Apple TV 4K vs. Google TV Streamer Buyer's Guide: All Differences Compared

[BMox81]

Honestly, reading those differences, the Apple TV from 2 years ago is far better than the Google product that is yet to be released.

On a lighter note, any serious TV / cinema device will be black. Apple understood that.
When you close the curtains at night, you don't want to see a white device in the corner of your eye.

And yet the ATV has the status light that omits from it when watching anything from it… I’d argue that’s more annoying when watching a film than a white device on top of your unit.

The ATV is a great device no doubt (have 3 of them) but it’s not without its issues.

 

[Reelmower]

We have chromecasts (or the functionally identical Onn streaming devices) on all of our TVs, and we have one current gen Apple TV.
We switched from Roku to Chromecast for two main reasons - speed and better, direct Bluetooth headphone support. Google Photos integration proved to be an unexpected benefit of the chromecast. It serves as a giant digital photo frame with a screensaver of our family photos. Very slick and alone worth more than the $20 cost of the Onn streamer.
Chromecasts, and this new Google streamer, can do all sorts of extra things like video conferencing and Tailscale VPN (so Netflix sees all of our users aa being in one house). Apple TV does them much better and more easily. Tailscale is a breeze. Using your iPhone as a webcam with FaceTime or zoom is unbelievable. I love how it centers us in the shot automatically. Fantastic for communicating with our daughter in college. Also, the Apple TV speed is leagues ahead of chromecast - much more than 22%.
For us, the Apple TV is well worth the extra $30 for our main tv. We will stick with $20 Onn streamers for our other TVs and for the monitor I use as a digital photo frame.

 

[Piggie]

I have the current latest Google TV dongle, and I'll admit, it's vastly better/faster than the default UI on my Sony TV.
Been happily using the Google TV dongle for a number of years now and honestly have no problems.

Actually there is ONE thing I'd like to be able to change than that's to tell it not to show me anything from services I don't pay for. I've cancelled Disney/Netflix and just watch Amazon Prime & YouTube now, so it would be nice if only that content was shown.

I get the fact that there many be something amazing on Netflix/Disney/BBC I'd never know about if I was not shown some things from those services also. But if I REALLY don't want to see that stuff, I'd like to be able to shut it off

 

[Shanghaichica]

What kind of name is streamer

Who cares it will be discontinued in a year. Google know this so they won’t bother to give it a decent name.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I'm into the Google system. Can't afford to go all in with Apple.
For the record, Roku is king. Not the best, just the most popular.
Amazon's streaming device is last on my list. Don't like the Roku remote with volume/mute on the side.
ATV has a silly remote, but like that it is rechargeable.
When Roku introduced a rechargeable remote, reviews were bad. Hope that is no longer true.
Don't really like the ATV layout. Have no experience with Google TV.
I was under the impression the ATV remote was IR. Guess that is not true.
As for additional storage on the Google TV box, isn't the USB-C for power?
Guess you would need something extra to use the port for 2 connections.
All that storage on ATV is not put to good use. Safe to say the Google TV box is the same thing.

You could buy your Apple devices one by one. You don’t have to buy them all at once.

I think the google streamer should be a bit cheaper, when you compare it to the chromecast, chromecast with google TV or fire TV stick it’s expensive. Still a good choice for someone heavily invested in a google/android set up.

 

[BMox81]

Who cares it will be discontinued in a year. Google know this so they won’t bother to give it a decent name.

What an insightful comment.

 

[kerr]

What kind of name is streamer

Cleveland Streamer?

 

[mrgrdn]

Google TV Streamer = you buying it twice! It’s not a longterm solution

 

[cyb3rdud3]

A key feature of the Apple TV 4K is matching source output automatically. Anyone appreciating quality would love that. It is why I'm sticking with the Apple TV 4K next to my Oppo UHD player.

 

[Plutonius]

I will stick with Roku.

 

[svish]

Good article. Prefer to buy Apple TV. Hopefully the next version will bring down the price to $99

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Both missing 2.5 or 10GB network. Here the following case:
I use Apple TV 4K. It has HDMI 2.1 and my TV has 2.1 input, working fine. Connected to main router using CAT7. Router support 10GB.
I have NAS where i store many TV file,(support 2.5 and 10GB) but watching 4K require a little bit more than 1GB speed, so using VLC for NAS steaming 4K is stattering. Wifi not better.
I understand that most user not bothering with NAS storage, but when it goes to nice 4K Blue Ray, 1GB is not enough.

Something isn't right with your setup. 1Gbps is more than plenty for UHD 4K files.

 

[samlikesmac]

I wonder if the Google one will support Dolby Atmos Lossless, that is one huge gap the Apple TV still has Right now it only supports the lossy implementation.

Highly doubt anyone will ever stream Atmos in lossless, let alone make a streaming box capable of playing it.

 

[dominiongamma]

Too bad AppleTV doesn’t support a browser like Safari.

Use your iPhone if you want to use the web, Apple TV should focus on shows and movies

 

[Digital Dude]

I use both systems, and they are almost evenly matched in terms of features and usefulness. Currently, Apple TV excels in organization and is hard to beat. I also own nine HomePods, but their usefulness has diminished over time due to unresolved iOS bugs. As a result, I rely more on my Sony/Google TV that works well with my three Google Home Hubs, and Google security cameras. 😐

 

[Jay-Jacob]

I never used google chromecast so no idea how it like etc. It extremely unlikely I ever will and I am using Apple TV for nearly everything except BBC iplayer, they just stubborn refuse add subtitles (I am Deaf) so I got Roku just for BBC iPlayer. I got Roku for Dad during Covid (normal HD one) and recently Dad got new 4K TV so he got himself Roku 4K and give me Roku HD just for BBC iPlayer for me.

 

[gco212]

Both missing 2.5 or 10GB network. Here the following case:
I use Apple TV 4K. It has HDMI 2.1 and my TV has 2.1 input, working fine. Connected to main router using CAT7. Router support 10GB.
I have NAS where i store many TV file,(support 2.5 and 10GB) but watching 4K require a little bit more than 1GB speed, so using VLC for NAS steaming 4K is stattering. Wifi not better.
I understand that most user not bothering with NAS storage, but when it goes to nice 4K Blue Ray, 1GB is not enough.

I think there's something else wrong in your setup if 1 gbps isn't enough. That should not be the bottleneck. I have a NAS with over hundred TBs, most of which is 4k Blu-ray remuxes. The highest bitrate I have is around 120 Mbps. And again, that's taken directly from a 4k disk and not downgraded.

Good luck getting your setup fixed. I had a rough time with Plex on the 4k files I have, but have been smooth as butter through Emby.

 

[villagehiker]

Both companies need to make profits. Apple does so with cool products, services, support. Google tracks, records, sells your life.

 

[nathansz]

A key feature of the Apple TV 4K is matching source output automatically. Anyone appreciating quality would love that. It is why I'm sticking with the Apple TV 4K next to my Oppo UHD player.

If the google thing cannot do that then that would be a massive difference of actual consequence thay should have been highlighted in the article

 

[cyb3rdud3]

If the google thing cannot do that then that would be a massive difference of actual consequence thay should have been highlighted in the article

Totally agreed but over the many years I’ve gotten used to it that most reviewers aren’t actually enthousiast and don’t appreciate what a huge difference it makes. Matching the source automatically is great and a highly desirable feature.

 

[victorvictoria]

What I do when taking long trips in my RV is download the content to my Mac Mini or iPad. You have a month to view rentals as I recall so it works out good. Then I’ll either watch it on my iPad or the tv which is hooked up to my monitor if I want to watch it on a big screen. I was going to say that I would Airplay it to my Apple TV but in thinking about it I do it the first two methods recently. In the past that has been a great method as I travel where there often no TV signal but now that satellite internet is available, playing shows via an Apple TV connected to satellite internet may be a good alternative if you are going to be on the road for a while.

I suppose if you vacation in an RV, that may work. For the rest of us, we're stuck bringing iPads or MacBooks, since there's no hotel or motel I've encountered that even has a smart TV. Most of them have the original flat screen TVs they bought in 1997-2000. And those blue & white remotes that don't do anything but change channels & volume.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I suppose if you vacation in an RV, that may work. For the rest of us, we're stuck bringing iPads or MacBooks, since there's no hotel or motel I've encountered that even has a smart TV. Most of them have the original flat screen TVs they bought in 1997-2000. And those blue & white remotes that don't do anything but change channels & volume.

Blimey, really? You need to stay in better hotels. As good as all of them have smart TVs and AppleTV connections where I stay.

 

[AppleTO]

The Google TV can’t play H.264? I highly doubt that.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I suppose if you vacation in an RV, that may work. For the rest of us, we're stuck bringing iPads or MacBooks, since there's no hotel or motel I've encountered that even has a smart TV. Most of them have the original flat screen TVs they bought in 1997-2000. And those blue & white remotes that don't do anything but change channels & volume.

How's the pr0n in those rooms? 🥸

 

[victorvictoria]

Blimey, really? You need to stay in better hotels. As good as all of them have smart TVs and AppleTV connections where I stay.

Please tell us what hotels have smart TVs and AppleTV connections! And what is an AppleTV connection?