Paul’s Pixel 10 Diaries: Google on the TV ⭐

I purchased a Google TV Streamer while we were here in Mexico because it was on sale during Amazon’s recent Prime Big Deals Day event. The idea is to see how well it integrates with the Pixel 10 series phones and the broader Google ecosystem, especially the revamped Google Home.

I typically use an Apple TV 4K for the TV interface here in Mexico and in Pennsylvania. And I do so for all the obvious reasons: The clean, nearly ad-free user interface and overall performance, plus most of the content I’ve purchased came from Apple, so I get all the extra features for movies. Tied to that, I’ve pretty much settled into standardizing on Apple at home. But then I’m also always open to change.

And the Google TV Streamer has always been interesting to me. I’ve had the previous generation Chromecast with Google TV dongle for years (back in PA) and while I do like that small device, the performance has always been lackluster. In 2023, I opined that Google needed an Apple TV, meaning a set-top box, not a dongle, with slightly beefier specs. And the Google TV Streamer appears to be just that.

Coincidentally, I (re)evaluated the latest Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Roku Streaming Stick Plus, and the Chromecast with Google TV (in lieu of getting the Google TV Streamer at the time) to reacquaint myself with these platforms this past spring. Despite the performance issues, the Google entry is inarguably the best of the Apple TV alternatives. So this seemed like good timing.

? Hardware

Google announced the Google TV Streamer in August 2024 and then shipped the device to customers in late September, so it’s now about a year old. (That’s considerably newer than the latest Apple TV, which debuted in late 2022, but that could be updated as soon as this week.) At the time, it was promoted as being a premium, AI-powered center for home entertainment and smart home, though the Gemini capabilities in this and other Google TV devices are getting a big update soon alongside improvements across the Google Home ecosystem.

For the entertainment minded, the Google TV Streamer supports 4K HDR/HDR10/HDR10+/HLG and Dolby Vision video at 60 FPS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Atmos sound, and Wi-Fi 5 (!), Bluetooth 5.1, and 1 Gbps Ethernet connectivity. It has 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage (nice updates compared to the 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage of its predecessor). And from a smart home perspective, it’s a Matter hub and a Thread border router; its predecessor only supports the former.

The Google TV Streamer comes in two colors, a quirky Hazel that I love (and bought) and a more traditional Porcelain (off-white). The device itself is an oblong, angled rounded rectangle with a tacky bottom to keep it rooted on the shelf. The back has three ports—a USB-C port for charging, the Ethernet port, and HDMI for video-out—and button for finding the remote.

It’s about as minimalist as this type of thing can get, though Google does bundle a 3–foot-long USB-C to USB-A cable and a charger in the box (plus batteries for the remote) too.

The bundled remote retains the same fun, soft, and curved shape of its predecessor, but it’s taller now and Google has reshuffled some of the buttons, most notably moving the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons to a more prominent place on the remote’s front. I like it quite a bit.

? Software

The software interface has changed only subtly since I reexamined the Google TV Streamer’s predecessor this past summer. The top menu now includes Movies and Shows items instead of Live, which basically answers my complaint (or observation) that there was no easy way to get to the TV shows and movies that Google sells in its online store. That said, the Google TV interface remains curiously agnostic, with links to content from HBO Max, Prime Video, and other services everywhere.

The performance appears to be quite good, which also answers an obvious complaint with this device’s predecessor.

Basically, Google appears to handle the basics nicely, and better than one might expect, especially given how terrible Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices, in particular, have gotten in recent years. There are no overt ads anywhere, which is what one would expect of a premium device like this.

There are two oddities.

When I first configured the Google TV Streamer, I was prompted to download a software update. That’s not surprising, indeed, that type of thing is common and expected with connected devices, these days. But the update was the April 2025 update for Android 14. After that was finished, I could then download an August 2025 update. Weird.

The other one won’t impact many people, but I have two Google accounts, a Gmail account and a Workspace account with a custom email address. And there’s no way to sign in to the system with one account and then sign in to individual apps using the other. If you try to do so, you’ll create another sign-in account and then be forced to switch the entire system over to that other account. You can go back and forth between the two sign-ins easily enough, but it’s not ideal.

? Pixel integration

The Google TV Streamer is Google Cast/Chromecast compatible like its predecessor, so you can stream audio or video to it from various entertainment apps on your Pixel or other Android devices. This works as expected, though I don’t have any speakers attached to the device, so everything goes through the TV’s built-in speakers.

One feature the Google TV Streamer doesn’t support is “Hold close to cast,” which uses the Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio to discover compatible devices you can cast to, helping to simplify this process. This works between the Pixel 10 Pro/Pixel 10 Pro XL (and earlier Tensor-era Pro Pixels) and the Pixel Tablet, in both directions. But not with Google TV Streamer.

If you have Google Home/Nest speakers, which I don’t, you can of course pair them with the Google TV Streamer. But you can also pair Pixel Buds Pro 2 and other Pixel earbuds so you can watch or listen to content privately. Making that connection is as seamless as doing so on a Pixel phone: Just open the case, press and hold the pair button, and a pop-up appears on the TV screen.

? Smart home integration

This is an area that will require further exploration and time as I don’t really have much in the way of smart devices here in Mexico and Google is on the verge of transitioning to a new Google Home across its devices. But there is a Google Home item in the Quick Settings menu (accessible by long-pressing the Home button on the remote), and that gives you a simplified version of the display found in the Google Home app on Android and iPhone. But I can’t do a thing with it at the moment.

As noted, the Google TV Streamer is compatible with the Matter and Thread smart home standards. Matter is basically a cross-platform connectivity standard with simplified device discovery, and this device can act as a hub for that functionality. Thread support lets you bypass your local Wi-Fi network and use a dedicated mesh network for Matter-compatible smart home devices instead. This is apparently more reliable and it offers better range and efficiency.

I will try to find a few inexpensive Matter-compatible smart home devices (lights or smart plugs, most likely) so I test this functionality.

? More soon

The Google TV Streamer appears to be what I was asking for previously from Google, a true Apple TV alternative with beefier specs than the underpowered Chromecast with Google TV. I wish the new Google Home speaker was available, but in the meantime, I will look into some smart home devices and see how that pans out.