Google Chromecast 2018

Advantages: Screen and sound broadcast from Android (Google Home), Windows (Chrome), Linux (Chromium) devices. I did not check apple products, but it is stated that yes. Broadcast youtube and other services, independent control from your phone / computer with the ability to fully use them while the video continues. Streaming video through the VLC player, no more headache with flash drives, video formats that may not be supported by TV or set-top box. The computer pulls - it means it will show. Everything is via wi-fi, no wires. Supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, 802.11ac and below standards. On my old Asus RT-N10U with 802.11n and 2.4 GHz, 60 Mbps internet shows 1080p perfectly. Phone control (pause, rewind, volume, video queue, etc.), including voice, understands Russian. It can be controlled by all devices on the local network, including those connected to the same router via Ethernet (which relieves the wireless channel quite well). USB powered, no plug required, can be powered directly from the TV. Elementary installation and configuration. Size, weight of the matchbox.

Disadvantages: Didn't find a way to explicitly set the resolution on the exit. The device itself determines the quality of the youtube video, sometimes this leads to second lags, for example, if you simultaneously start downloading something heavy via torrent. In fact, an extremely rare situation, you just need a little discipline, or a wide channel))

Comment: For the money, it's just a great choice. You can forget about copying movies to a flash drive, converting, choosing a format, fiddling with a bunch of remotes and wires. It just works, but what else is needed? =)

Advantages: To all the previously described advantages such as turning an ordinary TV into Smart-TV, I will add the "desktop broadcast" mode - that is, wireless connection of the computer to the TV. We use Chromecast to show clients the financial models we have prepared for them in Excel. Instead of looking over the specialist's shoulder at the monitor of his computer, the client sits comfortably at the negotiating table and sees his file in all its glory on the TV

Disadvantages: Not detected

Comment: For such a price, it pays off 100 times.

Advantages: Ease of customization, features, design.

Disadvantages: Not found

Comment: Great stuff. Easy to install, controlled via the Google Home app from a smartphone. Makes a SMART + TV out of a regular TV.I watch videos from YouTube on a TV set, TV channels, movies in fullhd (through the Megogo application) through this device, you can broadcast any video from any site to TV. And it's all free. Internet speed I have 50 megabits no hangs. I recommend using 5GHz Wi Fi.

Advantages: Works fast, without lag, as expected. A quality piece.

Disadvantages: There are dances with a tambourine, at first I connected to wifi, which I distribute through a wifi repeater, with strong loads the sound was cut off, I poked everything for two days and could not understand. Wifi 5GHz, almost 500 Mbps and glitches. Then I decided to try it through a full-fledged router, too, through 5 GHz, everything is perfect. Those. a router with wifi must be good and complete, otherwise there may be glitches and dances with tambourines, and nothing has been written about this anywhere, the requirements for wifi are not written.

Comment: I used to use mhl, but smartphones got very hot with it, then it went out of fashion and now you can't buy devices with it. I bought an ezcast from upvel, but then I realized that all these Katai pribluds cast well, but they cannot transfer the image from the phone to the TV set normally, then there is no sound, then they are very late. I had to cough up this chromecast and it really doesn’t tupit, it works as fast as mhl. My mi max 2 turned into a full-fledged computer, the broadcast performance does not drop. I watch movies from my favorite sites in my favorite browsers without dancing with tambourines, rewind, change the quality, switch episodes, everything is as usual in a smartphone and tablet, caste garbage, inconvenient. I play games from console emulators, android games like asphalt 9, strategies with a mouse. You can connect to the smartphone through bluetooth and otg - mice, keyboard, steering wheels, joysticks, including from ps and xbox. In general, when connected to a monitor or TV set, a smartphone becomes a complete replacement for a computer.

Advantages: A very high-quality set-top box, which does not cost so much money, but justifies the purchase for 100%!

Disadvantages: No permission settings when connected. Those. the set-top box itself chooses the most suitable for your TV. For many, this will not be a negative at all.

Comment: In comparison with the prefix from Xiaomi, I can say that it is much better. I use Chromecast in combination with an Android smartphone, and many applications make the lack of an internal interface not an inconvenience, but a trick to reveal more complete functionality than SmartTV will provide you. found everything on the phone and brought it directly to the TV. And it's better than Xiaomi because there are no friezes (brakes) and not a single film or series has hung in the middle, as it was with the above-mentioned brand. The conclusion is that if there is no SmartTV on the TV or it is "weak", then definitely take it.

Advantages: Great thing, turns any TV (or projector) into a powerful smart TV, and more. You can watch terrestrial TV, movies and series through MTS TV, Megogo, IVI, etc. (as of February 2019 IVI is slightly buggy, but not critical). YouTube and all Google products work perfectly. It is launched and controlled from a phone (tablet, computer), but is played directly, i.e. You can continue to use the phone as usual, and even if the phone runs out of power or leaves the room, the playback will not be interrupted, and you can pause it from any other phone on the network. On many branded TVs, you can set up control from the remote control of the TV itself. Any content that is not natively supported (for example Amazon Prime) can be viewed through Smart View (mirroring the phone screen). You can mirror the screen of any computer on the network through the Cast tab in the Chrome browser.For the advanced: connect hard to the router, raise DLNA and Transmission, and download and watch movies from torrents without turning on the computer at all :) with the Keenetic Giga router it works great.

Disadvantages: Not all applications (online cinemas) support Chromecast, and Smart View is not always convenient. Only audio, not video, can be streamed to multiple devices simultaneously. Probably won't work fine with Apple, but it's not for them either (we have Samsung and a PC on Windows, everything is fine). I would like to have a separate minijack output for audio, but that would increase the size.

Comment: I like it, I bought 2 of these home, for 3 with a penny a thousand - a super option. At first I powered it from the USB port of the TV, but in the end I plugged it into an outlet and keep it constantly on so as not to waste time downloading.

Advantages: In general, everything has already been described. All declared functions work honestly. Once again, it is worth noting the compactness in size and in price :) Whoever thinks that it is expensive - let it compare with the WHDI set, which must also be found on sale. In addition, WHDI is larger in size / weight and requires a transmitter to be connected to HDMI, meaning that streaming from a smartphone or tablet via WHDI is already quite problematic. Among the alternatives, we can also mention WiDi and Miracast, but WiDi just did not work for me on devices that, in theory, should support this standard, and Miracast lagged terribly. It is very important that, unlike the above-mentioned alternatives, Chromecast in a mode other than screen broadcast does not pump traffic through the control device, but takes only a link from the device and then receives content directly from the Internet. Works not only with native microUSB, but with any decent one. Powered by a portable battery. It works through an HDMI F-F adapter and an HDMI cable - this is important if, for example, you cannot get to the HDMI connector of the projector, because the projector hangs on the ceiling, and there is only the end of the cable from it. All of the above is not surprising, in theory, it should be so, but I checked it just in case :)

Disadvantages: 1. If the Chromecast is connected to a 5GHz network, the guest mode appears to require guest smartphones to support the 5GHz band. Anyway, my Huawei Nova didn't work in guest mode, and my old Galaxy S3 didn't work. 2. Not controlled from a smartphone that works as an access point. Either provide the Internet with Chromecast, or use it, but not at the same time. However, this is expected, but I really wanted a miracle ... 3. The set of types of media files transmitted through Chrome is very limited. In particular, mkv is not supported. Chrome also refuses to transfer large mp4 files. That is, using the Chromecast as a full-fledged media player will not work - however, it is not. As I understand from my experience with NVidia Shield, this is not a property of this Chromecast device, but of the Chromecast or Chrome protocol itself. Although there have been reports of VLC and other third-party programs that can make friends with Chromecast. 4. The box could also include an HDMI F-F adapter for ceiling projectors.

Comment: If there is a problem with connecting the Chromecast to WiFi, Google sells a separate twisted pair adapter, although in Russia it seems to be officially unavailable. But in well-known stores they sell an adapter from another company, which, according to reviews, works no worse, but costs less. At w3bsit3-dns.com they write that you can do with any Ethernet-USB adapter and OTG cable. However, buying an access point will probably be easier :)

Advantages: Quick setup, you need to select another region

Disadvantages: Sometimes it flies and the gadget does not see it, you need to turn off and turn on WIFI on the gadget

Comment: There are two such and one ultra Google and it works faster)), you can send a signal to any of them from one device to any of the three. I mainly watch YouTube, but there are other applications that have the option to send a signal to this device or smart TV.

Its function - to broadcast everything you need from the phone, performs on 5. The computer is also connected, but the box does not see the video files. Chromecast was originally purchased to watch downloaded movies. Installing Plex media server saved the day and you can start streaming from the media server interface.

Advantages: The device is just super! The device, the size of a keychain, is a full-fledged replacement for stationary media players, network players, and everything else, TV stuffing, and even more so for streaming programs. A phone, tablet, lap-top or computer, without sacrificing basic resources and current employment, launches your, or network, video / audio content up to 1080P to a TV, projector or monitor, and with their mediation, multichannel sound to a receiver or amplifier of an audio system. You can even voice it, right down to turning on / off the entire AV system! Condition: normal WiFi and HD "screen" with HDMI that's it!

Disadvantages: Didn't find it. What are the disadvantages? If you need 4K already have "Ultra", there is also a twisted pair connection. Do you need to drive audio through the "screen"? But this is the specificity of the device, Bluetooth, perhaps, it would be worth screwing on the headphones or for mobile acoustics, well, perhaps. Someone in the reviews talked about design! The design in its absence is a weightless device hanging behind the screen on its own loop!

Comment: On Android, you should install the Chrome browser, LVC or MX player, on MAC, Chrome is a must. The perfect solution for cinema, photography, network resources, full-fledged TV ignore at home, for office and exhibition presentations.