TL;DR
- Android Authority has proof that the Google TV Streamer is utilizing a chip from MediaTek, not Amlogic as beforehand believed.
- Particularly, we dug by the firmware and located quite a few references to the MediaTek MT8696 SoC.
- The complete specs of this SoC aren’t out there, however this is similar chip within the 2021 Amazon Fireplace TV Stick Max.
Google simply killed the Chromecast and, as an alternative, launched the brand new Google TV Streamer. The Google TV Streamer is a modern set-top field that sits in your desk as a substitute of behind your TV, and it options quite a few upgrades over the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) that it’s changing. A type of upgrades is a brand new processor that gives 22% sooner CPU efficiency, which is a welcome change. Nonetheless, Google didn’t specify which processor it’s utilizing, main many to take a position (or fairly, hope) that the TV Streamer is utilizing Amlogic’s newest chipset. Android Authority has seen proof that’s not the case, although.
Following the announcement of the Google TV Streamer, I obtained a replica of the machine’s construct properties, which reveals that the machine (code-named “kirkwood”) is powered by the MT8696 MediaTek chip. That is notably the very same chipset discovered within the 2021 Amazon Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max and similar to the one within the 2nd era mannequin from 2023.
Though the specs for the MT8696 haven’t been revealed by MediaTek wherever on-line, Amazon says that the MT8696(T) variant of the chipset within the 2nd Gen mannequin includes a quad-core CPU clocked at as much as 2.0GHz. The core design is ARM’s Cortex-A55, and it’s stated the GPU is Creativeness Applied sciences’ PowerVR GE9215 with cores clocked at as much as 850MHz. Lastly, it’s talked about that the chipset gives help for decoding Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR 10, HDR10+, HLG, H.265, H.264, VP9, and AV1 content material, that are all to be anticipated.
The Google TV Streamer, nonetheless, has double the RAM and storage of the 2nd Gen Amazon Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max. The latter solely has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, whereas the previous ships with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The first Gen Amazon machine from 2021 options Wi-Fi 6 help, whereas the 2024 Google machine solely helps Wi-Fi 5. The rationale for that is that Google selected to make use of the MT7663e2 Wi-Fi module from MediaTek, which is a Wi-Fi 5 module. Google doubtless selected this module to chop down on prices, however it’s price mentioning that the 2021 Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max retailed for nearly half the value of the TV Streamer.
In any case, this information may disappoint some customers who have been anticipating Google to make use of Amlogic’s new 6nm S905X5 chipset. The 2020 Chromecast with Google TV (4K) utilized Amlogic’s S905X3 SoC with 4 ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at as much as 1.9GHz, so many assumed that Google would proceed to make use of Amlogic chipsets for its future Google TV units. We have been shocked once we found that Google had switched to MediaTek, however customers received’t be lacking out on a lot. In any case, many reviewers praised the Amazon units for having good efficiency, so the brand new Google TV Streamer doubtless received’t be a slouch relating to loading apps or scrolling by the homescreen.
