The Google TV Streamer better be a serious upgrade from the Chromecast with Google TV

This week, 9to5Google published what appear to be images of a new video streaming box from Google. All we really know about the Google TV Streamer, as 9to5 reports it’ll be called, is what it looks like: it’s wide, flat, and pill-shaped, meant to sit inconspicuously under your TV rather than hang behind it like a Chromecast. I like the look, but I’m hoping it’s more than a one-for-one replacement for the aging Chromecast with Google TV.

The leaked images are very Google

Google loves that pill shape

The Google TV Streamer leans into Google’s established design language, with its pill-like shape echoing the silhouette of the last two Chromecast streamers, the Pixel Tablet’s magnetic charging dock, and the camera bump on the Pixel 9 series. Its low-profile design seems to indicate it’s not meant to be seen often — on my TV stand, it’d sit behind a sound bar — but I still appreciate the commitment to a theme.

Its form factor is a major shift from Google’s previous streaming boxes, which dangled from the backs of TVs by fixed HDMI cables. It also seems considerably larger than the outgoing Chromecast with Google TV. We don’t know why, but I’m hoping it’s as simple as it seems: my fingers are crossed the Google TV Streamer’s full of beefy hardware.

What the Google TV Streamer could offer

The premium Google TV box I’ve always wanted

Complaints about the Chromecast with Google TV abound. The 4K Chromecast with Google TV runs on an aging Amlogic chipset, paired with two gigabytes of RAM and a bafflingly shortsighted eight gigs of storage space. Performance issues seem to have a lot of variables, but even for users who experience normal functionality, existing Chromecast streamers are hardly the snappiest streaming boxes you can get.

The new shape of the Google TV Streamer could be to facilitate a more power-hungry chipset — something like the Amlogic POP1-G in Amazon’s third-gen Fire TV Cube, or even a previous-gen Tensor chip. The wide, flat upper surface of the Google TV Streamer could help dissipate the heat of a burlier chipset without requiring fans to keep it cool enough to function.

There hasn’t been a new, premium, Android TV-powered streaming box in years; Nvidia’s latest Shield TV models were released nearly five years ago. Something that could compete with the Apple TV or Amazon’s more premium Fire TV options could bring some necessary competition to the high-end streaming space.

It’s hard to know for sure from two images, but I can’t see why the Google TV Streamer couldn’t accommodate a faster chipset, four or more gigs of RAM, and adequate storage space. Judging by how large it appears compared to the new Google TV remote it’s pictured with, the Google TV Streamer might be about the size of an average smartphone, and without a display or battery, space constraints should be plenty manageable.

With adequate specs, the Google TV Streamer could be a good way to play more complex Android games on the big screen, too. It’d also be a great place for that long-awaited Nest speaker integration to take shape.

Just make it good, please

It’s a given that the Google TV Streamer will support 4K streaming, HDR, Dolby Atmos, and all the other streaming box features we’ve come to expect, but I’m holding out hope Google aims a little higher this time around. The low-end streaming box market is incredibly saturated, with decent, affordable options, but the market for a powerful, high-end Google TV box is wide open.

We might not have to wait long to find out what the Google TV Streamer is all about. Google’s holding a hardware event for the Pixel 9 series on August 13 — and while we haven’t received confirmation that the event will feature new Google TV hardware, the timing of this latest leak certainly points that way.