Is the new Chromecast an ant on the latest TVs? I bought it and tried it

Chromecast that became a set-top box, after all a convenient remote control

"Chromecast with Google TV" is a product that has changed the concept from the conventional model. Until now, Chromecast has been a product that, in combination with a smartphone, receives or is instructed to receive video from the smartphone and displays content such as videos on the TV. The reason for using it was just a smartphone.

However, the new Chromecast with Google TV is a set-top box, compatible with 4K60p and HDR, and comes with a remote control. The smartphone app "Google Home" is used for initial settings and management, but if it is connected to the HDMI of the TV, all you have to do is operate it with the remote control to select and play video services and programs.

HDMI-CEC is also supported, so if you press the YouTube button on the Chromecast remote control, for example, the TV will automatically turn on even if the TV is off, the HDMI input will switch, and the Chromecast YouTube will be displayed.

The same goes for the home button and Netflix button. In addition, the remote control is also equipped with infrared rays, which allows you to turn up / down the volume of the TV and mute it. At the time of initial setting, the manufacturer and brand of the TV are selected, but in the case of Regza at my house, although there was no name in the manufacturer list, I selected "Toshiba" which was in the brand list.

The Chromecast remote control also has a TV power on / off button and an input switch button, but these work via HDMI-CEC by default. In this case, the input switching is a reaction delayed by one tempo and is a little quirky.

Also, pressing the power button on not only turns on the power, but also switches the input to the HDMI connected to the Chromecast. It's probably a "Turn on TV to watch Chromecast" button. In the remote control settings, both the power button and the input switching button can be changed to infrared rays, and if infrared rays are used, the input switching works as quickly as the TV remote control.

The Chromecast remote has a microphone and a "Google Assistant" button, which allows you to search for programs on "Google TV" as well as "Google Assistant" functions such as finding the weather and restaurants and facilities in your neighborhood. can. Especially, voice search of programs is convenient because it is easy to search on a TV without a keyboard.

The feel of the arrow keys and enter button on the Chromecast remote control is general and can be used without complaint. When using a TV to watch online videos, I expect that the print on the surface of the rubber button will be peeled off soon because I use a lot of arrow keys, enter button, back button, etc. on the remote control of the TV, but Chromecast Of course, the remote control can do all the operations for these online videos, and since the buttons are not rubber, it seems that the surface will not be worn out immediately. Since I started using "Chromecast with Google TV", the number of TV remote controls has dropped sharply.