Review: Google’s Chromecast gets official Irish release

€39

A year after Google’s streaming device hit the market, the Chromecast has finally come to Ireland. Available from Google’s Play store for €39, the HDMI adapter allows you to stream – or “cast” – content directly from your laptop, tablet or phone to your TV, using your home wifi network.

It’s small, it’s smart and it’s adaptable. And it’s cross-platform too. There’s a bit of set-up required, but nothing too onerous. Once you plug it in to your TV, it will talk you through the steps. You’ll need to download the Chromecast app for your tablet or phone – it exists for both iOS and Android – and then it’s a matter of following some simple instructions.

Like any gadget, the Chromecast needs power. That can come from either the TV’s USB port – if it’s suitable – or through a wall outlet. There’s a couple of reasons why you might need this extra power. First of all, if the TV is switched off, so is the Chromecast device. That means you don’t get updates unless the TV is powered on. Secondly, not all TVs will have a USB port with enough juice to power the Chromecast. Google has included the power adapter in the version on sale to irish users, so that's one problem solved. *

Aimed at taking on other streaming media players such as Roku and Apple TV, the Chromecast is a budget alternative and particularly handy for those who are on Android and have been eyeing the Apple TV enviously.

So how does it stand up to its rivals?

The good

The price is one of the biggest selling points. At €39, it's less than half of what the Apple TV sells for, and it will do a lot of what Apple TV already does, and then some. There are a number of apps already available to cast to your TV – YouTube, Netflix, Vevo, Google Play Music & TV. But a recent development has given it the ability to outshine Apple TV. New apps compatible with Chromecast are being developed all the time by smaller third-party developers because Google has opened up the SDK. These include everything from games and music services to media server functions and IP camera feeds.

You don’t need a separate remote for Chromecast either; your laptop, tablet or smartphone is used for queuing up the content and controlling it. And here’s another area where it shines: unlike Airplay mirroring, the system that Apple uses to throw screens from its devices to the Apple TV, you can continue to use your device for other purposes without interruption.

The bad

One area where it falls down is in connections. Unlike the Apple TV, for example, the device cannot be connected directly to an ethernet cable. While that won’t be a problem for most users, if your wifi has interference issues, the Chromecast is practically unusable. If your home already suffers from wifi blackspots, you’ll have to be careful where you use it.

The rest

One of the downsides initially was that Chromecast didn’t allow you to access local media files stored on your tablet or phone and cast them to your device. However, those aforementioned third-party developers have solved that problem, with a number of apps now opening up that ability. That circumvents the need to have access to cloud services such as Google Play, and goes for everything from photos to video – as long as it’s in a format that Chromecast supports.

Although the device can cast from the Chrome browser on Mac and PC, that functionality hasn’t been fully extended to the Android version just yet. This means you can’t cast from your tablet or phone’s browser – or at least not the stable version.

From April, Chrome Beta – the test version of the browser available from the Play store where Google trial runs its new features – allows users to cast some HTML5 video from tabs directly to the TV.

In addition, some devices, such as the Nexus 7, have the ability to run a test feature that casts the entire tablet screen directly to the TV. it's a beta feature that has yet to be extended to every device though.

The verdict

Budget in price but not in features, Chromecast is the perfect addition for Android and, dare we say it, iOS users who want a big screen experience without the big price tag. ****

* This article was corrected on July 25th to correct information about the inclusion of a power adapter in the box.