After 11 years of service, the Google Chromecast has been discontinued, consigned to the increasingly crowded Google Graveyard. The streaming dongle’s replacement, the Google TV Streamer, is here – and Google says it is now “ending production of the Chromecast.”
While that’s good news for anyone who’s been waiting for an Android equivalent to the Apple TV 4K, it’s less exciting for those who were considering buying a super-cheap streaming dongle with Google TV built in. Google’s new TV Streamer costs $99 / £99 / AU$159, double the price of the Chromecast 4K.
Both current versions of the Chromecast, the Chromecast with Google TV 4K (from 2020) and the Chromecast with Google TV HD (from 2022), are now “only available while supplies last.” And it’s not entirely clear how long that supply will last.
At the moment, both versions of the Chromecast appear to be in stock on the Google Store and at retailers like Amazon . You can check out our live deals section at the bottom of this page for the best prices. Given that Google has stated that it will “continue to support all existing Chromecast devices with rolling updates”, it might be wise to grab a discounted Chromecast soon if you’re thinking of buying one.
Then again, at $99 / £99 / AU$159, the new Google TV Streamer isn’t all that expensive. And it does bring with it some key benefits, including much-improved specs (a new processor, double the memory, and 32GB of storage) plus some software improvements like Google Gemini-powered show summaries and season recaps.
What the Google TV Streamer isn’t, however, is that it’s small enough to disappear unobtrusively behind your TV, compared to the Chromecast.
Blast from the Chromecast
Google has paid out a sum of money for its original streaming dongle in the form of a Obituary ‘Chromecast History’looking back at its various incarnations. It started out as a glorified HDMI stick in 2013, but then got a little more stylish with each passing year with new color options and a softer design.
It wasn’t until the Chromecast with Google TV 4K that the series finally got its much-requested voice remote, a feature that’s been passed on to the Google TV Streamer. In that regard, and in many others, the Chromecast isn’t going away, it’s just morphing into a more modern form.
Google says the reason it’s dropping the Chromecast brand is because smart TVs have swallowed up much of the dongle’s original functionality since 2013. The Chromecast launched a world of decidedly dumb TV interfaces. But with Android TV and Google Cast now built into millions of TVs, Google feels its streaming hardware needs to offer something different.
Looking at the Google TV Streamer, that’s an Apple TV 4K-style streaming box that’s still largely about entertainment, but also has a big focus on the smart home, Google Gemini features, and a Google Photos companion for your TV. In short, the TV Streamer is more of an all-encompassing “Google box” for your home – and we’re looking forward to trying one out.
For those still in favor of a Google-powered streaming dongle, the time has already come.