Making your TV smarter
With Google Chromecast, you can watch streamed movies and online content on that oversized screen
A MEDIA-STREAMING device that plugs into the HDMI port of your TV, the tiny Google Chromecast is a great way of watching online movies through apps like iflix on your big screen rather than squinting at your smartphone or tablet.
Chromecast can also turn your normal LED TV into a smart TV, meaning you don’t have to lay out lots of cash for a set with integrated internet and web access.
The Chromecast measures a mere 51.81x13.49x51.mm and weighs 39.1 grammes. You simply plug its HDMI connector into one of your TV’s HDMI ports and connect the provided micro USB and power cable to the device.
After that, it’s just a matter of setting it up. Just connect Chromecast to your TV and switch your TV’s input to the HDMI channel to which the device is attached.
You can use your notebook computer to set up the Chromecast by visiting www.Google.com/chromecast/setup/ or you can download the Google Home app to your Android smartphone or iOS tablet or smartphone.
The app or the web browser will look for the Chromecast and connect to it via Wi-Fi, temporarily turning your notebook or smartphone into a hot spot for the Chromecast to connect to.
You simply follow the instructions from Chromecast that will be displayed on the TV screen. You are required to select the SSID of your Wi-Fi router and enter your password for the connection.
During the test, I tried to connect the Chromecast from the second floor of my house even though my Linksys EA8500 router is located on the first floor. Since the Chromecast is tiny and so is its antenna, my first attempt failed. I then set Linksys WRT1200AC as a wireless repeater to boost the signal of EA8500 for the Chromecast. The second attempt was successful.
My test was conducted using True Internet’s Fibre Optic connection at 15 Mbps. I tested the device by using the iflix app to stream movies and series from the phone to my |LCD TV.
The Chromecast made watching iflix movies and series much more fun. Iflix is a low-cost online movie service for which you pay just Bt100 a month and boasts a huge collection of movies and an impressive archive of TV series. The movies are divided into categories, namely Action, Adventure, Chinese, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Drama, Family, and Horror as well as Thai. The TV series have similar categories.
Previously I had to watch movies and series through the iflix network on a notebook or a smartphone. On occasion, I connected my notebook’s HDMI port to the TV, which was not very convenient. So thanks to Chromecast for enhancing my enjoyment of iflix viewing.
I used the iflix app on my smartphone. When I played a movie, the app showed a cast button. Once pressed, the movie was displayed on the TV. The Chromecast has 1080p resolution so the movie was sharp and the streaming smooth. During my test, I watched two sessions of “The Magicians” without any hiccups. And the app provides a button to select invoices of subtitles from a list that includes English and Thai.
When an iflix movie was cast to the Chromecast, the mobile phone app simply acted as a remote for the Chromecast to fetch the movie from the iflix server via the Wi-Fi connection so the mobile’s battery was not wasted watching the movie.
Google says thousand of apps support the casting from your smartphone to the Chromecas. The apps are divided into categories of TV & Movies, Music & Audio, Games, Sports, and Photos & Videos. The apps that support casting to TV include YouTube, Google Photos, Chrome, Angry Birds Friends, Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, Netflix and Google Play Movies.
The Chrome app lets you browse websites on your TV while the Google Photos app lets you look at your photos on your big screen TV. You can also stream websites from your notebook by using Chrome browser and select the cast option of the browser.
You can even stream what you see on your Android phone or tablet screen to your TV via the Chromecast by using the Google Home app.
Google Chromecast is distributed by AIS for Bt1,490.
Key Specs
- Ports & Connectors: HDMI to plug directly into the TV, Micro-USB power
- Resolution: Full standard 1080p resolution
- Wireless: Supports all your wireless networks WiFi 802.11ac (2.4 GHz/5 GHz)
- Power: Supports the standard 5V, 1A power supply
- Supported OS and devices: Android 4.1 and higher, iOS 8.0 and higher, Mac OS X 10.9 and higher, Windows 7 and higher
- Dimensions: 51.81 mm (L) x 13.49 mm (W) x 51.81 mm (H); Power cable: 1.75 m
- Weight: 39.1 g
