse content on your TV without having to find it first on your phone or tablet.Īs far as physical controls go, there’s a circular control at the top that functions as a five-way D-pad (left, right, up, down, select) and, underneath that, buttons for back, home, Google Assistant (voice search and control) and mute.īelow this is another cluster of buttons: two shortcuts to YouTube and Netflix, a power button and a source switching button. Google always resisted throwing in a remote before because, by including a remote control, you’d also need a user interface to browse.Īnd, so, that’s the other big new feature: the Chromecast now has a UI to go with that remote control, called Google TV. READ NEXT: Roku Streaming Stick+ - the ultimate media streaming stick Chromecast with Google TV (2020) review: What you need to know This year, however, that’s all changed: the new Chromecast with Google TV finally comes with a remote control you can lose down the side of the sofa.

It was cheap and simple but you had to have a phone, tablet or laptop from which to cast content. In the box, all you got was the Chromecast dongle, a USB cable and sometimes a power adapter. But despite introducing several new versions in the intervening years, the basic premise has remained unchanged. The Google Chromecast streaming stick took a moribund industry and made it cool again when it first launched back in 2013.

Plex chromecast with google tv