Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
If the rumors are true and I have no reason to believe otherwise, Google has a new Chromecast w/Google TV in the works. We don’t have any details on what this update to Google’s streaming dongle will bring nor do we have any inclination as to when it will be announced. As of the publication time of this post, there’s no sign of the new Chromecast in FCC or Bluetooth filings. That’s usually how it goes with these types of Google products. We’ll go from rumors one day to an out of nowhere announcement the next. The new Chromecast could arrive at Google I/O in the spring or Google may just push it to market whenever the device is ready. Who knows?
While we’re awaiting Google’s new Chromecast, another Android TV maker is primed to drop a new 4K streamer and it could arrive at any time. Walmart’s in-house tech brand onn. is known for making decent hardware at an affordable price. One such product (or products) came in the form of a discrete Android TV device that became wildly popular due to its very inexpensive price tag. The onn. Android TV and 4K Android TV dongles were frequently on our recommendation lists because they do pretty much everything that Google’s own Chromecast w/Google TV does but for significantly less money.
At one point, the 4K model went on sale for $19.88 and stayed there until Walmart discontinued it. I personally own two of these models and can honestly say that it is as good as my 4K Google Chromecast. What’s more is the fact that Walmart’s iteration wins my vote for the best remote. As you can see in the video below, the onn. remote is a bit larger and more square in shape. As attractive as Google’s remote is, the small, pill-shaped body makes it a pain to hold or even pick up. If you don’t grab it just right, it pops out of your hand like a slippery little tomato seed. Anyway. Small complaint I know but still, the onn. Android TV 4K was a solid device at an awesome price.
When Walmart discontinued its onn. Android TV devices, I half assumed that it was because onn. was becoming more deeply integrated with Roku. The company has a very broad line of TVs and speakers built around the Roku brand. Thankfully, that was not the case. As discovered by @AndroidTV_Rumor, a new 4K onn. w/Android TV is on the horizon and it recently passed through the FCC. Fingers crossed they don’t change the design of the remote.
There isn’t much to derive from the filing as there are no actual photos of the device at this time. However, the label information clearly shows a squarish dongle with rounded corners that looks very much like the original onn. 4K device. It is presumed that the new dongle will equip the latest Amlogic S905Y4 SoC but that has yet to be confirmed. While I am really hoping for some significant upgrades on this new model, it is likely that it will be a simple processor upgrade and perhaps some extra RAM or storage. Either of which would be a massive upgrade for any Chromecast user. Either way, you can bet that the new onn. Android TV will be budget-friendly and will probably undercut Google’s current and new models by $10-$20 and that’s a good thing. We love Google hardware but Chromecasts are pretty straightforward devices. They shouldn’t be complicated or pricey. We’ll keep an eye out for this new 4K Android TV dongle and let you know when we have more details.
Source: @AndroidTV_Rumor via 9to5Google
