'Chromecast with Google TV' 4K streamer adds Atmos, voice remote and smarter UI

Chromecast with Google TV adds remote control and smart UI

(Image credit: Google)

Google has gone super-smart with its latest Chromecast video streamer.

The all-new 'Chromecast with Google TV' (yes, that is its official name) mirrors the 4K/60fps and Dolby Vision HDR support of the 2016-released Chromecast Ultra it replaces, but adds a voice-enabled remote control, content discovery service and Dolby Atmos playback too.

According to Google, a remote control was the number one requested feature for the next Chromecast. The company has delivered: the tidy little remote can initiate voice control and has shortcut buttons for the more popular streaming services. It can also be used as a universal remote to control your TV's input selection, volume and power.

Pre-order the Google Chromecast with Google TV now

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The other talking point is the resurrection of the Google TV brand, which had morphed into Android TV. Instead, this incarnation refers to the smart UI on this new Chromecast device.

Google TV brings access to over 6500 apps, including Disney+, Netflix, ITV, My 5 and YouTube, as well as the ability to browse 400,000 films and TV episodes in one place. From there, it will offer personalised suggestions of what you might like to watch next in the Google TV Watchlist. The voice search will let you filter content by genre, too.

As ever, Chromecast with Google TV will allow casting from mobile devices and will work with other Chromecast-enabled kit to play multi-room music from your favourite audio apps. When you aren't watching TV, Ambient Mode turns the TV screen into a photo frame, letting users fill the interface with a photo(s).

Google TV is debuting in the new Chromecast but is coming to Android TV devices in the future.

Chromecast with Google TV pre-orders have already launched for the £60 ($50, AU$99) device, which comes in a choice of Snow (white), Sky (blue) and Sunrise (pink). You can earmark yours from Currys PC World, Argos, John Lewis and Tesco, among other stores. It will hit the shelves on 15th October.

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Dan is a staff writer at What Hi-Fi? and his job is with product reviews as well as news, feature and advice articles too. He works across both the hi-fi and AV parts of the site and magazine and has a particular interest in home cinema. Dan joined What Hi-Fi? in 2019 and has worked in tech journalism for over a decade, writing for Tech Digest, Pocket-lint, MSN Tech and Wareable as well as freelancing for T3, Metro and the Independent. Dan has a keen interest in playing and watching football. He has also written about it for the Observer and FourFourTwo and ghost authored John Toshack's autobiography, Toshack's Way.