We now know almost everything about Google’s next Chromecast. After its existence has been confirmed by multiple rumors, the look of the gadget and its technical sheet have been the subject of new recent leaks.
For the element of surprise, it is missed. For weeks now, we have been witnessing leaks of all kinds concerning Google’s next Chromecast. First validated at the beginning of June by the American certification authorities, the gadget was then talked about again this fall after another leak which revealed its price around 40 €. We now have photos and a technical sheet available.
The design of the 4K model
The Brazilian site Tecnoblog has indeed managed to get their hands on photos of the next multimedia box from Google. Unsurprisingly, “Chromecast HD with Google TV”—since that seems to be its full name—similarly resembles Chromecast 4K. Gone is the round look of the old Chromecast; this new version will have a more oval roller profile with still a cable with an HDMI port at the end. Food will be a priori always provided by a USB-C socket.
At first glance, the future Chromecast 1080p is identical to the 4K model. On the side of the technical sheet on the other hand, there are some differences. If we of course find compatibility with W-Fi 5 and Bluetooth LE, the processor on board this future Chromecast will obviously be less powerful than that of the Chromecast 4K. It is very precisely an Amlogic S805X2 chip that will animate Google’s future toya model much less powerful than the S905X3 embedded in the Chromecast 4K, but which remains compatible with the AV1 codec – which offers a better compression rate without losing quality).
No more update issues
Still on the ground of compromises, the Chromecast 1080p would be equipped with 1.5 GB of RAM (compared to 2 GB for the 4K model). This shouldn’t impact too much on everyday use. More interestingly, this future Chromecast will be compatible with a so-called “A/B” update mechanism. This means that the device is able to install an update downloaded from the cloud over the air without having to download the entire file; a sort of streaming update. This detail may seem insignificant, but this mechanism will circumvent one of the most important limitations of the 4K model which, due to its 8 GB storage space, cannot download certain updates.
Good news finally, the Chromecast HD will arrive directly with Android 12 preinstalled. As previous rumors indicated, this Chromecast will also arrive with the Google TV OS and will be accompanied by a remote control. Now that we have photos, a technical sheet and a price, all that remains is to wait for Google to finally deign to formalize its device.