Have you ever wanted a way to play videos from your phone to your TV? Of course you have, everyone wants to be able to do that. The problem with doing this is that the more popular devices such as the Apple TV or Ruku which stream entertainment devices for the TV, usually cost $100. Most people don’t want to spend that kind of cash.
The tech giant, who tracks your every move on the Internet, also known as Google, has created a solution to this price problem.
A couple months ago, Google released the Chromecast, which gives you the power to stream Netflix, Youtube or Hulu from an Android or iOS device straight to your HDTV. You can also mirror what’s on your Chrome browser straight to your TV from a computer. If you have an Android device, you get extra features with the ability to stream Google music, Google TV shows and movies.
The Chromecast itself is very small for a digital streaming device. Although it is a little bit larger than a standard USB thumb drive it has a nice finish and is easy to set up and connect to your wireless network.
You can select what you want to watch from the Netflix, Youtube or Hulu apps and, in seconds, stream it to your TV. The best part of this device is the affordable price, which is $35.
The major problem, however, with the Chromecast is its lack of features. It does a few select things well, but outside of that it doesn’t do much. As this product is out on the market longer, more app support will be created. As of now, only a few options are available
Another thing that can be annoying is that you have to use your phone to control the Chromecast. There is no way to use a remote and you have to go into whatever app you want to stream and play the video from there. It’s not a deal breaker, but can get tiring if you are binge-watching a TV show.
When mirroring from Chrome on your computer, there is also some delay. You can’t use the mirroring feature to turn your TV into a monitor for your computer since the delay makes it impractical.
Overall, the Chromecast functioned very well during my testing. It has a few annoying quirks with being tied to your phone to control the content. It does not have very much app support at this time. This might be mainly because it’s only been out for a few months and Hulu has already added support for Chromecast to their apps. I can see the support growing over the next year or so.
I do think the Chromecast is a very useful streaming toggle for the price. However, if you are getting it to be the primary device in your living room, you may want to get an Apple TV or a Ruku. If you really want to save money and get more features you can get older Ruku devices for a discount. If you are getting the device, because you are traveling a lot or for a TV in an office or bedroom and don’t want to spend a lot of money, I think the Chromecast is ideal. I really like the Chromecast, and as the support grows, so will its functionality.
