If one thing is apparent from the announcement of the new Google TV Streamer — whose name is right down there with the Onn 4K Streaming Device — it’s this: I’m not going to be getting rid of my old Chromecast with Google TV anytime soon. Especially now that Google has announced it’s not going to make anymore.
And that’s despite the fact that Google says its new streamer is better in so many ways and that it’s the best Google TV device. And, yeah, it might well be, with a faster processor and four times more storage. And with support for the Thread and Matter smartphone standards. And with Ethernet. And an improved remote. And Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, with spatial audio if you’re using Pixel Buds.
That’s all good. Really good, even, given the $100 price, which comes in under Apple TV 4K, which we’ve long considered to be the best streaming device you can buy.
But one thing this new Google TV Streamer lacks over its predecessor — and it’s something that I talked about a bit in our full Google TV Streamer review — is a smaller stature. It’s a good bit bigger than the old Chromecast with Google TV and will definitely take up more room in a bag. That’s by design, of course. And that Google TV Streamer is not a dongle also means that you’re really going to need some place to put it, and not just let it hang off the side (or back) of a TV. That could be a real problem in hotels, which is where I tend to use my Chromecast with Google TV.
Plus, I don’t need support for Thread and Matter when I’m on the road — those are smart home things. Same goes for Ethernet, which almost certainly won’t reach a wall-mounted TV in a hotel room.
So for the foreseeable future, the OG Chromecast with Google TV still has a place in my gear bag.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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